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2023 Women in Global Development Leadership Forum

Leading in this moment

May 3-4 | Virtual | Live Programming in 23 timezones

Global Leaders Coaching Program

The opportunity

If you have a pass for the 2023 Women in Global Leadership Forum, you are warmly invited to apply for six months of pro-bono leadership coaching around your most pressing organizational, team and professional challenges. Fluent English, French, Spanish or Arabic is required.

If you’re interested in coaching, but not eligible for this program, you can explore paid coaching opportunities here.

84
said coaching was a life-changing experience
96
said it helped them make progress towards long-term development goals

Successful applicants will receive the following coaching package at no cost

Intro meeting

Initial 90-minute meeting to identify key issues and establish coaching guidelines and focus.

6 months live coaching

6 months of coaching appointments. 50 minutes each, one to two times per month (~10 sessions).

Wrap up meeting

Final 60-minute wrap up meeting to summarize accomplishments and agree on strategies going forward.

Key dates for 2023 Spring cohort

  • February 12: Deadline for applications from WILD Forum partners, who are given priority
  • March 3: Deadline for applicants responding to open call to apply
  • March 14: Notification to all applicants
  • April 5: Welcome webinar
  • April 6: Matching notification
  • May – October: Up to 10x 1:1 confidential coaching sessions

What is coaching?

This twelve minute video explains what coaching is (and isn’t). We encourage you to watch it before applying.

What is coaching?

Executive coaching in business is recognized worldwide as a valuable approach to leadership development. But what exactly is coaching?

We define coaching as a collaborative, confidential partnership created between the coach and leader  focused on unlocking the leader’s potential and maximizing his or her performance. Skilled coaches foster a dynamic, thought-provoking, conversational, and trusting relationship with a leader. The purpose of coaching is to achieve the leader’s self-identified goals and desired outcomes through clarifying beliefs and values, enhancing the ability to learn, and identifying new ways to leverage skills and strengths.

Individual Coaching

  • Focuses in helping you find your own solutions
  • Invites you to explore, reflect and think differently through powerful questions, provocative statements and insightful conversation
  • Is about supporting you to change thinking and/or behavior to have more impact

Benefits of Coaching

Based on numerous research studies, the types of benefits achieved through coaching include:

  • Sustained behavioral change
  • Increased self-awareness and understanding
  • Values clarification and uncovering hidden beliefs
  • New options for leveraging skills and strengths
  • Higher levels of empathy
  • Increased motivation at work
  • Improved personal balance
  • Increased leadership and management effectiveness
  • Strengthened teambuilding and staff development skills

In addition, coaching can have a significant impact on an organization beyond the individual being coached. Coaching not only influences individual skills and behavior, coaching can improve team performance, productivity, employee job satisfaction, and potentially, business deliverables.

Applicant criteria

What are the criteria for applicants?

Not eligible? Explore our other coaching options

Applicant investment and commitment:

Applicants selected for coaching are expected to do the following to gain full value from the effort. 

  • Are ready to make personal leadership coaching a priority. Will show up to scheduled coaching sessions on time, ready to work and are open to making behavioral changes in their professional and personal lives.
  • Attend every session, fully present, free of other distractions, and prepared to participate and engage with their coach.
  • Follow through to the best of their ability on agreed decisions and action steps, and report progress on those actions.

Action research project participation:

  • Provide information on the organization’s goals and objectives, personal concerns and constraints, and areas of focus for coaching.
  • Work with the coach to share or craft impact measures related to the specific constraints and areas of focus, for the purpose of measuring the coaching impact.
  • Note: All information shared publicly is anonymized.

Applications for the WILD Forum will open again in May.

Please plan to complete the application in one sitting. You will not be able to save your work during the application. This coaching application in PDF contains all the questions for you to preview ahead of time.

Organizations behind this initiative

In partnership with Coaching.com Foundation, WILD is pleased to offer this opportunity as part of our mission to support women leaders to scale the impact of their work, and to thrive.

We believe that leadership coaching is a key component for global development professionals to achieve their ambitious career goals, and have the greatest social impact, all without burning out. We’re on a mission to put data behind that belief so we can all have an even greater positive impact in the world.

View the Coaching.com Foundation x WILD Network impact reportInformation for 2023 WILD Forum partners
Fiona and Participant smiling in discussion

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We’ll be announcing details of speakers, sessions and other information ahead of the event – register here and be the first to know!

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