Leading with Heart: Colleen Slaughter of Authentic Leadership International On The Power of Authentic Women’s Leadership

In today’s dynamic world, the concept of leadership is continuously evolving. While traditional leadership models have often been male-dominated, there is a growing recognition of the unique strengths and perspectives that women bring to these roles. This series aims to explore how women can become more effective leaders by authentically embracing their femininity and innate strengths, rather than conforming to traditional male leadership styles. In this series, we are talking to successful women leaders, coaches, authors, and experts who can provide insights and personal stories on how embracing their inherent feminine qualities has enhanced their leadership abilities. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Colleen Slaughter.

Colleen uses her expertise to guide international leaders as they attain the clarity, courage, and self-confidence necessary to realize higher levels of productivity and fulfillment in both their personal and professional lives.

Colleen’s purpose is to facilitate her clients’ transformation from limiting beliefs and self-doubts into a deeper, more powerful knowingness of how much they — and what they envision for themselves — truly matter. Her passion is instilling leaders with the clarity, courage, and confidence they need to uncover and live their highest purpose so the whole system can flourish and evolve.

Fostering human connection and compassion, and challenging conventional mindsets are ways Colleen creates impact. Clients often attribute her calm and open nature and abilities to articulate complex subjects in easy-to-understand terms and to create a safe space as catalysts for their meaningful personal insights, increased enthusiasm at work, and deepened work relationships.

Colleen’s unparalleled experience working abroad in a variety of cultures and across an array of industries gives her an uncanny ability to help individuals from a diverse range of backgrounds achieve the deep, lasting transformation they need to flourish. Clients move toward real change through a clear understanding of their goals and by aligning their intention and attention with their core values.

A Rebel With A Good Cause

From being nicknamed “Miss Independent” at an early age to moving to Paris alone when she was just 21 — with no money and not even speaking the language — Colleen knows a thing or two about making bolder moves. Yet, she is no stranger to self-doubt. In fact, Colleen often says at one point in her life, it felt like she was surrounded by the word “no.”

Colleen considers herself a “rebel with a good cause,” meaning that she doesn’t hesitate to go against the grain when the right-thing-to-do-instinct dictates. Clients say that she is very easy to relate to and that they are better able to get in touch with their true, more authentic selves thanks to the trusting relationship established through their work together.

As a Speaker, Author and Facilitator and Leadership Development Advisor, Colleen serves leaders and top teams focused on innovation, growth, leading in uncertainty, and making a positive difference — such as the 2020 Nobel Peace Prize recipients and other top leaders of Fortune 500 companies and startups. She partners with them and their teams to expand their leadership effectiveness and fulfillment in service to the organizations they serve and the world by setting the stage for them to achieve their most complex challenges and transform individual and collective mindsets and behaviors into ones that bring infinitely greater meaning and impact.

Distinctive practices for Colleen include:

• Culture Transformations
• Top Team Development
• Purpose & Vision
• Executive Presence
• DEI

Colleen’s Path of Change Leadership

Over twenty years ago, Colleen took part in the merger of two large consulting firms. Stung with the “retaining the Best and the Brightest” bug, after graduate business school at HEC Paris, she went on to Change Management Consulting for such companies as GM, France Telecom (now Orange), Aventis (now Sanofi), British Telecom, Heinz, Husky and Ariba.

Seeking to affect change at a deeper and more lasting level, she graduated from the Newfield Network in 2009 with its rigorous coaching certification. And, to continue learning how to profoundly influence the mindsets within companies across the globe, Colleen completed INSEAD’s Executive Master in Change (EMC) in November 2022.

In 2023, Colleen was nominated to be among the top 15 Coaches in Lyon, France.

Today, through her coaching and facilitating work, Colleen brings out the very best in leaders in organizations across the world and helps them lead from the heart — the only true path to deep fulfillment and lasting impact.

Educational Background

• INSEAD Executive Master in Change (EMC) / HEC Paris MBA
• Lead Facilitator with Gita Bellin & Associates (less than 200 of us at that level in the world)
• International Coach Federation Professional Certified Coach (PCC), over 1600 coaching hours
• Newfield Network Certified Coach (NCC)
• Leadership Circle Profile, Barrett Values Assessment, Myers-Briggs, Facilitating
• Transformation Through Values (FTV), Pyramid Group Team Coaching, Workz Change Management

Outside of Work…

Originally a small-town girl from Kentucky, USA, Colleen currently lives in Lyon, France with her two spunky little girls (they take after their mom!) who are the lights of her life.

