In the second installment of our Celebrate Female Authors Series, I wanted to introduce you to Heather Thomson, co-author of Mind the Gap: Navigating your leadership journey. I was first introduced to Heather when I signed up to be a leadership mentor as part of the Women In Leadership (WIL) Foundation’s annual mentorship program. Heather is not only an executive coach, past educator, and co-founder of a Women’s Leadership company called LumiLead Inc., but she is also a mentor and WIL Alberta Chair. Her passion for helping lift other women is evident in her continuous leadership growth, such as becoming certified in impostor syndrome at the Impostor Syndrome Institute.
Let’s dig into Heather’s Power of 7 Questions
1. What are you most passionate about?
I am really passionate about my family, learning new things, and helping others achieve their dreams and goals. I worked in Education for over 25 years with teens and now get to use my teaching skills to provide training and development for women leaders.
2. Who is your greatest role model?
My greatest role models are my parents. They have instilled their core values and beliefs in me and have always encouraged me to follow my dreams. My mom was diagnosed with MS in her late 50’s and has been battling this disease for a while now; however, she is always positive and upbeat. It is extremely hard on both my mom and dad but they remain upbeat and positive. They are amazing role models for not only me and my brothers but also for their grandchildren.
3. What is your greatest accomplishment in your career trajectory?
My greatest accomplishment in my career trajectory is being able to be true to myself. I can’t say I have one thing that I believe is my greatest accomplishment because I am always pushing and stretching myself–beyond what I truly thought I was capable of doing. As a working mom, I want to be able to be a role model for my daughter and be able to demonstrate through my own actions that anything is possible in your career. It is also important for me to support others on their career journey which is why I was interested in coaching and becoming a coach. I have had to pivot quite a bit on my career path and each time that happened, as scary as it was, things always worked out for me.
4. What would you say is your leadership approach?
I would say that my leadership style has evolved since my first leadership opportunity when I was in my mid-20’s. My style in the beginning of my leadership journey was more of an authoritarian approach. As I began to invest in myself and focused on developing myself as a leader, my leadership style evolved into a more participative leadership style as well as a coaching leadership style. What I have learned is that it is important to be able to use a situational leadership approach because different situations may call for different styles that are more impactful for certain situations.
5. What advice would you give a new or emerging leader who is building their career?
- invest in yourself and your learning (formal training, webinars, blogs)
- Network with other like-minded women (join professional associations (WIL), join a mastermind like the Leaders Success Alliance, attend networking events)
- Focus on work-life integration and self-care
Let’s talk about your book:
6a. What drove you to writing a book?
I co-wrote the book Mind The Gap: Navigating Your Leadership Journey with Keri Schwebius & Doug Forsdick. We met on the first day of our executive coaching training at Royal Roads and we became friends right away. During our initial training we talked about writing a book that would help to support new and aspiring leaders as well as leaders who were wanting to hone their skills. After we completed the program, we began to write the book which was published in January 2022. It was important for us to highlight key areas that we wished we had more experience in as we began our leadership journey as well as sharing some personal experiences. At the end of each chapter, we have provided reflection questions to help the reader reflect on their experience as well as areas they wanted to strengthen. Our intention was to write a book that you could pull out periodically during your leadership journey and use the chapters as tools to continue to develop yourself.
6b. Have you found, in your career and writing your book, anything that stands out in the way women lead vs men? Are there things women leaders should consider doing differently?
What I have noticed is that women and men lead differently. In my leadership career, I found that the women can be more collaborative and inclusive while the men are more task-oriented and directive. I do think it is important to recognize that this is not always the case. My last male leader I worked for was very reflective, collaborative and inclusive.
I think as women leaders, we need to feel confident in our ability to lead others and to be authentic in our leadership style. We all bring different gifts and talents to our leadership roles and learning how to dial up or down certain strengths is important. Women should feel comfortable in owning their leadership style and not comparing themselves to others.
6c. What are the top 6 things women should do to elevate their leadership capabilities?
- Ongoing learning and professional development – whether it is formal training, professional reading, attend workshops/webinars.
- Build a strong network – Take the time to connect with other female leaders, join professional associations, work with a mentor or sponsor.
- Take time to map out your career – Setting goals for yourself and your career are an important part of your leadership journey. Oftentimes, myself included, we have an idea about what we want to accomplish in our career. We need to begin to use SMART goals and start to take the steps needed to move forward in the direction we want to go.
- Stop playing small – Women leaders should be confident in what they bring to the table. It is important to share your thoughts and ideas in meetings and not sit back because you feel that what you say does not bring value to the conversation.
- Develop Your emotional intelligence – Learn how to interact with other individuals within your organization, develop empathy skills, learning to understand the perspectives of others.
- Feedback – Don’t be afraid to ask for feedback from others. What I have noticed is that when we ask for feedback from others, it can create a feeling of uneasiness and discomfort. I remember asking my boss for feedback and although he shared some really positive feedback, it was awkward for both of us. I would ask others what they see as my strengths.
7. You are co-founder of LumiLead, can you tell us more about your company and what you are doing to help women be the best versions of themselves?
Yes! Keri Schwebius and I co-founded LumiLead Inc. where we provide training and development for Canadian Women. Keri and I pride ourselves in building this company where we create the curriculum that is designed for women leaders. Our signature program, The Lighthouse Leadership Program, is a 12-week program that is personally facilitated by Keri and myself and is the perfect training program for you if you are about to take on a leadership role or are in the first five years of your leadership journey. We have also designed the Women Leaders Success Alliance which is a mastermind group where like-minded women leaders at various stages of their career meet on a regular basis to network, share challenges, brainstorm solutions and work together to elevate each other. Our programs, mastermind and webinars focus on women leaders who are ready to elevate themselves through continuous growth and who want to become part of LumiLead’s community of amazing women leaders.
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