In today’s fast-paced and evolving professional environment, leadership demands not only expertise but also a solid network of support. For STEM leaders, evaluating where to access allyship and advocacy is crucial for personal and professional growth. Building, nurturing, and expanding your support network is a key ingredient for success, influencing everything from your career path to your well-being, motivation, confidence, and opportunities. In an interactive and dynamic session titled “The STEM Leaders Guide to Auditing Your Workplace Support Network,” participants explored strategies to identify, assess, and enhance their professional relationships. This engaging workshop provided practical tools and insights to empower STEM leaders to thrive within their organizations and beyond.
Why a Strong Support Network is Essential for STEM Leaders
Leadership can often feel like a solo journey, especially in STEM fields where the emphasis on technical skills sometimes overshadows the importance of personal development. However, successful leaders know that building and maintaining a robust support network is critical to navigating challenges, making informed decisions, and seizing opportunities.
Whether you’re a manager, director, or aspiring leader in STEM, your network acts as a safety net and springboard—helping you set healthy boundaries, grow in your role, and find balance between professional achievement and personal well-being.
This workshop offered an insightful approach to understanding how your personal platform for leadership is influenced by those around you. Through self-assessment, participants explored their network pillars—identifying who they have in their corner and where there are gaps that need to be filled.
Workshop Highlights: A Fun, Interactive Approach to Auditing Your Network
In this session, participants worked together to:
- Understand Their Personal Platform for Leadership: Leaders need a clear sense of their values, strengths, and the unique qualities they bring to their roles. This part of the workshop focused on helping participants gain clarity on how they present themselves as leaders and how their network reflects and supports these qualities.
- Identify Foundational Support Requirements: Every leader needs certain types of support—whether it’s mentorship, sponsorship, or peer feedback. The workshop guided participants through an exercise to determine their foundational needs and assess whether their current network meets these requirements.
- Audit Network Pillars: A critical part of the session was dedicated to auditing existing support networks. Participants were encouraged to map out the people in their personal and professional spheres—colleagues, mentors, advocates—and determine who is currently providing the support they need and who might be missing.
- Define Where to Invest Energy: Building a network isn’t just about connecting with more people; it’s about nurturing relationships that matter. Participants learned to prioritize their time and energy toward relationships that have the potential to create, build, and sustain long-term success and support in their leadership roles.
The interactive nature of this workshop brought creative elements into the mix. Participants were asked to raise their hands, laugh, and engage in some creative fun—using blank paper and colored pens to map out their thoughts, ensuring that the process was both enlightening and enjoyable.
Takeaways for STEM Leaders
This workshop wasn’t just a traditional seminar on networking; it was an opportunity to take a hands-on, introspective look at leadership through the lens of support networks. Attendees walked away with:
- A clearer understanding of their leadership platform and the role their network plays in it.
- A personalized audit of their current support network, with insights on where there might be gaps.
- Strategies to build and sustain meaningful relationships that contribute to professional success and personal well-being.
- The knowledge that leadership doesn’t have to be a lonely journey—building the right support network is essential to thrive in today’s demanding professional landscape.
About the Speakers
Sarae Pratt
PCC Certified Coach & Trainer, MCIPD
Sarae Pratt has spent over 20 years helping individuals achieve their personal and professional goals. She began her career as an Aeronautical Engineer, where she worked on the design and flight testing of the Eurofighter Typhoon and Tornado aircraft. Over time, Sarae transitioned into the field of learning and development, designing global talent and leadership programmes for middle and senior managers across diverse sectors, including professional services, healthcare, engineering, and government bodies in the UK, Europe, and the Middle East.
Sarae is a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) with the International Coaching Federation (ICF) and a Certified Women’s Leadership Coach. She is also a trauma-informed Self-Belief Coach, dedicated to helping leaders build confidence and joy in their careers. Sarae is the author of “Feel More Joy: A Journal to Rediscover, Reignite, and Reveal Your True Self.“
Connect with Sarae:
LinkedIn: Sarae Pratt
SOAR Leadership: Website
Jen Goddard
MSci, ICF ACC Certified Coach & Trainer
Jen Goddard brings a strong foundation in both physics and leadership coaching to her work with emerging leaders. After beginning her career as an actuary, Jen shifted to coaching, where she now specializes in helping leaders develop authentic and sustainable approaches to leadership. Her mission is to help individuals succeed in their careers without sacrificing their personal well-being or risking burnout.
Jen’s unique perspective as a scientist and problem-solver informs her coaching practice, helping others find clarity in their leadership roles and build meaningful careers on their own terms.
Connect with Jen:
LinkedIn: Jen Goddard
SOAR Leadership: Website
Together they are the founders and heart of SOAR Leadership, a training and coaching provider specialising in transforming the work experience for women. We offer our programmes both in-house to employers and as an open programme to women from smaller employers, charities and self-employment, and for those women, who’s companies aren’t willing or able to offer in-house development opportunities.
