EP #158 Leadership Gets Easier When You Take One Next Step

Leadership advice gets weirdly abstract the moment you actually need it. So I brought on Becky Hamm, founder of Women Lead Well, to talk about what leadership growth looks like when your calendar is packed, your responsibilities are real, and you’re trying to stay true to yourself. Becky shares how she supports women through executive coaching that focuses on the moments that matter: executive presence, clear communication, setting expectations, delegating well, and navigating promotions or career changes without spiraling into self-doubt.

We also dig into a challenge that doesn’t get said out loud enough: senior leadership can be lonely, especially for women. Becky explains why she created the Women’s Executive Leadership Lab, a membership community with group coaching, office hours, and a growing on-demand content library built around practical scenarios like addressing poor performance and leading with responsibility but not authority. If you’ve ever wished for a room of peers who “get it” across industries, this conversation makes a strong case for that kind of support system.

Becky’s story adds depth and credibility. She earned her PhD young, built a career in higher education and national security, and spent 15 years serving the Marine Corps as a civilian, ultimately as provost of Marine Corps University. Along the way, she noticed how many talented women failed to recognize their own impact, especially in male-dominated environments. Her key takeaway is refreshingly simple: leadership is not a stuffy title, it’s choosing the next right step, taking it, reflecting, and then taking the next one.

If you want more conversations with local leaders and practical growth advice, subscribe, share this with a friend, and leave a review. What’s the next step you need to take in your leadership right now?

Becky Hamm

Women Lead Well

womenleadwell.net

Transcript

Welcome To FXBG Neighbors

Speaker 0:01

This is the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Dori Stewart.

Speaker 1 0:13

Welcome back to another episode of the FXBG Neighbors Podcast, where we share the stories of our favorite local brands. I'm excited to introduce you to my guest today. We've got Becky Hamm joining us, and she is with Women Lead Well. Becky, welcome to the podcast. Thanks, Dori. I am very happy to be here. It's nice to see you. Well, I'm really excited about this. You are typically the podcast host asking the questions. So we're flipping the script on you today. And now you get to be the one in the hot seat. So this is going to be a lot of fun.

Speaker 2 0:49

I'm looking forward to it. Thanks.

What Women Lead Well Does

Speaker 1 0:51

Awesome. So let's start off with sharing with us what is Women Lead Well. Sure.

Senior Women Need Real Community

Free Growth Options And Accessibility

Speaker 2 0:58

So Women Lead Well provides leadership that's tailored to women. And there are a few pieces to that. The cornerstone is a one-to-one executive coaching program where I work directly with women to achieve their professional goals. And that could be a woman who wants to work on her executive presence or maybe communication. Maybe she's received some feedback that her team is unclear about expectations. And so we can dial in clear, consistent communication habits. Maybe she's looking for a career change. 2025 was pretty rough on a lot of people in this region, and a lot of people have had to shift careers for different reasons. And so I can work with women on that. I'm not a career coach, but I can certainly help you plan out your strategy, identify your strengths, and then make the move that is best for you. I've helped a lot of women who are either looking to promote, so looking for that next step of leadership, or maybe they have promoted and they look around and say, oh my goodness, I don't know what to do. And so working with women to help them through that transition so they're competent and comfortable and their teams are successful. So I love that one-to-one executive coaching. I've been certified through the International Coaching Federation to do that work. And it brings me a lot of joy to help women grow professionally and do it in a way that feels good to them. From those conversations, I identified that particularly for senior women, and so here I mean 15 plus years of experience, probably a director, a VP, C-suite, that two things. One, it's very lonely in those roles. And the data bears this out that it's fewer than a third of all VP level positions and higher are held by women. And if you're talking C-suite, you're talking 20-something percent. And those numbers have trended down over the past couple of years. So there are fewer women in senior leadership roles today than there was even back in 2022. And so if you're a woman in one of those roles, you don't have other women oftentimes to bounce ideas off of or troubleshoot challenges. And so a couple of months ago, I founded the Women's Executive Leadership Lab, which is a membership program for women in that demographic. So significant leadership experience, senior level roles. And we come together twice a month for group coaching. And so the women can workshop different challenges, bounce ideas off each other. And we're small, we're new, but we have women from across the country, from across different industries. So you get a fresh perspective with women who know what you're going through. They're either at your same step, they might be one step ahead, they might be one step behind, but they get it. They are committed to their own growth because they're in this community and they're committed to helping each other. And so these group coaching calls, I tell you, they are the highlight of my month because they're just, they're so one practical, like we are solving women's problems, but they just feel so good to know that there is a community of women who are pulling for each other and helping each other. And so that also has their weekly kind of short, I call them office hours for on-the-spot one-to-one coaching. If a woman's got a discrete challenge that she wants to bounce ideas off of, I'm building a content library with really short 10, 12-minute videos on the sorts of things that women in senior leadership roles are interested in, how to delegate effectively, how to correct poor performance with a direct report, how to lead when you've got the responsibility, but not the authority. And so that membership is just a joy to me. And the women in it are they're crushing it. They make me so happy. And then you've already mentioned the podcast. So I'm the host of the Joyfully Unstoppable Podcast, which is just a weekly podcast where I talk about leadership issues from a woman's perspective. And so one that I'll call out because I'm really proud of it, is episode 51, where we talk about leadership through the sandwich generation. So, how do you maintain your professional momentum while caring for your parents and raising your kids? And hi, I will self-identify. That's me. It ain't easy. And so I really with the podcast, because it's free, it's a service to the community. Women with any financial situation can grow their leadership abilities and gain that connection, not just in, you know, like how to deliver a talk or or how to hold your ground, but how do you how do you actually live a fulfilling life with all of the challenges that women have or all of the responsibilities that women have and not sacrifice your professional goals? So Women Lead Well does all of that, all of it in service to helping women achieve their goals, achieve their potential, lean into their passions. And I love it.

