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Here Katrina Webb puts Sarah Henry and I right , the expression she always goes back to is “your body is your barometer” . Katrina tells us that we need to listen to it. Because it is so often right! She says she meets too many leaders who are intellectual and spend too much time in their heads. Our bodies might just tell us to lie down quietly or run up a hill NOW - just at the right moment - before we blow the next meeting or process or thinking. And Katrina adds that a strong relationship with our bodies is a starting point for having a strong relationship with others, it helps us to judge as leaders  “when to come in and out”.

The spiritual - or rather the sacred as Aparna Uppaluri says - has always been a deeply powerful resource to women. After all in a world where there is little else to rely on it is not a surprise. In this episode Aparna tells us why the sacred is part of her essence as a leader and how this shapes how she leads in her daily life

‘An accidental leader’ this is how Folawe Omikunle describes herself. Avoiding leadership right through her education, jumping into jobs because she fell in love with their cause and blind to their leadership challenges, leadership was never on her agenda. But Folawe does now accept that even if she still doesn’t think of herself as a leader, the people around her do, so “I have to accept it”. Looking back this ‘accidental leader’ reflects on how much easier it would have been, how more confident she would have been, how she could have channelled her energies better, if there had been an ‘approach to leadership that resonated for her’ available. Then she could have “taken the blindfolds off”

Music was everywhere in Bellagio. Sung by all, composed by Anna Kuk , played by Katya Guryeva, shared by Hinemoa Elder and Ana Luz Porzecanski and Dr Ayesha Mian, danced to by Aparna Uppaluri. Why? Surely we were there for the serious business of capturing - as our #expedition drew to a close - an ‘approach to leadership that resonates with women’. We did. And it called for music to bring us together, lift our eyes, reveal our inferences, land our thoughts, dance to new tunes, combine our ideas and create our poetry. This hastily put together episode as we leave will give you more of a sense things.

women leaders need female friendships if they are to survive and thrive.

Mothering teenagers is generally considered to be a nightmare. Samia and Saba make it look easier. And show us how it makes us better leaders. Saba even admits to reading many leadership books that persuaded her that she had to change but that it was only when her teenage sons said the same thing to her that she actually did. Of mothering she says “I thought I was there to teach my sons but rapidly realised how much they were teaching me and this translated directly and forcefully to my leadership. “ There is so much learning in this episode for leaders. I also pull out Samia’s words about communication skills and making sure that you are constantly upskilling them as a leader. Things change, generations are different, how we communicate has to evolve. And if we don't, Samia says we develop “cataracts” and don't see things.

If you have to conceal how much mothering has changed you when you return to work after your first baby, all the extraordinary learning and growing could get squandered.

If you are the conductor of a famous orchestra who must accept leading from the front, even if it’s hard to be so visible. And then you throw your whole body into your leadership. As it suggests and invites your team to give not just with their hands but their heads and hearts too. I hope i express the glorious nature of Martyna Pastuszka interview this week. She was complemented by Anna Kuk who leads from the middle and has found that it’s possible to lead from the middle and be visible.

These two women in Brazil are amazing. I just had to divert the podcast and speak to expedition member Camila Pontual who knows and loves them both about what they did last week. 24 hours after the building had been trashed, when many leaders were hiding in their bunkers, Anielle Franco and Sonia Guajajara joined forces and became ministers in the new government. I wanted to both celebrate them and learn leadership from them. Leaders have to spot the moment and do something spectacular in it.

Yes, the devil still wears Prada. This second new year episode speaking to young women who are leaders makes this very clear. My generation has to wake up and make inter generational work between women given the urgent modern problems we face.

This episode is the first of our two episodes where young women, globally, are sharing their views on how they think about leadership. Olivia Grobocopatel, Temilade Salami, Enaya Noor Mian, Karimot Odebode and Meenakshi Arundhati Banerjee are some of our fantastic young women to be interviewed. Enaya Noor Mian says its “very very hard”, Olivia Grobocopatel that its “about being clear and optimistic, even in a complex and frightening world”, Temilade Salami joyfully urges us to “just get on with it, because we don’t seek validation any more”, Sara Khan asks how to “balance empathy with getting the job done”, Karimot Odebode calls for “sisterhood” and Meenaksi Arundhati Banerjee unpicks the intricacies and complexities of “privilege”. Different views held by different women across the Global South. Meena urges Women Emerging to ‘normalise’ leadership. Noor says “no don’t do that, it is something to aspire to and take pride in. But EMPATHY and PRIVILEGE are words used commonly by all.