To deepen her yoga practice, Colleen followed a 200-hour Vinyasa Teacher Training course in 2009. Since then, you can find her on the mat pretty much every day. When she’s not on the yoga mat, you just might catch her swimming in the sea, walking on the beach, as well as listening — and dancing — to reggaetón.

I’ve always been fascinated with human development. From delving into self-help books as early as twelve years’ old to embarking on my own personal development journey in my twenties, becoming the best version of myself seems to have always been part of my DNA.

Then, over twenty years ago, I had a front row seat in the Price Waterhouse /Coopers & Lybrand merger and became fascinated with how humans were being dealt with during such a huge transition. I had many ideas of how to do things better, but seemingly little credibility (as a “mere” secretary at the time). So, I decided to raise my credibility by getting an MBA at one of France’s best business schools.

The fact that I was a secretary applying to such a school was, by the way, nearly unheard of in France. To do so meant jumping levels, to say the least! But that’s also part of my DNA: trusting my intuition’s guidance even when it might seem far-fetched. That’s why trusting oneself is a big part pf what I encourage the leaders and teams I work with to do.

After HEC Paris, I began working with a boutique firm in Paris as a change management consultant. That’s where I first heard about professional coaching. I knew it was the path for me when my entire body lit up at the mere mention of coaching.

But it still would take me a few years, once I had moved back to the US, to fully own that path. At that point, I was at a crossroad in my career. So, I did my research and found the best coaching school for me (Newfield Network because it included a focus on messages received from our bodies).

Yet, even then, I still wasn’t convinced I would embrace coaching as a full-on career. My plan at that time was to complete the curriculum and then to re-enter corporate life as an HR Business Partner. But then, midway through my training, my body once again lit up and I knew that I was too in-love with coaching for it to be just a mere feather in my hat: it was to be the whole hat!

Starting my own coaching business was the ticket.

The dots began instantly connecting for me: having my own leadership development practice would perfectly combine my two professional loves human development and entrepreneurship (my specialization during my MBA program).

Eventually, I also began facilitating and deepening my skills in that area thanks to Gita Bellin’s loving instruction and inspiration from her and many other world-renowned coaches and facilitators I have been blessed to work with.

Given my own journey, helping women leaders, in particular. to succeed has been a natural fit: I want to give back what I have received and pay it forward so other women leaders can benefit from my learnings and experience.

Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?

This was definitely the part around being “just” a secretary and applying to HEC Paris!

I had been working in a law firm and to see the look on partners and other associates faces when they learned I was leaving work to pursue a full-time MBA there — priceless! Looking back, I guess it probably challenged their view of what “mere secretaries” really are capable of.

I am resurfacing this story here so that any person listening can also release any limiting thoughts they might have about themselves or others. We can create any reality we put our heart mind and soul to. The only real limitations are our own thinking. Shifting those means shifting what’s possible for us.

What do you think makes your company stand out? Can you share a story?

What makes Authentic Leadership International stand out from many of the leadership development firms out there is our dedication to true transformation — change which can never be undone, much like the butterfly which can never again be a caterpillar.

We go beyond speaking about mere behavior changes which can easily go back to the way things were previously. Ever been to the gym in January, the month when many of us humans resolve to get healthier and exercise more? Generally, it is packed at that time. And by March? Not a soul is there. Why is that? Well, probably because most of us merely resolved to change our behavior — not to dig deeper to understand and shift our mindset which was leading to not exercising. Once we get to the root of that, or any other, issue, we can start embodying that shift we are aspiring to. Those gyms will never be the same! Lol.

Before all else, we help clients dig deeper to understand and shift their limiting beliefs into ones infinitely more helpful for them and the visions they aspire to create. This thorough process guarantees that those individuals and teams working with us will truly own those leadership traits — and realities — they want and deserve.

You are a successful business leader. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?

1. Courage
2. Resilience
3. Wanting to be of Service

Are clearly the three character traits most instrumental in my success.

For courage, I refer again to secretary-to-MBA story, And before that, moving to Paris from Kentucky with little money in my pocket, no job lined up, and never having even traveled abroad. Such a pattern of trusting my intuition — despite what logic or fear might tell me — is exactly how my business has stayed afloat even throughout the global economic twists and turns of the last few years. My conviction that I am living my purpose in the work I do helping women leaders gives me the courage to ride out the tougher times and to flex outside my comfort zone in my marketing or facilitation efforts when that might be called for.

Next, without resilience (and courage), there’s no way I would be where I currently am in life. No way. Resilience has taught me that when one door closes, there will always be an open window, even if only slightly, Resilience has also pushed me to keep planting seeds even when I cannot yet see the sprout. The blossom will indeed come, we just need to keep doing the deal to show the universe we mean business: we really do want to manifest the particular outcome in question. Prioritizing physical, emotional, psychological, and spiritual self-care is what has helped me maintain positivity and inner drive to achieve the vision I believe was created for me.

