In this episode of Push to Be More, host Sadaf Beynon interviews Belinda Clemmensen, CEO and founder of Women's Leadership Intensive, about empowering female leaders and addressing systemic challenges in the workplace. Belinda shares insights on the unique hurdles women face in leadership roles, the importance of diversity and inclusion, and her personal journey as an entrepreneur. The conversation explores strategies for sustainable leadership, the evolution of DEI initiatives, and the need for a more integrated approach to gender equity in the professional world.

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Timestamps:

0:00 Intro and guest introduction

5:52 Challenges faced by women in leadership

12:34 Origins of Women's Leadership Intensive

16:23 Unique challenges for women in workplace

22:43 Adapting leadership approach for individuals

28:12 Systemic challenges and DEI pushback

33:01 Bridging divides and finding common ground

37:33 Recharging and staying resilient in impactful work

41:18 Personal growth and sustainable work-life balance

44:38 Closing remarks and contact information

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Key Takeaways:

1. Embrace Authentic Leadership:

Belinda Clemmensen highlights the importance of leading in a way that aligns with one's personal values and strengths. She believes that leadership is an inside job, encouraging individuals to lead as themselves rather than conforming to traditional expectations.

2. Value Diversity in Learning:

Belinda underscores the significance of diverse learning environments. By bringing together individuals from various industries and backgrounds, her open-enrolment programmes create a rich tapestry of perspectives. This diversity enhances learning and broadens participants' understanding, making it a key component of effective leadership development.

3. Prioritise Self-Care and Reflection:

Belinda advises leaders to listen to their bodies and prioritise self-care to maintain resilience. She emphasises the role of reflection and writing in staying connected to one's experiences and emotions. This self-awareness helps drive meaningful change and supports sustainable, balanced living.

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Sadaf Beynon [0:13 - 1:53]: Hey there, and welcome back to Push to Be More. I'm Sadaf Beynon, one of the hosts for this show. And today we've got another great conversation about what it takes to make life work. Joining me today is our special guest, Belinda Clemmensen. I'm really excited to hear about her unique life experiences, the hurdles she's had to push through, the way she recharges her spirit, and the steps she's taking to be more. In other words, it's all about push to be more. This episode is brought to you by Podjunction, a podcast production service where we're all about helping businesses share their stories and build real connections through their power, through the power of podcasting. Being part of the team at Podjunction, I've seen firsthand how podcasting can be a gift for reaching people and making a real impact through meaningful conversations. Now, I know a lot of you listening are leaders and entrepreneurs. And if you're curious about what podcasting can do for you, your business, or if you're wondering where to even start, head over to podjunction.com we'd love to help make the process clear and approachable for you. Podcasting offers a unique way to expand your reach and connect with your audience and in ways that you may not have considered. And honestly, it's so much easier than you might think. So head over to podjunction.com and see what podcasting can do for you. And now meet Belinda. Belinda is the CEO and founder of Women's Leadership Intensive and a champion for empowering female female leaders to thrive and make a meaningful impact. Her book, Women, Leadership, and Saving the World, equips women in leadership to help shape a better future for everyone. Belinda, welcome to the show. How are you today?

Belinda Clemmensen [1:53 - 1:56]: Thank you so much, Sadaf. I'm great, thanks. How are you?

Sadaf Beynon [1:56 - 1:59]: I'm well, thank you. It's a real pleasure to have you.

Belinda Clemmensen [1:59 - 2:02]: It's really great to be here. I've been looking forward to this conversation.

Sadaf Beynon [2:03 - 2:06]: Yes, absolutely. All right, so shall we get stuck in?

Belinda Clemmensen [2:06 - 2:07]: Let's do it.

Sadaf Beynon [2:07 - 2:18]: As you know, I'm part of Podjunction, and the question I would like to kick off with is if you had your own podcast and could invite anybody to be your guest, who would you have on and why?

