Q&A: Anne Elder-Knight

What’s next on your journey Anne?

My wonderful friend Kate introduced me to the idea of having a word for the year. I think of this more as a theme. My theme for 2021 is twofold – consolidating and dreaming. For me this means taking stock of where I’m at, and thinking about where I’d like to go, and who I’d like to be as I do. This is likely to translate into planning (if not beginning to write) the next book based on the leadership book I led. The book’s current working title is: Leading the ‘Me’ in teams: the secret to achieving remarkable things together.

I would say it's harder for women to identify their gifts and have the confidence to present them in the same way males do, would you agree and any tips?

I suspect as a woman it’s easy to agree with this, and I would certainly say it’s been my experience. It took me a long time to own what I’m great at and let go of the long list of things I’m really not There are two things I’ve learned though. First, men and women are different. I think this is a real positive and as women the opportunity is to do the work to identify and articulate our gifts in ways that feel authentic and can be understood and appreciated by our audience. This does not mean playing small, just being smart.

Second, men and women are not so different in many ways. In the work I do with men it continually surprises and humbles me that when they feel safe enough to share their feelings and insecurities their experience is not that different from my own. And the upshot? Being human ain’t always easy!