Speaker 1 6:10

It's been such a joy. Amazing. Well, I can tell you love it because you just completely light up when you're talking about it. And I really love how you are intentional about reaching all audiences. So you've got the podcast, and that's you know, anyone can listen to that for free. And then you have the group, and then you have the individual. So I really love how you're meeting people where they're at in multiple ways to make really big impact. Congratulations. This is just so cool. I love what you're doing.

Speaker 2 6:46

Thank you. It was important to me because one-to-one coaching is an investment, it is a worthwhile investment. I will sing the praises of coaching all day long, but it costs real money because it is high touch, right? And high transformation. And again, 2025, I mean, we it's just been rough for women, particularly for women. And so it was important to me that I provide a service that was accessible to anyone, right? You're your professional growth shouldn't depend on the size of your bank account. And so it really was meaningful to me for the podcast. And then I've done some um some free coaching for women as well, as they're navigating job loss and trying to secure new positions. Because it we all got to help each other out, right? Right. And and I love the coaching. I love working with women. So it's also rewarding and fun for me just to do it, regardless of any money I might make.

Becky’s Path Through The Marines

Speaker 1 7:40

So yeah. Well, let's dive into that. Tell me what what motivated you to do this? I would love to hear your backstory and how you got into this.

Speaker 2 7:52

Yeah. Um, I like to tell people that I'm a little bit like Forrest Gump. Like I just keep going. So just keep running or Dori, just keep swimming, the other Dori. Right. Um, I don't, I did not have a big vision in my life to become an entrepreneur, to launch my first business the year I turned 50. That was not a lifelong dream. I have always been the person who just what is the next step? I'm gonna do the next thing, right? I'm gonna go until the job is done. And so that led me into, I earned a PhD at 26, I think it was, 25 or 26, doesn't matter. Um, because you continue your education until you're done with school. And when is that? Well, when you have a doctorate. Okay, great. Not a ton of reflection, but I did it. And that led me into a career in higher education. Okay. Coming up in the DC area in the early 2000s, after 9-11, the war in Iraq, that brought me into the national security space, which brought me to a career serving the Marine Corps as a civilian. Uh, but taught with the Marines, uh, worked with the Marines for 15 years, ultimately as the provost of Marine Corps University. So I think chief learning officer. $50 million budget, 70,000 students a year spread across eight different campuses, spread across the globe, 27 educational programs. Like I had 50 people on my team, but was responsible for a couple hundred when you add up all the faculty at all the different locations. It was big, it was juicy. I loved it. And what I realized, the Marines were always phenomenal to me. I I always felt respected because that PhD was uh like a that meant something to the Marines. That I had something that they didn't have, um, many of them didn't have. Uh, and and they really care about excellence, and the doctorate kind of signifies commitment and excellence. And so I never felt like they didn't take me seriously because I was a woman, but I noticed that there were many women working with me or just in the field at other um other military organizations that didn't recognize how amazing they were and the the quality of the work and the value that they provided. Being in a male-dominated industry, even when you're awesome as a woman, you can hold yourself to that male standard. And then because you're different, you can feel like you're not like matching up. And so that's what brought me to this work. I did a ton of leadership development for Marines. That was my background. And so I said, well, okay, I want to take everything I know about being an effective leader that I have learned in the Marine Corps and that I have taught for the Marine Corps, and I really want to target this to women so that they see how freaking amazing they are because they are. They don't see the Marines could see it, but they didn't see it in themselves. And so that really was the the heart that I brought to Women Lead Well is to find ways to help unlock that potential or just connect the potential that is there to so that women can see what they are capable of and what they're already doing. They're just not acknowledging that they're doing it.

