Paula Stone Williams
Whether a corporate meeting, women's conference, company retreat or national gathering, Paula's unique perspective and story-telling skill delights both men and women as she humbly and effectively advocates for gender equity, LGBTQ rights and appreciation for the differences among us.
Paula has been the CEO of a large religious non-profit, the editor-at-large of a national magazine, host of a national television show and a corporate consultant. With her doctoral thesis on the DiSC Personality Profile, Paula has led hundreds of corporate boards and work teams to become more efficient and productive. Paula has served as an adjunct university professor in the United States and Europe, and is the author of eight books, including She's My Dad, co-authored with her son, Jonathan.
Paula’s memoir, As a Woman: What I Learned about Power, Sex, and the Patriarchy After I Transitioned (Simon & Schuster), chronicles her transition journey and sheds light on the gendered landscape that impacts many in the LGBTQ+ community and women in the workplace and beyond. Her memoir will be turned into a limited series by Cannonball Productions.
In addition to her public speaking and corporate consulting, she is also a Pastor and Pastoral Counselor in Boulder County, Colorado. Paula has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, TEDWomen, TEDSummit, TEDxMileHigh, Red Table Talk, National Public Radio, Good Morning America, ABC Primetime News, CNN, People Magazine, and many other media outlets. She has been a keynote speaker for hundreds of conferences, corporations, and universities around the world. Her TED Talks have had over six million views.
Paula lives in Boulder County, Colorado, where she also serves as a pastor with Left Hand Church.
I’ve Lived as a Man and a Woman. Here’s What I Learned.
Based on her TED talk (over 4.2 million views), Dr. Paula Stone Williams speaks about her experience living as a male and as a female. Are men privileged in ways they do not understand? Do women have to work harder to be seen as leaders? Do men empower each other more than women empower each other? With humor and insight, Paula Williams answers these questions and more, using both empirical data and her experience in both genders to explore the difference between equality and equity. Attendees will hear Paula's narrative of her journey, as well as be invited to examine their own lives for subtle and not so subtle ways in which we take in the messages of our culture and live them out in every area of our lives. Men will depart with a greater understanding of their own privilege, and the opportunities to make a difference that come along with that privilege. Women will understand the importance of standing up for themselves and working together to bring about change. Both genders will be asked to examine how we bring our privilege with us in all of our interactions.
Building a Better Work Team
With two masters degrees and a doctoral degree and both her second master's thesis and doctoral thesis focused on using the DiSC Personal Profile System, Paula has ample experience on using the system to identify leaders and increase team effectiveness in the workplace. The DiSC is one of the most popular and accurate predictors of workplace behavior. Paula has given and interpreted thousands of DiSC tests over a 30-year period, and has a unique ability to help individuals and groups understand how they might work better together. During this workshop in which participants will take the test together, Paula will talk about how team members prefer to interact with others and why. She will lead the entire group in gaining an understanding of the four basic work styles and combinations thereof that determine corporate culture. Each attendee will leave with a better understanding of the other members of the team, and how they can work together to increase efficiency and effectiveness.
What Works for Women at Work
In this engaging talk and workshop, Paula will focus on how women can create new work systems and environments that are not based on patriarchal vertically-based leadership structures. She also discusses ways in which introverts can become more effective in the C-Suite and what companies can do to broaden their leadership from typical extroverted male leadership. Using a number of non-profit organizations, including Paula's, as examples of opting for a three-person leadership team instead of a single CEO, Paula will talk about how well that system is working, with two key elements in place. There must be clear job descriptions and each leader must have a high emotional quotient. The workshop will also talk about how women can work more collaboratively within existing vertical hierarchical systems, without giving up their basic female selves in the process.
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