Women who lead in K12 education and other fields often hold themselves to impossible, even superhuman standards, says Dina Scippa, a leadership coach.
Scippa, the founder and CEO of Enough Labs, will cover these professional challenges in a keynote speech at District Administration’s Leadhership Network for Women conference in September. The talk, “Sorry, Not Sorry: Embracing the Power of Authenticity,” will encourage women to lead unapologetically—even imperfectly.
“Women leaders who are working in the education space are dealing with so many layers of stress,” she Scippa observes. “They’re dealing with teaching, they’re dealing with district policies, they’re dealing with family pressure, they’re dealing with having to navigate all of these different issues, and in some part of their brain, a lot of times women will hold themselves to an impossible standard of needing to get it done perfectly, and needing to do it well in the eyes of everyone who’s watching,” she says.
Scippa hopes to help women overcome the impostor syndrome that afflicts many leaders. “A lot of times, women from a very young age have been conditioned to believe that they have to apologize for things, for any lack or absence of a skill or certain way of doing things,” she says. “It’s born out of this idea that we have to be perfect and pleasing and accommodating all the time.”
Exploring authenticity guides women leaders to question whether they are fulfilling a stereotype or performing a role that they believe appears acceptable to colleagues. This can force women to stifle their true personalities.
“If you’re someone who has spent a lifetime being a people pleaser, and thinking that if I do things a certain way, then people will like me, then they will promote me, then they will accept me, it’s not allowing you to connect with your authentic self,” she explains. “So that version of your authentic self gets smaller and smaller and smaller in the rearview mirror, versus being able to be front and center with you in the driver’s seat.”
Leadhership confidence boosters
Scippa will provide confidence boosters that inspire attendees of the Leadhership conference to lead authentically as their true selves. She wants women to lean into their unique sources of energy and their complexities rather than waiting for permission to make an impact.
“A lot of women will have likely internalized a message that they’re too much, they’re either too loud or too emotional, or too driven, or too ambitious, or have too big of ideas,” she explains. “And I would say the counteroffer—the reframe that’s available to women—is that you are nuanced, you’re not the stereotype, you are your unique secret sauce of leadership, and you shouldn’t apologize for being too much of anything.”
She also acknowledges burnout and urges women leaders to set boundaries between professional availability and personal self-care. They shouldn’t hesitate to seek personal support and collaborate professionally.
“If you’re not willing to confront the stuff that’s holding you back, it will always hold you back,” she adds. “I’m going to lead women who are at the conference through a mini-exercise that will take them forward and put this into practice.”
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