Research shows that when women play by a man’s rules, they don’t get ahead in the same way (Catalyst, 2011*). So why play by those rules? The #1 thing a woman can do to advance her professional career – including and especially break through the glass ceiling or succeed in her own business – is to speak up, sit at the table, network, make sure people know about her accomplishments. And yet, most of us don’t do it effectively or often enough!

Yes, these things can happen – but not when you learn how to speak from your authentic core. When you learn to speak your truth – bringing your unique personal wisdom forth and release your fears about what others will think – then you become the leader people want to follow, impressing your superior, colleagues and clients alike!

When you can speak your truth effectively, it’s not only possible to give the powers-that-be the difficult truth, it’s preferable – they want to listen to you! When you deliver your truth correctly, hard-to-hear information is actually refreshing, impactful and makes you powerful – simply by being yourself.

As the immediate past CEO of a professional association, I have the responsibility as a continuing board member of growing our number one revenue-generating program, which had been lacking in leadership and relying on competing stakeholders to run the operation. By speaking my truth always, I overhauled the make-up of two disparate committees into a new advisory council addressing a global and industry diverse membership to ensure the availability of best practices worldwide. The Speak Your Truth to Power eCourse helped me address my fears of reprisal, allowed me to keep an open mind and evaluate all inputs fairly, and taught me that I didn’t always have to be right in every situation to succeed and advance the goals of the association.

B.B., Board Member

Yes, these are soft skills, but with hard impact. This is why I’ve been invited to teach this material to mid-career government professionals as a faculty member at the George Washington University Center for Excellence in Public Leadership. Why? Because the powers-that-be know it’s a critical leadership development skill, and they want their best and brightest to know how to do it well!

I had my first true test of The Speaking Truth to Power approach recently when my boss verbally attacked me. Using Dana’s wisdom and methodology I was shocked at how calm I was, how easily my truth flowed from me, and how happy I was with the outcome.

Laurie Erdman, (former) attorney

I was actively engaged from the start and looked forward to the quiet time during the day when I could tackle the next week’s lessons. The online format allowed me to pace myself as opposed to moving at the instructor’s pace and the mixed media format was beneficial, too. 

B.B., Board Member

Since childhood, confrontation has made me emotionally ill and until I recently began applying Dana’s wisdom for Speaking Truth to Power, I would leave every single conflict with a knot in my stomach, regretting what I hadn’t said – or what I had. In my previous legal career, this became truly problematic because my job was to win every argument. I had to be right and get my way every time. Since leaving the law, I’ve applied the Speak Truth to Power practice more freely, to tap into my own personal truth instead of the one I was being paid to champion, and to prepare to accept all possible outcomes from my speaking. I had my first true test of this approach recently when my boss verbally attacked me. Using Dana’s Speak Truth to Power approach I was shocked at how calm I was, how easily my truth flowed from me, how winning was less important than being true to myself, and how happy I was with the outcome that occurred precisely because I didn’t get into a fighting match even when provoked. The Speak Truth to Power approach in this eCourse has been truly transformative for my work and my life. I can’t recommend it highly enough and I wish I’d applied more of it when I was a lawyer!

Laurie Erdman, (former) attorney

My name is Dana Theus, founder of  InPower Coaching and InPower Women. I’m a leadership consultant and I’ve spent the last 25 years of my career as a corporate executive and consultant learning the ropes of leadership and management at Fortune 100 companies, roller-coaster startups, government agencies and non-profits of all sizes. I’ve done it “their way” to achieve external power and “my way” to claim internal, personal power and I can tell you – personal power is the way to go. Once you access your InPower, you never feel powerless again and the sky’s the limit on external power you can achieve.

Claiming your personal power isn’t rocket science or super-secret sauce I cooked up. It’s modern psychology plus some ancient wisdom with a dollop of modern sensibility and a splash of “how to” common sense. It’s the same guru-juice I teach at the George Washington University Center for Excellence in Public Leadership – only packaged for busy working professionals like you.

I’m in this for both of us because that’s my mission – to change the world by helping leaders like you take back your power to make a difference - for yourself and the world. I can’t succeed unless you do. Join me!

*Catalyst 2011: The Myth of the Ideal Worker – “It was found that women saw the greatest outcomes when they made their achievements known and when they build strong relationships with powerful individuals … Researchers found that women advance much slower in the careers, even when they use similar tactics to that of their male counterparts.”