Finally, wanting to be of service is really where the rubber has met the road in my leadership. Since being of service has become an embodied trait of mine, I am much better able to focus on the needs of my clients (and beyond) rather than making their resonating with my words or style (or not) all about me. After all, as I mentioned above, I am indeed in my purpose with this work. So, settling into being of service to others in this way is the cherry on the cake for me — it’s a whole lot more fun when my ego is out of it and I just get to enjoy seeing others’ eyes light up!

Leadership often entails making difficult decisions or hard choices between two apparently good paths. Can you share a story with us about a hard decision or choice you had to make as a leader? I’m curious to understand how these challenges have shaped your leadership.

Given that long ago I learned that trusting my intuition would get me much further than mere reason alone ever would (refer to the Kentucky to Paris story), choice-making has never been difficult for me in my business.

There have been times, however, where even when I knew what the right thing to do was, I resisted doing it. Take business development, for example. As a coach, what I am selling is myself in a sense. (It’s not a product or anything material.) It’s an invitation to go on a journey with me. While I know that what I am putting out there leads to immeasurable impact for those I get to work with, it’s taken time for my own sense of worthiness to catch up.

In other words, many times, I had to work past the “Little ole me?” self-protests when I was advised to take more proactive marketing actions. During that leveling-up phase, taking any kind of pro-active business development action was very challenging for me — even though I knew that was the right thing to do. Not only for the health of my business, but especially for spreading the positive impact I know our work together can create. So you see, coaches are human, too: we also have our foibles and challenges. ☺

Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Can you share a personal experience where embracing your unique leadership style, which might not align with traditional expectations, led to a significant positive impact in your organization or team?

Well, indeed, I have many of those! But generally, over the years, as I became more and more comfortable in my skin through the work I’ve done on myself, the more I have allowed my unique leadership style to shine.

More precisely, I began worrying less and less what other people thought of me and increasingly more of what I felt about myself. As a Leadership Development Advisor, that move alone changed everything in my business. I stopped trying to be something I was not by curbing my words to make them (seem) more attractive to the rest of you and began very simply speaking my truth.

It took me a long time to get there because I was afraid of people not liking me. But, as with most things, the universe has a sense of humor. The truth turned out to be that the more I have been 100% me, the more people are drawn to me more than ever before.

On one specific instance, I remember putting the word “soul” on my website and one of my advisors cautioning me not to. In her thinking, “soul” and “business” do not go together. But by that point, I had a firmer grasp on what I stood for and why and insisted that “soul” stay as part of my online marketing. My business only got bigger since that time.

In your journey as a leader, how have you balanced demonstrating resilience, often seen as a masculine trait, with showing vulnerability, which is equally powerful, but typically feminine? Can you give an example where this balance created a meaningful difference?

This is the first time I’ve ever heard of resilience being a “masculine” trait! Maybe that’s why I’m considered a strong personality! — Lol.

But, seriously, I can’t see why resilience and vulnerability wouldn’t go together. They are perfectly matched. Resilience is after all, largely dependent on emotional wellbeing (feeling our feelings to get them cleared and to better understand what our needs are). And vulnerability is way toward emotional wellbeing in that, thanks to it, we get to connect more deeply with others.

Furthermore, vulnerability is one of the key ways we build trust with others (think: Brene Brown’s “Power of Vulnerability” Ted Talk) and resilience is one of the key ways we build trust with ourselves (keeping ourselves as bright and positive as we can).

Finally, being open to sharing about our down moments (vulnerability) with others as part of our comeback (resilience) is a powerful way to inspire others. This is one of the ways I create safety in my relationships with people: sharing about my ups and downs, my struggles, my talents. In short, ALL of my experiences which have served as important learnings to get me where I am today can also serve other women leaders in their journeys.

As a woman in leadership, how have you navigated and challenged gender stereotypes, especially in situations where traditional male-dominated approaches are the norm? What strategies have you employed to remain authentic to your style?

As a Coach, I am happy to say that I have not encountered such gender bias in my own work. However, I have coached many, many women in male-dominated industries (which ones aren’t, by the way?!) who face such a challenge.

In one poignant instance a top leader (who is now Senior Vice President) of a plastics giant, reported that because she had pressured herself to be more like the men (as she observed them) around her, she refused to listen to her intuition and ended up hiring the wrong candidate. His credentials had looked better on paper, even though the other candidate had “felt” better to her. Within days, she regretted her decision as the logically correct choice proved to be a disappointing one.

