I recently had the opportunity to participate in the Greater Wyoming Valley Chamber’s Amplify: Women’s Leadership program. This three-month course was focused on building connections with other women leaders, workshopping new ideas and challenges, and learning from featured woman-owned businesses. Every other week, new speakers shared their unique perspective and lessons learned as women in high-impact leadership roles throughout northeast Pennsylvania.
There is such a breadth of valuable insights that I took with me from this experience, but I’ll only give just a tease here so you can check out the program for yourself when the program starts up again in Fall 2025. Here are my top 3 takeaways when it comes to women’s leadership:
Emotional Intelligence goes a long way
There’s a big difference between making demands versus making emotionally intelligent decisions. How well do you control yourself when feeling overwhelmed in a challenging situation? Emotional intelligence is about reading the room, staying grounded, and keeping your cool when things go sideways. It can help you better navigate these situations to provide a clear path for your team while not letting emotions get the best of you.
How you communicate matters
You don’t have to be the loudest person in the room to command attention — but you do need to be intentional. Punctuating your sentences with a lot of “um” and “uh” sounds? A frequent abuser of vocal fry? These are all speaking habits that can contribute to your ability to hold someone’s attention and make your needs clear to them. Your overall posture can have a major impact on how you are perceived during communication, so be sure to practice strong posture and make your voice heard! Say it like you mean it.
Build a personal advisory board
Every strong leader has people in their corner: the cheerleaders, the truth-tellers, and even the challengers. These are the people who will always build you up, be honest with you (whether you want to hear it or not), and, sometimes, challenge you when it comes to big ideas and strategies. All of these people are critical additions to your personal advisory board, which keeps you from holding yourself back and getting stuck in your own head.
I was so grateful to be part of this program and connect with so many brilliant women doing bold, meaningful work in our community. Amplify isn’t just about professional development; it’s about building a network of women who show up, challenge each other, and grow together. If you’re looking to level up your leadership game and surround yourself with the kind of energy that makes you better, a program like this can be life-changing.
