In recent months, House of Beaufort has developed a strong relationship with the British Chamber of Commerce in Slovak Republic, so we were delighted to be invited as a guest speaker at the annual British Chambers of Commerce in Central Europe’s Business Ladies Day on 11 October 2018, a forum that united over a hundred senior women from the Slovakian business community.

The panel discussion focused on key challenges that senior women leaders have faced in forging their careers and included, amongst others, the Head of HR at Jaguar Landrover Slovakia and the MD of G4S, a global security firm.  It was interesting, of course, from our perspective as trainers and executive coaches, to note how frequently issues of confidence and self-belief had informed key points of their professional journeys.

Our presentation focused on how important it is to identify and address critical behaviours that may impact career development, whether one is heading for the Board Room or moving into a position of early leadership.

Indeed, the quotation with which I opened the session certainly resonated with the audience:

“It’s not about a pipeline problem. It’s about loneliness, competition and deeply rooted barriers.” (NY Times, July 17,2017)

Slovakia is one of the EU’s great success stories with a rapidly expanding economy and the movement of many women into corporate sectors, so we were happy to share both our expertise and global platform for the professional empowerment of women. We look forward to returning to Slovakia and deepening our relationship with the excellent British Chamber of Commerce in Slovak Republic. Ďakujem, Denisa, Eva and Nikoleta!