This is a good example of what I see most often among women leaders: denying our intuition in order to “blend in” more with the guys, We try to be like “them” and then wonder why we might be less impactful or fulfilled than we know we can be, Only once we grasp the notion that the key is not to become more like them, it’s to become more and more us do we become truly powerful in our leadership and lives.

To help women leaders own their uniqueness — be it intuition or any other leadership trait — together we work on understanding and shifting their limiting beliefs with compassion and micro-practices to gradually expand their comfort zone in that area.

Most leaders I work with are relieved and ecstatic to discover that the key to being a great leader really is being yourself squared. It’s like doing a yoga pose: throughout the practice, we remain who we are yet we stretch to new levels. That’s the joy of leaving our stinking thinking behind.

How do you utilize emotional intelligence and active listening to create an inclusive environment in your team or organization? Could you share a specific instance where these qualities particularly enhanced team dynamics or performance?”

So wonderful you are highlighting Emotional Intelligence (EQ) and active listening — thank you! If only we all focused on improving these by at least 2%, I am convinced we have a much better world.

In the meantime, yes, I am called to use both of these daily in all my work with clients. Please see some relevant articles of mine on Emotional Intelligence and Listening here.

And as banal as EQ and listening can seem for a Coach to have and implement, the truth is that being a role model of these qualities can become quite exhausting! That’s why I love teaching them: doing so keeps me honest — lol. And helps me to keep my skills up to par, which is important to me because without them, there’s no way I could create the necessary safe container for helping clients transform into the leaders and teams to which they aspire.

What role has mentorship played in developing your authentic leadership style, and how do you communicate authentically to inspire and empower both your mentors and mentees?

Mentorship and authentic communication have played huge roles in my leadership!

First, the name of my company, Authentic Leadership International, was chosen precisely because of feedback I received about how genuine I am. Often, I hear how much easier it is, thanks to my open approach, for those in conversation with me to lower their own protective walls and be themselves, too.

Next, as I love helping other humans to thrive, mentoring has played a big part in my personal life just as coaching has been the basis for starting my own company (as described above).

And as none of us can give what we don’t have, I also ask for help from mentors and coaches for myself. Currently, as described above, I am working with a business development coach and with several mentors on more personal topics. None of us has eyes in the backs of our heads, so asking for help is key to growing!

Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. Based on your experience and research, can you please share “5 Ways Leading Authentically As A Woman Will Affect Your Leadership”? If you can, please share a story or an example for each.

1 . Well being:

The more we are ourselves, the more relaxed we become because we no longer have to work so hard to appear as something we are not. Such relaxation allows our stress levels to descend and our presence with ourselves and other to increase. Benefits such as increased oxytocin (the feel good biochemical), a greater sense of belonging and better coronary health result.

2 . Executive Presence:

“People are felt rather than seen after the first few minutes.”
― John Steinbeck

The epitome of executive presence is being as good in our skin as possible.

When it comes to being present in an “executive” way, this simply boils down to being as at ease in our skins as possible. Merely maintaining eye contact won’t cut it if our knees are knocking from fear. In a similar vein, having just the “right” words won’t help if our voice is trembling or shouting. Overall, then, executive presence means having a strong sense of presence within ourselves.

This is how authenticity positively affects our executive presence. For more of my thoughts on this topic, please click here.

3 . Impact:

For both reasons cited above and because authenticity is an enormous trust-builder, we also become more impactful when we are genuine. The more we feel good in who we are, the more energy we have to focus and be productive. Our ease with ourselves and the results we are getting leads to our having strong executive presence, which draws people into our message. In this way, we create powerful impact on our own and can increase that impact through those we influence.

When I was stressing myself out trying to be whatever you wanted me to be so you would hire me as your Coach, my business was flailing. Who, after all, wants to work with a Coach who is not firmly grounded in her own identity? But the more I stood firm in my own reason for doing what I do and letting go of who resonated (or not) with that message, the more my business expanded. My authenticity led to greater impact in my business — and, surely too, in my clients’ lives.

4 . Making a Difference:

Perhaps one of the upsides of such a complicated world we live in is that more and more leaders I work with want to know that their work is serving the world in a positive way. They want to be aligned with their highest purpose. Without fail, they all come to realize that the only way for them to truly make a difference is to first be who they truly are. Without authenticity, they cannot match with their own purpose, which is crucial to making the biggest difference.

Until my long-time client-turned-friend, Debbie, a former SVP in Tech, started appropriately saying “no” at work when things didn’t jive with her values, she wasn’t able to see just how out of alignment with her own purpose working that that company was for her. Now she is the blissful co-owner of a startup where she sleeps soundly at night knowing that her talents are being put to the highest use in the world.

