What Does It Actually Mean to Feel Aligned as a Leader?

There is no shortage of conversation about leadership. How to become a better leader, communicate with greater influence, build confidence or develop executive presence. However, I think we sometimes make the mistake of treating these things as separate skills.

In reality, how we lead is influenced by how well we understand ourselves. How we communicate affects our ability to connect with and influence others and how we present ourselves.This is part of the communication too.

For women in particular, professional identity can continue to evolve long after we have established our careers. A change in role, greater seniority, increased visibility or simply reaching a different stage of life can create a disconnect between who we have become and how we are showing up professionally.

That idea of alignment has been sitting with me for some time. It is also what led leadership coach, Sanna Rissanen and I to start a much bigger conversation about what could happen if we brought these different elements of professional development together in one room. Rather than another traditional leadership workshop, we wanted to create a day that looked at the whole person.

Know Yourself. Present with Style. Speak with Influence.

From that conversation, Aligned - A Full-Day Retreat for Women Who Lead was born.

Leadership Starts With Knowing Yourself

There is something powerful about having the opportunity to stop and consider how you are actually leading, not simply how well you are performing your role.

Understanding your values, strengths, behaviours and the way you connect with others creates a much stronger foundation for authentic leadership. It is difficult to lead with clarity if you don't have a clear understanding of yourself first.

This is the space Sanna works in: helping leaders better understand themselves, how they relate to others and how they can lead in a way that feels both effective and genuinely human.

How We Present Ourselves Matters

This is where my own work comes in.

I've spent more than 20 years working in fashion and styling, and increasingly my work has moved into the corporate and professional space. One thing I have become very clear about is that clothing doesn't make someone a good leader. It doesn't replace experience, intelligence, capability or substance.

But it does communicate.

Before we have said very much at all, people are already taking in visual information about us. Our clothing, grooming, body language and overall presence contribute to the way we are perceived. This can affect the way we feel when we walk into a room.

For me, professional style isn't about dressing according to a rigid set of rules, putting on a fancy jacket or creating a corporate uniform for yourself. It's about understanding what works for you and being intentional about how you want to show up. Ideally, there shouldn't be a disconnect between the person you have become professionally and the image you are presenting to the world.

The Need To Communicate

You can understand yourself. You can feel confident in how you present yourself. But leadership ultimately requires us to communicate with other people. We need to be able to articulate ideas, navigate difficult conversations, speak with confidence and create connection. That's why communication and voice form the third part of the Aligned day. We believe combining these three elements aids with alignment.

Who you are. How you present. How you communicate.

Rather than treating them as separate professional skills, we start to see how much they influence one another.

Creating A Different Kind Of Leadership Day

Sanna and I wanted Aligned to feel different from a traditional corporate training day. It is intentionally a small, full-day experience for women in leadership and women moving into greater leadership responsibility. There will be learning and practical tools, but also conversation, reflection and the opportunity to connect with other women navigating many of the same professional questions.

We'll explore leadership and self-awareness with Sanna, professional image and style with me, and communication and influence through a dedicated communication session.

My own session will look at the practical side of professional presence, understanding your style, using clothing strategically, navigating the changing expectations of workplace dress and building a wardrobe that actually supports the life you lead. Most importantly, this isn't about telling women how they should look. It's about helping women make more conscious choices about how they want to show up.

Alignment As The Goal

We hear a lot about confidence and executive presence, but perhaps what many of us are actually looking for is alignment. To feel that the person we are, the way we lead, the way we communicate and the way we present ourselves are all telling roughly the same story. None of us get that right all of the time. However, creating the space to think about it is a very good place to start.

Aligned - A Full-Day Retreat for Women Who Lead will be held in Sydney, with a small group of women coming together for a day focused on leadership, professional presence, communication and connection.

If this sounds like something you or a woman within your organisation would benefit from, I'd love you to join us.

ENQUIRE HERE.

With style,

Caitlin