Women’s Leadership Programmes
Bespoke leadership development for women, designed around your organisation and your people.
Talented women leave organisations every day — not because they lack ambition, but because they lack the right support at the right moment. The transition from capable professional to confident, influential leader is one of the most critical and most under-supported career stages there is.
We design and deliver bespoke women's leadership programmes that fit your organisation, your culture, and your people. Not a cohort your leaders join with strangers. Not an off-the-shelf product badged with someone else's name. A programme built around what your women leaders actually need, at the stage they're actually at.
Leadership challenges for women today are not about fixing the woman. They are about navigating a system that was not designed with her in mind.
Women who join our programmes arrive with lived experience of what researchers call the gender double-bind: the impossible tightrope of being confident but not pushy, assertive but not aggressive, visible but not too visible. These are not perception problems or crises of self-belief. They are documented, structural, and deeply familiar to anyone who has sat in a room and done the mental arithmetic before speaking.
Our work creates the space to name these patterns clearly, understand where they come from, and make more intentional choices about how to navigate them, without abandoning who you are in the process.
“Leadership systems should enable women to increase their self-awareness and make informed choices about their careers and behaviours.”
This work is explored in depth in a case study published by Oxford Brookes Business School, examining how gendered workplace norms create obstacles for women and how organisations can begin to address them. Read the case study at Oxford Brookes Business School.
How it works
A proven suite of modules. Infinite flexibility.
We have developed six core leadership modules, each grounded in research, refined through practice, and designed to create lasting behavioural change. Organisations commission the modules that are right for their people, sequence them in a way that works for their calendar, and deliver them under whatever name fits their culture.
Some organisations commission a single module as a starting point. Others build a sustained multi-module programme that develops their women leaders over twelve months or more. Most end up doing more than they originally planned — because the impact speaks for itself.
Every programme includes expert facilitation, 1:1 coaching, and peer learning within a small group of 6–8 participants. Everything is designed to fit around the demands of a senior working week rather than compete with it.
The Modules
A proven suite of modules. Infinite flexibility.
We have developed six core leadership modules, each grounded in research, refined through practice, and designed to create lasting behavioural change. Organisations commission the modules that are right for their people, sequence them in a way that works for their calendar, and deliver them under whatever name fits their culture.
Each module is delivered as a half-day workshop — manageable for busy leaders and easy to sequence without pulling people out of the business for days at a time. But the workshop is only part of it. Between sessions, participants take part in structured peer learning that embeds the work, builds the relationships, and creates the accountability that makes development stick.
That combination — expert facilitation, peer learning, and 1:1 coaching — is what separates a programme that changes behaviour from one that's forgotten by the following Monday.
Some organisations commission a single module as a starting point. Others build a sustained programme that develops their women leaders across six, nine, or twelve months. Most end up doing more than they originally planned — because the impact speaks for itself.
The Confident Leader For women who know they're capable but aren't always showing up as if they believe it. This module identifies the confidence gaps that hold talented leaders back and builds the self-belief to lead with authenticity and presence.
Fuel your thinking
Watch: Amy Cuddy, “Your Body Language May Shape Who You Are,” TED 2012 (21 mins)
Read: Bill George, “Discovering Your Authentic Leadership,” Harvard Business Review 2007
Listen: WorkLife with Adam Grant, “Steve Martin on Finding Your Authentic Voice” (35 mins)
The Connected Leader How to build and leverage the strategic relationships that accelerate careers — with intention and without feeling like you're playing a game that doesn't suit you.
Fuel your thinking
Watch: Carla Harris, “How to Find the Person Who Can Help You Get Ahead at Work,” TED (13 mins)
Read: Michael Bungay Stanier, “7 Meaningful Ways to Build the Best Possible Work Relationships”
Listen: HBR IdeaCast, “Tried-and-True Networking Tips from Decades of Experience” with Heidi Roizen (27 mins)
The Influential Leader How to lead with impact, bring people with you, and drive outcomes even when you don't hold the formal authority. Essential for leaders operating in matrixed or complex organisations.
Fuel your thinking
Watch: Celeste Headlee, “10 Ways to Have a Better Conversation,” TED 2015 (12 mins)
Read: Robert Cialdini, “The 7 Principles of Persuasion”
Listen: Dare to Lead with Brené Brown, “The Heart of Daring Leadership” (44 mins)
The Empowering Leader For leaders who are ready to move from doing to enabling — building genuine autonomy and accountability in their teams in a way that is true to who they are as a leader.