5 . Inspire others

When we feel good in our skins how can we help but inspire others? In today’s painful world where many people falsely believe they must compromise who they are to survive, those of us who shine our authentic light become harbors of safety for those who don’t yet.

More precisely, the more we are feeling well with who we are, the more we are loving ourselves. The more we love ourselves, the more love we have to share with others. The more love we have to give others, the more loving we become, and the more people are drawn to us. Then we feel even better about ourselves and the virtuous circle continues.

Clearly, then, being ourselves pays — in more ways than one! 🙂

Are there potential pitfalls or challenges associated with being an empathetic leader? How can these be addressed?

There is one main pitfall linked with being an empathetic leader: that of mistakenly being taken as non-results driven.

That is to say that there are many people out there (those who have not yet taken the steps to develop their own leadership, I might add!) who consider that soft and hard skills cannot go together — which is malarkey. In fact, it’s thanks to the softer skills such as empathy that we can drive even greater impact. Jacinda Ardern, former Prime Minister of New Zealand, is a wonderful example of this.

The first thing to do if you are empathetic is to own it. In other words, don’t not try to be empathetic just to appear more results driven. Be fully in your empathy.

Then, from there, understand that empathy does not mean not having boundaries or trying to please everyone, because it doesn’t. Empathy means “demonstrating that I understand and respect how you feel” — not “trying to change how you feel.” This means that all while being empathetic, some hard decisions may also need to be made. And, yes, there is a way to go about making and communicating such decisions with empathy. 😉

Finally, remember that we can’t give what we don’t have. So being empathetic with yourself is key. This means allowing ourselves to succeed and to have yur own dreams come true so that we do not fall into the trap of disappointing ourselves. Being empathetically results-driven is part of how we show up for ourselves.

In short, using empathy to drive results is how we can avoid the pitfall that empathy alone might engender.

You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. 🙂

I already have started a movement! It’s to normalize being the Adult Child of an Alcoholic. After all, it’s a topic no one talks about today — and yet 25% of the world’s population is affected. Just as (thank goodness) today the transgender subject is spoken of regularly while twenty years ago it was never mentioned, it is my intention to help de-shame adult children of alcoholics (and their alcoholic parent(s)).The more we bring our darkness (those things we think we have to hide, but don’t) into the light, the more we can find solutions and a like-minded community who can help us to grow. That’s why I chose this subject for my recent master’s thesis (as part of the INSEAD EMC) which can be accessed here (bottom of page). Through this work, I show how the Self-Beliefs of Adult Daughters of Alcoholics at Work can be shifted for the better and how such a transformation can inspire others.

In this way, I hope to become the Sia and Alanis Morissette of the coaching world. 😉

How can our readers further follow you online?

Thank you for asking! I would love to hear from all of you readers!

Please visit my website at: www.boldermoves.com

Sign up for my Weekly Bolder Moves (2–3 lines of your leadership tip of the week, fresh to your inbox) at: https://www.boldermoves.com/weekly-bolder-moves/

Or connect with me on Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colleenslaughter/

Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!

About The Interviewer: Pirie is a TedX speaker, author and a Life Empowerment Coach. She is a co-host of Own your Throne podcast, inspiring women in the 2nd chapter of their lives. With over 20 years in front of the camera, Pirie Grossman understands the power of storytelling. After success in commercials and acting. She spent 10 years reporting for E! Entertainment Television, Entertainment Tonight, also hosted ABC’s “Every Woman”. Her work off-camera capitalizes on her strength, producing, bringing people together for unique experiences. She produced a Children’s Day of Compassion during the Dalai Lama’s visit here in 2005. 10,000 children attended, sharing ideas about compassion with His Holiness. From 2006–2009, Pirie Co-chaired the Special Olympics World Winter Games, in Idaho, welcoming 3,000 athletes from over 150 countries. She founded Destiny Productions to create Wellness Festivals and is an Advisory Board member of the Sun Valley Wellness Board.In February 2017, Pirie produced, “Love is Louder”, a Brain Health Summit, bringing in Kevin Hines, noted suicide survivor to Sun Valley who spoke to school kids about suicide. Sun Valley is in the top 5% highest suicide rate per capita in the Northwest, prompting a community initiative with St. Luke’s and other stake holders, to begin healing. She lives in Sun Valley with her two children, serves on the Board of Community School. She has her Master’s degree in Spiritual Psychology from the University of Santa Monica and is an Executive Life Empowerment Coach, where she helps people meet their dreams and goals! The difference between a dream and a goal is that a goal is a dream with a date on it!