Living Kartini’s Legacy: Women in Leadership Series

For those of us who work in facilitation and learning, nothing makes us happier than seeing personal and professional growth in others from their training experiences.  

Hayley Hesseln, Ph.D. and I, co-founders of EI Advantage have had an incredible experience being part of a team delivering our Leadership for Women program at the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation (JCLEC). 

And now, we get to support and observe this courageous group of women carrying forward their learnings in their “Living Kartini’s Legacy: Women Empowerment Series,” where they will continue building capacity across the organization.

This series is fondly named the Kartini Series after Raden Adjeng Kartini, a prominent Indonesian activist who advocated for women’s rights and female education. 

The group has selected three key areas from our curriculum to continue to build capacity with their organization, which includes:

Bring a deeper understanding of Emotional Intelligence to their teams to enhance effectiveness. While technical skills are important, overall research supports that emotional intelligence is critical for success. It’s about how we perceive ourselves, express ourselves, build relationships and handle stress and ambiguity.  

Provide strategies for others to manage themselves through change. Change is inevitable in life, yet some people find it challenging to face and manage, whereas others embrace it.
While some changes we have control over, many we do not. Through the use of the Change Style Indicator assessment, individuals will learn about their preferences for dealing with change, how to work with people with different preferences, and how to manage emotions. 

Enhance skills to be more resilient at home and work. “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger” comes from the 19th-century German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche. A harsh comment, but a lot of truth to it.

People build up their strength and knowledge by going through difficult experiences both in life and at work. Resilience is an emotional skill that can be honed through practice. Remember, being resilient is a practice because the work is never-ending.    

We have been delighted to contribute in a small way to help them influence change for themselves and others, and to participate in an important program to empower women in the region to build their skills for success.

And, as we receive many messages of thanks from the group, the truth is that “Ms. Janice and Ms. Hayley” are the ones that have received the gift. 

To all our participants we’d like to say: we wish you all the best and are cheering you on from abroad!

Janice Gair and Hayley Hesslen, Ph.D. are co-founders at EI Advantage, whose programs are based on the foundation of emotional intelligence. We invite you to visit our work by visiting our website. Our online e-learning, virtual training and coaching programs are available for both individuals and organizations.