Fuel your thinking
Watch: Carol Dweck, “The Power of Believing That You Can Improve,” TED 2014 (10 mins)
Read: Michael Bungay Stanier, “10 Essential Coaching Skills for Managers”
Listen: Coaching for Leaders, “How to Build Psychological Safety” with Amy Edmondson (35 mins)
The Courageous Leader Strengthening relationships and driving outcomes through the conversations that matter most. How to say the difficult thing, with confidence, clarity, and care
Fuel your thinking
Watch: Margaret Heffernan, “Dare to Disagree,” TED 2012 (12 mins)
Read: Liane Davey, “Conflict Management: The Ultimate Guide to Healthy Conflict”
Listen: Douglas Stone & Sheila Heen on Difficult Conversations, Stone & Heen
The Adaptable Leader Sustaining impact and energy in a complex world. Tools and frameworks for leading with purpose, resilience and perspective, especially under pressure — without burning out.
Fuel your thinking
Watch: Susan David, “The Gift and Power of Emotional Courage,” TED 2017 (17 mins)
Read: Shawn Achor & Michelle Gielan, “Resilience Is About How You Recharge, Not How You Endure,” Harvard Business Review
Listen: WorkLife with Adam Grant, “Bouncing Back from Rejection” (45 mins
Going deeper: resources from our programmes
Every module includes curated reading, watching and listening above. For participants and organisations who want to go further, we have developed two extended resources that we are making available here.
Navigating Corporate Networks: The List I Wish Had Existed - A 19-page annotated reading list covering networks and strategic relationships, influence and power, communication, visibility, and career navigation. Every entry includes a rationale and key takeaways so you can prioritise based on where you are and what you need. Curated by Kate from two decades of coaching women through organisations that were not always designed for them.
Leadership Strengths Quick Guide -: A practical reference tool for real-time leadership moments. For each of the 24 VIA character strengths, this guide covers what the strength offers at its best, the key balance points in leadership, the signs of overuse or underuse, and quick reflective questions to recalibrate. Designed to be used in the moment, not read cover to cover.
Why Women Only?
Why women-only development works.
Women-only programmes aren't about exclusion — they're about creating the conditions where real development happens. When women don't have to justify their experiences or navigate gendered dynamics in the room, something shifts. Conversations go deeper. Vulnerability builds trust. And the work that actually changes leadership identity can begin.
Our programmes create that space — psychologically safe, expertly facilitated, and grounded in the real experiences of women navigating organisations that weren't always designed with them in mind.
The evidence is clear. Organisations in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams are 39% more likely to outperform their peers on profitability. Investing in women's leadership development isn't just the right thing to do — it's strategically essential.
Why organisations commission this work?
Organisations come to us when they're ready to move beyond good intentions and invest seriously in their female talent pipeline. In practice that means:
Strengthening leadership pipelines by developing high-potential women at critical career stages
Reducing mid-career attrition by providing targeted support when women most need it
Improving succession planning and leadership diversity at senior levels
Building cultures where talented women see a future and choose to stay
Demonstrating a genuine, tangible commitment to inclusion that goes beyond policy
Commissioning organisations receive programme impact evaluation and anonymised cohort insights to inform future talent investment decisions.
Frequently asked questions
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Every programme is built around your organisation, your culture, and what your women leaders actually need. We work from six core leadership modules, each delivered as a half-day workshop, combined with structured peer learning between sessions and 1:1 coaching throughout. Organisations choose the modules that are right for their people and sequence them to fit their calendar.
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That depends on how many modules you commission and how you choose to sequence them. Some organisations run a single module as a starting point. Others build a sustained programme across six, nine, or twelve months. Most end up doing more than they originally planned, because the impact tends to speak for itself.
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Programmes typically run with groups of 6 to 12 participants. This keeps the peer learning intimate enough for genuine trust and honest conversation to develop. For larger cohorts, we split into parallel groups, each with their own facilitation and coaching, so the experience remains personal even at scale. Group size is always discussed as part of designing the right programme for your organisation.
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Yes. Programmes can be delivered under whatever name fits your culture and your internal communications. The content, facilitation, and coaching are ours; the branding and framing can be yours.
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A single module works well as an introductory investment or as a targeted intervention for a specific challenge. A multi-module programme creates cumulative development: each session builds on the last, the peer relationships deepen over time, and the 1:1 coaching creates a thread of continuity that makes the learning stick beyond each individual session.
Still have queries?
Use the contact form, or drop us a line at hello@wearefirestarter.com
Let's design something for your organisation.
Every programme starts with a conversation about your people, your culture, and what you want to be different. From there we'll recommend the right modules, the right sequence, and the right approach.
No off-the-shelf answers. Just something that actually works for you.
