Dr. Shawn Andrews

The Power of Perception: Leadership, Emotional Intelligence and Gender (Signature talk)

Even though women make up over half of the workforce and 60% of bachelor’s degrees in the U.S. and Europe, they are still not making inroads into leadership positions. To further complicate the issue, gender-specific EQ competencies impact the perception of men and women differently.
Understanding the power of perception can dramatically improve your career advancement opportunities. Building on her best-selling book, The Power of Perception: Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, and the Gender Divide, Dr. Andrews will address the latest research on these topics and show you how to apply practical strategies to boost your career.

During this interactive presentation, you’ll learn how to:

• Examine barriers that contribute to the leadership gender gap
• Identify emotional intelligence attributes and their impact on leadership
• Leverage gender differences (hard-wired and socialized) which show up every day at work and home
• Apply knowledge and tactics to improve career advancement

Maximizing Talent: Gender, Generations, and Leadership

This presentation is an insightful and fascinating look into the many facets of gender and generation, and their impact on leadership and talent. We’ll start my exploring the latest statistics on the global leadership gender gap and diversity trends. We’ll discuss how men and women are raised in different cultures, which starts at birth and carries into the workplace as adults. We’ll also examine how our oldest and youngest generations can work together to create a BoomerMillennial dream team.

Using real-world examples, Dr. Andrews will provide strategies that CEOs, men and women can use to fully maximize talent. This presentation is based on her research and best-selling book, The Power of Perception: Leadership, Emotional Intelligence, and the Gender Divide.

During this interactive presentation, you’ll learn how to:

• Examine latest statistics on the global leadership gender gap and diversity trends
• Appreciate how gender culture impacts behaviors, perception and promotion
• Explore generational characteristics and how to create a Boomer-Millennial dream team
• Apply practical strategies to maximize talent and leadership

Overcoming Hidden Biases that Hinder Our Success

By now, most of us know that unconscious biases affect the workplace. These hidden, reflexive preferences shape our world views and can profoundly affect how welcoming and open a workplace is to
different people and ideas. These predispositions shape the decisions we make by affecting the way we interpret information and how we interact with others—significantly impacting a whole host of organizational processes from recruitment to retention.

At the same time, we are experiencing significant shifts in global demographic trends which impact age, race, ethnicity, gender, religion, and LGBT employees. There is no doubt that our workplace is becoming more diverse, which increases the potential for more biases.

During this interactive presentation, you’ll learn how to:

• Identify different types, causes and impact of bias in the workplace
• Explore the effect of global demographic trends on biases
• Utilize case studies to communicate potential biases
• Apply individual and organizational strategies to minimize bias

Overcoming Bias and Ageism: Creating a Boomer-Millennial Dream Team

Unconscious biases shape the decisions we make by affecting the way we interpret information and how we interact with others—thus significantly impacting who gets hired. In addition, we have more age diversity in the workforce than ever before and will soon have five generations working side-by-side—which can be a challenge to navigate.

During this interactive presentation, you will learn about unconscious bias (especially ageism) and how it impacts your job search. We will also discuss the strengths of each generation, and how you can create a Boomer-Millennial dream team.

During this interactive presentation, you’ll learn how to:

• Identify types and causes of bias, especially ageism
• Explore the impact of D&I trends
• Leverage the strengths of each generation
• Create a Boomer-Millennial dream team

Driving D&I: Inclusive Workplace Strategies

As a global society, we are becoming more diverse every day. Today, many companies are striving to be more diverse and inclusive but are falling short. Why? Because most companies are not doing the right kinds of activities, not doing enough activities, or are only addressing one piece of the issue.

D&I initiatives can be compared to Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Diversity awareness starts at the bottom and sets the foundation, then as organization’s progress they move to active diversity management, then eventually evolve to become inclusive at the top of the pyramid. If an organization sets out to be inclusive from the start, then diversity will naturally follow.

During this interactive presentation, you’ll learn how to:

• Appreciate the difference between diversity and inclusion
• Explore the impact of global D&I trends
• Describe the business case for diversity
• Identify D&I gaps and opportunities in your organization
• Apply different approaches to develop a diverse and inclusive workplace

EQ and You: Building Success through Emotional Intelligence

Did you know that a leader’s ability to manage emotions and interact successfully with colleagues at all levels of an organization is directly linked to that leader’s ability to achieve the highest performance potential?
Simply put, Emotional Intelligence (EQ) is the ability to perceive and express emotions, understand and reason with emotion, and regulate emotion in self and others.