Advice For Feeling Stuck

Speaker 1 11:05

Yeah, yeah. I love it. I love it. And I feel the passion behind it. And I mean, your background clearly backs up everything that you're doing. So congratulations on um on finding this and starting a new business in in the next chapter. I know that that's a challenge in itself. So congratulations on that. And and I wonder if there's someone listening right now who is kind of feeling like they're you know stuck in their leadership. What message would you give a woman listening right now who's kind of like, oh, Becky is is speaking my language? Um, what what would you say to her?

Speaker 2 11:45

I would say you deserve to invest in you, right? That that all of us bring strengths and talents in this world. And so no matter how confident you are in your own individual strengths and talents, I guarantee you they're there because we all have them. And I guarantee that you, whoever you are, you deserve to cultivate those strengths and talents. Rome was not built in a day. Nobody becomes a confident, capable leader overnight. And so I would say find that one area where your heart lights up. You know, you said, Dori, that that I kind of light up talking about. Find that area where you get that spark of that, oh wow, I I really enjoy this. And just take one step in that direction. And then you just take another step. It we get held back by how big change can feel. But all change is, is just one little step after the other. And I would obviously, if anyone wants to think about what those steps could look like for them, I would love to offer them a complimentary coaching call. I'm at Women LeadWell on all platforms. Reach out, let's set up a Zoom call and let's talk about what that could look like for you. No obligation. I don't do that to sell. Again, I just do that because I love doing this kind of thing. I think it's important for women to really own, own their potential, own their awesome.

Redefining Leadership As Next Steps

Speaker 1 13:10

Yeah. Powerful message. Thank you for that. Thanks. So those who uh are interested in connecting with you, you just mentioned your website. Do you have a final message for the listeners?

Speaker 2 13:22

Yeah. So the website is womenleadwell.net. Um, I didn't get the.com, so.net. Okay. Um, but am at women lead well across all platforms. I think the final message that I would lead, leave with women is that we can think of leadership as this very formal kind of that's what other people do. I'm just living my life. And what I would share is that you are leading your own life, right? You are leading your family, you are leading in your community. And so if leadership feels like something foreign and out there and maybe a little stuffy, I would say it doesn't have to. Think of leadership as how you are leveling up in your life, how you are taking charge of your life or taking charge of your professional life. And what's your next step? Get clear on that next step, take it. And then that's just the process of our entire lives is getting clear on our next step, taking that next step, reflecting on it, getting clear on the step after that and moving forward. And at the end of the day, leadership doesn't have to be foreign or or challenging or or daunting. That's all it is. It's what's the right next step? Let's take it, let's think about it, and let's take the next step after that. Amazing.

Speaker 1 14:38

Great message. Thank you for that. And if you need help getting clarity on that next step, Becky can help.

Speaker 2 14:45

Thank you, Dori.

Speaker 1 14:46

I love talking with you. Yes, thank you so much for being my guest on the podcast.

Speaker 14:52

Thank you for listening to the Fredericksburg Neighbors Podcast. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to FXBG NeighborsPodcast.com.