I have tried to answer all your #Expedition questions in one episode! What have I myself learnt about #leadership while leading an expedition about leadership? Of the joy of working with other women. About creating the right culture. Of listening ferociously. About digging myself out when I got lost. About leading real diversity. About holding to the task. And if keeping agile and playful. What have the big personal insights been so far from the Expedition? There are so many. I chose four. 1 The language of leadership is not only framed by men but also by the English language and the commercial world. It badly needs to break out. 2 We must bring mothering and spirituality into the frame. 3 However much I don’t want to admit it, I am a product of my own generation and need to consciously reframe. Be this about #artificialintelligence or #transissues, #privilege or #internationalmoneyflows 4 We are going reframe our perceived weaknesses as women leaders and recognise that they are really our strengths. We will Embrace and claim the #impostersydrome #emotionalleadership and #irrationalthinking as the sources of #humility #empathy and #innovation. What does 2023 look like for #WomenEmerging? Ah! now for this you will need to listen to episode 41. Happy New Year to all, lots and lots of love, Julia

The language of leadership is dominated by English. This episode reveals just what a flaw this is. 12 members of the expedition translate the definition of leadership we have adopted for the expedition into their mother tongues. Or rather they try to. Selvie Jusman admits her translation doesn’t really mean anything and falls back in love with her own #bahai. Uma Chatterjee reveals that none of us will ever really know her unless they speak #bengali. Isata Kabia just has fun in #creole. Hinemoa Elder introduces us to #personification in # Māori. Katya Guryeva avoids the problems of a gendered language in #russian. Maria Karageorgou reveals that catalyse (the first word in the #english definition) has two polar opposite means in its original #greek. Ana Luz Porzecanski gets back to scientific basics on catalysing with #spanish. Fatima Zibouh comes round to the word catalyse in #french. Rouba Mhaissen has adopted catalyse big time in #arabic. Anna Kuk has to decide whether to go for the faithful or the beautiful in #polish.  And Erica Su makes an extraordinary and beautiful breakthrough in #chinese. Those of you who think translation is simple, listen to this episode. It illustrates the opposite and the source of many misunderstandings. English is so helpful as a common language but has huge limitations which many are blind to. This episode is an advanced class in #culturalintelligence #cq

In this weeks episode we speak to Nichol Bradford, Founder/ Partner, NIREMIA Collective and Leila Toplic, Head of Technologies Initiative, NetHope who make the case for Artificial Intelligence and explain how we can lead AI as Women. We then speak to Paula Langton, Partner, Campbell Lutyens who discusses the current world financial order and actually just how little it would take to shift it a little and what a vast and rapid impact this would have. Another episode filled with incredible leadership insights from female leaders.

The world is filled with complex and challenging issues, this weeks episode looks at the context in which the Women Emerging Expedition is taking place. By discussing some of difficult and traumatic situations leaders must lead through, along with helpful tips and insights from some incredible female leaders across the world. First we speak to Francesca Cavallo, an Italian bestselling author, entrepreneur and activist and Twila Moons a scientist at the National Snow and Ice Data Center about climate change and how they are managing to lead within it and the difficulties they face. Then we speak to Claire York PhD an author, academic and advisor specialising in the role and limitations of empathy and emotions in security, international affairs, politics, leadership, and society about the new international order and the wars taking place around the world and the impact they will have. And finally Sheila Paylan, an international criminal lawyer and human rights expert looks at the legal framework we are faced with and how that impacts us all.

This episode is dedicated to our virtual expedition to find an approach to Leadership that resonates with women. But as opposed to being focused on the women taking part expedition we speak to some of the women around the expedition. supporting the journey in different ways. DEEPALI KHANNA, Vice President, The Rockefeller Foundation who has been instrumental in bringing the 24 women together. THEO SOWA, Writer/Human Right Activist/ Consultant/ Television presenter who has been a Guide on the Expedition, speaking to and supporting members. MARIANNE SCHNALL, Journalist/Interviewer/Author, Forbes Contributor who wrote an incredible article about the Expedition for Forbes. STEPHANIE KHURANA, Managing Partner and Chief Operating Officer, Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation & Faculty Dean Emeritus, Cabot House; Social Impact Fellowship Fund Judge, Harvard Innovation Labs, Harvard University who has the role of the 'Enabler' on the Expedition.

In this weeks episode we speak to Leila Toplic, Head of Technologies Initiative, NetHope and Julienne Lusenge, Directrice du Fond, Les femmes Congolaises and they give us a number of tips and insights on how to lead a fight. Covering everything from the self-care necessary to leading in the fight and dealing with raw anger.

In this weeks episode Julia delves into the topic of women's place in society and how that looks in different countries and cultures across the world. Anna Afeyan Governor, Board of Trustees UWC Dilijan College, Alfonsina Penaloza, Director, Programs, Global & Latin America, Co-Impact, Anila Dehart, Managing, Director, Global Talent, Deloitte & Selvie Jusman, Finance Professional all of whom have moved from a different country to the US explain how their own experiences and cultures have shaped them and what being a woman looks like in their home country vs the US.

How do you have difficult conversations as a Leader? This week we dive into how we have those tough conversations, especially around performance. We speak to Dr Monica Medina, Literacy Consultant, International & US schools and Karen Lord, Entrepreneurial Publisher, KADELO GROUP LIMITED/Author, St. Martin's Press, who discuss how we can make those hard conversations more comfortable, how to prepare for them and more...

In this weeks episode we speak to Catherine Ruggles, Director of Software Engineering at Google and Nosipho Damasane. Who discuss rising up in the current meritocratic systems as someone from a marginalised group, being the ONLY woman, women in STEM and making successful challenges of systems.