Executive Coaching for Women
Patricia Seabright
Who is Patricia Seabright?
I am an experienced coach, with a Masters in Executive Coaching and have a passion for coaching women, helping them achieve their full workplace potential.
Why executive coaching for women?
A better question is, why not coaching?
The workplace has challenges and opportunities for all genders. There are, however, many workplace challenges that are very specific to women and therefore require some specifically focused support.
What are some of these challenges?
- Unconscious bias, male‑coded work cultures, societal paradigms, communications and behaviours that can be perceived differently.
- All of this can condition women to be less visible and heard.
- These challenges are evidenced by the massive drop off between the percentage of women at entry level (50%) and the percentage at senior management (approx. 20%).
Speaking, being heard and being visible are critical to women’s effectiveness, professional reputations and careers.
Yet sometimes just replicating generic advice to be more assertive, for example, can backfire for women as workplace behaviours can be interpreted very differently on a gendered basis (where men are assertive, that same behaviour in women can be seen as aggressive).
The working world and people’s careers are more complex and pressured than ever, and ironically, the more senior you get, the less support you are assumed to need.
Organisations
AI Coaching
Challenges for women in the workplace
Unconscious bias
Unconscious bias remains one of the costliest and least visible of these. Women are more likely to be evaluated on style rather than outcomes, to receive less credit for success, and to be penalised for leadership behaviours that are rewarded in men. Coaching can help women become aware that unconscious bias is at play (and not blame themselves) and develop their own ways of challenging or navigating around this.
Male-coded work cultures
Male-coded work cultures, where influence is built through informal networks, self-promotion, and presenteeism. Senior women often sit outside these networks, limiting access to sponsorship and critical decision-making forums. Executive coaching helps women decode organisational power dynamics, build strategic visibility, and position themselves effectively, improving both individual performance and organisational return.
Socialisation
Socialisation also plays a commercially relevant role. Women are often conditioned to be collaborative, cautious and self-effacing, which are qualities that may reduce perceived leadership impact in highly competitive executive environments. Coaching enables women to strengthen executive presence, confidently articulate value, and take calibrated risks, increasing their effectiveness in senior roles. This directly supports performance outcomes, faster decision-making, and stronger leadership influence.
Benefits of coaching for women
A space to process, helping women to manage the specific pressures of their lived experience of workplace challenges.
Feeling supported, valued and encouraged.
Support in developing career growth plans.