Goli Sadri, Mihaylo College management professor

Mihaylo Management Professor Goli Sadri and program director Joanna Moore discuss the Women’s Leadership Program, which will equip Mihaylo female students with career success and leadership acumen.

“It is vital for women to become aware of some of the challenges that are unique to them and develop the skills necessary to overcome and thrive as leaders,” Mihaylo Management Professor Goli Sadri says. Sadri and Joanna Moore, founder and principal of J. Moore Consulting Services and an advisory board member of the Mihaylo Center for Insurance Studies, have developed the Women’s Leadership Program, designed to assist coeds with the skill development needed for career and leadership success. The program is also made possible through the support of retired Mihaylo Management Professor Dorothy Heide.

“There are many skills that are applicable to both genders, such as possessing high emotional intelligence,” Moore, the program’s director, says. “However, women approach some skills, such as negotiation and advocacy, differently than men. For example, research has shown that women may propose a course of action in the workplace, but if it is rejected, they tend not to re-propose it, a tendency we seek to address.”

Moore notes that women often handle the failure to receive a promotion differently than men. “For many women, if they propose a pathway for a potential promotion and their supervisor disagrees, they personalize the disappointment as a rejection and give up,” she says. “My goal is to help young women view these opportunities differently, in a more positive light.”

Joanna Moore

The leadership program, which will debut this fall, consists of six programs from November to May 2016, which will focus on four pillars of leadership: character, competence, context and communication. Those factors were identified by Neil Grunberg, professor and director of leadership programs at the Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences and a member of the Presidential Leadership Scholars Program. Grunberg’s study was based on historic leaders from the Roman Empire to the present day.

Topics to be discussed during the 2015-2016 program include resilience in the face of adversity and disappointment, developing the correct balance between assertiveness and aggressiveness, competencies necessary for leadership, mentorship and networking, matching ambition with personal vision and mission, and negotiation and advocacy. The programs, on Nov. 6, Dec. 4, Feb. 5, Mar. 4, Apr. 1 and May 6, will be held on Fridays from 10 a.m. to noon with a lunch following.

The program is currently taking applications from current Mihaylo students, with a deadline of Sept. 30. To apply, contact [email protected].