Research has identified an individual’s EQ as a key aspect and driver of leadership effectiveness. But it doesn’t just stop at leaders. EQ has been shown to be a key differentiator between good and great performance for both individuals and teams, and unlike IQ, EQ can be improved.
A systematic and committed approach is necessary to build emotionally competent organizations. A strategic cycle of assessment, learning, practice, and feedback over time will enable employees to build competencies that can help develop high-performing teams and leaders in the organization.

During this interactive presentation, you’ll learn how to:

• Examine the importance of EQ in the workplace
• Explore the impact of EQ on leadership
• Appreciate differences in EQ and gender
• Differentiate between teams with high EQ and teams with low EQ
• Leverage practical strategies to improve EQ competencies

Hiring for EQ: How to Select and Train Employees with High Emotional Intelligence

Have you ever made a hiring mistake? We all have. Candidates may look great on paper, but once on the job we realize that they lack critical skills that enable them to work effectively with others.

In this presentation, Dr. Shawn Andrews will discuss the importance of key emotional intelligence skills and the bottom-line impact of having talented people with high EQ at all levels of an organization. She will provide the neuroscience behind EQ and teams, behavioral interviewing tips, and tools you can use to select and train for high emotional intelligence.

During this interactive presentation, you’ll learn how to:

• Identify the most important EQ skills for the job
• Assess the level of EQ during the interview process
• Explore the neuroscience and impact that EQ has on teams
• Apply tips and tools to select employees with high EQ
• Train employees, hiring managers, HR, and leadership in developing EQ skills

Insights Discovery Colors - Communication Skills

The origins of personality trait theory date back to ancient Greece and Hippocrates. Hippocrates observed four distinct groups of characteristics, which he labeled the ‘four humours’. He determined that once he could identify what type of ‘humour’ a person had, he could predict their likely behavior.

Many researchers have subsequently expanded on this knowledge, and Insights has built on the extensive work of Swiss Psychologist Dr. Carl Jung to develop the Insights Discovery Learning System.

This system uses four distinct color energies (Fiery Red, Sunshine Yellow, Earth Green, and Cool Blue) which you can apply in your daily life to help you understand why you behave in the way you do, and why other people might behave differently. This foundational training workshop is designed to help you improve your effectiveness as an individual, in teams, in organizations, and in leadership.

I have had the opportunity of participating in other major personality trait-based learning programs (Myers-Briggs, Social Styles, and DiSC) and have found Insights Discovery Colors to be the most practical, applicable and easy to use on a daily basis.

During this interactive workshop, you’ll learn how to:

• Recognize differences and identify the unique culture of your team
• Explore team goals, challenges, communication styles, and values
• Focus on individual team member strengths (not on weaknesses)
• Apply practical uses of colors, such as non-verbal communication, interactions, work environment, listening, and emailing
• Appreciate your team’s color diversity

Insights Discovery Colors - Team Effectiveness

This workshop focuses on employees in specific teams or departments and will addresses issues and challenges most critical to team success.

This workshop is ideal if you want to:

• Identify your team’s strengths and challenges
• Create space for open and honest dialogue within the team
• Overcome an obstacle that’s holding the team back
• Develop action plans for continuous improvement

The Insights Team Effectiveness wheel and materials for this workshop are different from the Insights Discovery workshop. The team-oriented wheel focuses on 8 areas - results orientation, shared purpose, agility, collaboration, trust, cohesion, working methods, and measurement. These areas are explored through a variety of exercises and discussion with the group, in a fun and interactive format.

Insights Discovery Colors - Leadership Effectiveness

This workshop focuses on employees in leadership roles, from front-line supervisors to senior executives. It will inspire your leaders to lead with vision, passion, and integrity. It offers practical solutions that help leaders understand their leadership strengths, and how they can leverage those to improve the performance of the entire organization.

This transformational leadership workshop is ideal if you want to:

• Develop leadership teams that inspire people around them to excel, even in challenging times
• Understand leadership strengths and weaknesses and plan for higher levels of performance
• Help your leaders adapt their approach to motivate and inspire a diverse organization

The Insights Transformational Leadership wheel and materials for this workshop are different from the Insights Discovery workshop. The leadership-oriented wheel focuses on 4 major areas – visionary leadership, relational leadership, centered leadership, and results in leadership. These areas are explored through a variety of exercises and discussion with the group, in a fun and interactive format.