Lead Like A Boss - The Journey
Authentic Connection. Courageous Action. Transformational Results.
Changing the face of leadership starts here.
Welcome.
We believe that changing the face of leadership around the corporate table starts with investing in high school girls, disrupting their limiting beliefs and empowering them to lead courageously. Once the girls complete the initial course, they have access to continuing leadership training, mentors and, eventually, scholarships.
Through this journey, we can raise up a new generation of women leaders, who are supported by each other, who dare to dream to be in the c-suite (the top level of senior executives), who are empowered to take on leadership positions at younger ages, and who reach the highest levels of companies.
Did you know women have earned more bachelor degrees than men since 1982, more master degrees than men since 1987, and more doctorate degrees than men since 2006.*
Yet women account for only 8.8% of CEOs on the 2022 Fortune 500 list.*
With the focus on the dramatic underrepresentation of women in leadership positions, the solution always starts with women in their career journey. Whether corporations sponsor women for their membership with Chief.com or carve out funds for a leadership course, the disparity persists.
*National Center for Education Statistics. (2021). Table 318.10: Degrees conferred by postsecondary institutions, by level of degree and sex of student: Selected years, 1869-70 through 2030-31 [Data set]. 2021 Digest of Education Statistics.
**Historical list of women CEOs of the Fortune lists: 1972-2022. (2022, May 27). Catalyst.
This is what drove the vision for Lead Like a Boss – The Journey.
Lead Like a Boss – The Journey began through the vision and efforts of Rachel Bouman
(CEO of The Leadership Companion)
Rachel was tapped for a c-suite role in her 30’s. At the time, she believed her age was responsible for her imposter syndrome — that voice in her head that made her think she didn’t belong in the c-suite because everyone around her was easily 20 years her senior. After successfully transforming a government office at the executive level, Rachel wanted to take this wisdom and belief, and share it with other women.
She started her own business coaching women executives, and as she did, continued to hear the deafening echo from her clients:
“I constantly doubt whether I belong in the c-suite.”
Rachel became passionate about helping women overcome these thoughts.
Around this time, Rachel found out about a seven day course at her daughter’s Christian school that offers students the opportunity to engage in unique classes in order to develop servant leadership. Rachel had not seen anything like this before. The school seeks out alumni, parents and others in the community to volunteer to teach a course to the students. Rachel volunteered to teach leadership skills to a cohort of high school girls. She wanted it to be an intimate setting, much like her coaching groups, and capped the registrations at 12.
Not having a teaching background, Rachel reached out to her good friend, Callie Feyen (published author, former middle school teacher and mom of two teen girls) to help her with the curriculum. Together, they wrote a faith-based curriculum for the most pressing leadership challenges that women face.
Then, Rachel leveraged her husband, Michael Bouman (Creative Marketing Director for The Leadership Companion), to build the brand and content so it was compelling for the students to both use and want to share.
After socializing the content with colleagues, parents, teachers and executives, Rachel has had strong feedback that this is something the world needs. From her own experience, Rachel knew this was true. Then her friend, a father of three teen daughters, encouraged her to start a non-profit and dream bigger about how Rachel could really impact the number of women at the c-suite table and…