Last week, I was lucky enough to share a stage with a very auspicious group.  Dr of Psychology broadcaster, writer and columnist Maureen Gafney.  Doyenne Award winning Google manager  Cera Ward and  Emer Kennedy, Global HR Director at Google. The Women@google network, an initiative that was co- set up by  Sheryl Sandberg in her time at google, now COO at Facebook is an active employee group hosts summits, courses and mentorship to develop and support women and there was plenty talk of Leaning in during the day.
The Google Stride Event, Receive Achieve Believe focused on effective feedback for women in leadership giving and receiving Constructive but Negative Critical reviews. And in essence that is what we do at VERI with our digital platform for analytics of training outcomes.
Data to support a change
The day was started with a focus on emotional intelligence. Maureen Gaffney had some research from the 70 female leaders at the event and in her work with companies managing change and transitions. Dr Gaffney suggested that having data to support your position is critical. Women leaders  are perceived  as too whiney, or too emotional or too dominant. But if you separate the message from the messenger with clear facts these perceptions can be quashed.
Change to Support Improvement
Cera Ward has a motto for her team, which is do something which “scares the bejaysus out of you” every quarter. Fail to do so and you’re not pushing yourself, it is a fear of stepping outside one’s comfortzone. Change is not something that Ward is afraid of, we at VERI are all about changing mindsets to a collaborative, digital communication tool makes training companies very good at getting on with the job to hand.
Using Tools to make you more efficient
There were many other speakers on the day including Emer Ward, a global leader and for me one of the most empowering speakers, who spoke about it being impossible to do it all, and the need for support as well as the personal versus the professional balance. Using tools to make you more efficient whether that is a housekeeper, a restaurant or a digital platform !
The last word of the day came from a male perspective. Peter Ryan is an amazing young man that lost his sight at 20 and has returned to success at European and Par Olympic level.
“Everyone in life has a story. This is my story but it doesn’t make me special. I don’t think my problem is better or worse than someone else’s. A problem is a problem. It’s how you’re dealing with it is the antidote. My support network was my answer. That’s what made me who I am – not the condition.”
Creating the right environments, programs and policies can support people  in pursuing their dreams and building tools that change the world, according to women@google. At Veri we have built a tool that will change the way companies’  manage their training. Receiving feedback in realtime, that is digital and transparent, ensuring good governance. In order to achieve success for learners, improvement in delivery and increased return on investment in training. More information from VERI.IE