POSITIONING THEORY: A FRAMEWORK FOR WOMEN LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Women have the potential to excel in management and leadership positions. However, change is needed in the way we approach leadership development if we want to increase their numbers among senior executive positions and board of directors. A significant obstacle related to delivering leadership programs for women is the lack of a theoretical framework for curriculum development. This paper looks at the potential for approaching training from the perspective of positioning theory, one that looks at how people use words in order to locate themselves within their discourse thus enabling them to negotiate their gender-related position in conversations. In short, we believe training should be focused on helping future leaders look at the language they use and the corresponding consequences of using it so they can make judicious choices that result in strong leadership. Grounded in the belief that we construct our own social reality with our discourse, we argue that a curriculum built upon the tenets of positioning theory should not only increase awareness of conversational choices but also enable women to be better skilled when stepping into managerial and leadership positions and so they may better navigate the reality of the workplace.