Belinda Clemmensen [2:18 - 4:30]: This is probably one of the hardest questions I've had to prepare for for a podcast of all the podcast podcast that I've done, because I think there are so many people that I would love to talk to in this podcast format where we just get to have a conversation. So I. I actually did spend a lot of time reflecting on this. And, and the person that I came up with of the, of the very long list was Jody Wilson Raybolt, who is a Canadian Indigenous woman. She is a, a Member of Parliament. She is the former Attorney General of Canada. She has been a regional Indigenous chief of an assembly of first nations in British Columbia here in Canada. And she actually resigned her position over a government scandal that happened a few years ago under the leadership of our now former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. And from what I could see, you know, just as a citizen watching this unfold, she resigned because of a clash of values, right? There was a scandal involving a corporation and government interference and I think a criminal case with this organisation. And I think she was getting some pressure to behave in a certain way or take certain decisions and decided not to and instead resigned that position. And so I think there's just so much happening in that situation with her that I'm so curious about, right? Like, what did it take for her to even get there as an Indigenous woman in Canada? You know, what was the decision to resign a position like that, like knowing that she is the only indigenous woman who's ever held it, you know, the intersectionality there, the, the life story that she must have, what is she doing now? How does she feel back on the whole situation? You know, I just feel like I could ask her a million questions about her life and about that experience of the journey there, the journey to leave, you know, what do you think?

Sadaf Beynon [4:30 - 4:35]: I mean, I know you, you don't know because you haven't asked her, but what do you think some of the answers to those questions would be?

Belinda Clemmensen [4:35 - 5:49]: You know, I think with all my years of working with women in leadership and supporting women into, you know, human centric values based, meaningful leadership roles. You know, a story that I hear a lot from women is that they feel that in a lot of situations, whether it's in, you know, governments or corporations or what have you, that there is a feeling of needing to compromise their values, right, in some way. Values around sustainability, values around inclusion, values around even things like asking for more from people, right? Asking, you know, this whole, like, do more with less. You know, there's a, there's a cognitive dissonance there, right? This idea of we all need to do more with less, like that math doesn't actually work for most of us. You know, maybe there's some creativity or innovation that will help us do more with less, but beyond that, how are we getting the more out of people, right? And so we're asking for that, for people to give more and more and more and more for what? To what? Who benefits? You know, So I think leadership these days is a pretty tough job.

Sadaf Beynon [5:49 - 5:52]: Belinda, you're talking about challenges. What are some of yours?

Belinda Clemmensen [5:52 - 8:25]: Yeah, I think, you know, I feel similarly, I resonate a lot or relate a lot with what the challenges are that people talk to me about my clients and the women in our programmes, the men in our programmes too for that matter. You know, as an entrepreneur, I think, you know, we, we all sort of know the story of women's entrepreneurship, whether it's in Canada or any other place that they're, it's a very similar story, right? The funding adventure Capital is terrible. You know, like women owned businesses get, what is it like less than 3% or something of venture capital funding. So there's, there's very little money. I think we're more scrutinised for business loans and other things, you know, so there's challenges there. You know, there's the sort of way that women's businesses are discussed in the world. You know, a lot of them are sort of considered a, you know, a side hustle or a project as opposed to a legitimate business that feeds your family and contributes to the economy and employs people. So I think I faced a lot of those kinds of challenges. But I'm also in the business of, you know, advancing equity and inclusion in the world. And so I'm inherently then asking my clients to change, right? And I think a lot of, a lot of organisations or a lot of us like to think about change and health and positive change that we want. But when I, when it's actually time to do the work of change, it's pretty uncomfortable, right? And especially when it comes to change in these human systems, things around equity and inclusion. And so that kind of change is even more uncomfortable. So essentially I'm asking my clients, I'm basically going in and say like, pay me to make you and your people uncomfortable, right? And it's going to go to a good place, we're going to get to somewhere better. But it's not going to be easy, it's not going to be a quick fix, it's not going to necessarily feel comfortable. People are going to have to change, they're going to have to learn, you know, it's, it's, it's going to the good. But it is a difficult thing to tell people. You know, it's like, I often joke, it's like I'm, I get paid to tell people things they don't want to hear. You know, it's like if we're looking at equity in someone's organisation, I'm like, okay, well, so give me, give me your numbers. Like, how are you doing on things like women in leadership roles? You know, and let's, let's really look at it. Let's, let's see what you have. Let's see what your starting point is and see what needs to change for you to move forward. And some of those changes are things that, that are going to feel painful.

Sadaf Beynon [8:25 - 8:32]: Yeah. Belinda, you said that the story of the former Attorney general. Forgot her name. Was it Jody.

Belinda Clemmensen [8:32 - 8:34]: Jody Wilson Raybol Jody Wilson.

Sadaf Beynon [8:34 - 8:45]: Yeah. You said her story kind, you resonated with that. So tell me a bit about your story and how you got to where you are and some of the challenges that you've had to come up against.