Development programme

Empower

Women in Business

Accelerate your female talent with women who have performed at the highest level.

Four interactive masterclasses for the women in your business ready to take the next step in their career. Built to grow their confidence, visibility and influence, and to strengthen the pipeline you promote from.

Book places on the next cohort Meet the four experts

Your four masterclass leaders

Kate Richardson-Walsh OBE

Kate Richardson-Walsh OBE

Olympic gold medallist. On mindset and leading from within.

Sonya Barlow

Sonya Barlow

Award-winning BBC presenter. On the future of women at work.

Penny Haslam

Penny Haslam

Former BBC business journalist. On confidence and assertiveness.

Sarah Furness

Sarah Furness

Former RAF combat helicopter pilot. On performing under pressure.

Four online masterclasses £1,349 plus VAT per person Cohorts start April, June, September, November

Turn potential into progression

Your female talent is ready for more. Empower is built for that next step, whether it is a first leadership role or a bigger remit. It gives them the confidence, visibility and practical tools to make it happen, and gives you a stronger pipeline of talent to promote from.

Programme masterclasses

Four masterclasses.
Four exceptional leaders.

Every session is fully interactive. Each expert shares her own story and takes questions directly, then participants move into facilitated discussion in small groups, where they apply the learning to their own roles and ambitions. The cohort quickly becomes a network, with women sharing experiences, supporting each other and pushing each other forward, during the programme and well beyond it. Sarah Knight hosts all four.

Kate Richardson-Walsh OBE
Session one

Kate Richardson-Walsh OBE

Olympic gold medallist. Captain of the England and Great Britain hockey teams for 13 years.

The power of mindset. Leading from within.

Kate captained England and Great Britain for 13 years, including Olympic gold in Rio. She opens Empower on mindset, trust and authentic leadership in high pressure environments, then works with the group on what that looks like in their own roles.

Key outcomes

  • Understand their leadership style and how they perform at their best under pressure
  • Build a growth mindset that keeps them focused on long term goals
  • Play to their strengths consistently
  • Build trust across their teams through authentic leadership
More about Kate
Sonya Barlow
Session two

Sonya Barlow

Award-winning BBC presenter, author, entrepreneur and TEDx speaker.

The future of women in work. Staying ahead of the curve.

A bold, honest conversation about building a career in today’s world of work. Sonya explores how AI, flexible and portfolio careers and personal brand are shaping careers today, and how to make the most of them, with actions to apply in three days, three weeks and three months.

Key outcomes

  • Leave with a clear career vision and quarterly milestones to track progress
  • Build a personal brand they are known for, online and in person
  • Embrace AI and new technology with curiosity and confidence
  • Network with purpose and build relationships that create value for your business
More about Sonya
Penny Haslam
Session three

Penny Haslam

Former BBC business journalist. Award-winning speaker and author of Make Yourself a Little Bit Famous.

Confidence, awareness and assertiveness.

Drawing on 20 years in national broadcast media and the ideas behind her book Make Yourself a Little Bit Famous, Penny helps participants build the confidence to position themselves as experts and get known for what they do, with practical techniques for influence and assertive communication. It is one of the most hands on sessions in the programme, with ready to use language for the conversations that matter most.

Key outcomes

  • Build unshakeable confidence and presence in meetings, pitches and senior conversations
  • Recognise imposter syndrome, quieten self doubt and back their own judgement
  • Position themselves as experts in their field and grow their influence across the organisation
  • Communicate assertively while respecting others, including saying no and setting boundaries
  • Stay composed and assertive under pressure and in challenging conversations
More about Penny
Sarah Furness
Session four

Sarah Furness

Former RAF combat helicopter pilot. First woman to fly and lead UK Special Forces missions in Iraq.

Fly higher. Work smarter, bounce back stronger.

Drawing on lessons from the cockpit, Sarah shares how the best teams stay calm, focused and brave under pressure. She introduces uni-tasking, her Practise Scared approach to building courage, and why great leaders treat failure as a source of learning. She closes the masterclasses on performing at your best by doing what matters most.

Key outcomes

  • Use uni-tasking to sharpen focus and raise the quality of their work
  • Practise scared, building the courage to step forward before they feel ready
  • Lead openly through mistakes and turn failure into learning
  • Build psychologically safe teams where people speak up and learn together
  • Handle challenges with a repeatable approach to resilience
More about Sarah

The programme closes with a panel

Senior business leaders who have accelerated their careers to the top of their fields share how they got there, and the part women play in building workplaces where people can grow. Participants lead the questions.

In their words

The difference Empower makes

I now hold my position with confidence in senior rooms.

Confidence

I ask for what I need, clearly and confidently.

Assertiveness

Saying no clearly has given me back most of a day a week.

Boundaries

I make my good work visible now, and I own my results.

Visibility

I bounce back from a tough meeting in an afternoon, not a fortnight.

Recovery

I have embraced AI and now use it every day.

Future skills

Every session ends with practical actions to use that week. The masterclasses are spaced out, so participants put the learning into practice in role between sessions.

For the business

Why Empower

More voices in senior conversations

Empower builds the presence and influence your female talent needs to contribute fully in meetings, pitches and client conversations. Your business hears their best ideas, and decisions move faster.

Female talent stays and progresses

A named programme shows your high potential women there is a clear route forward with you. Empower builds the confidence to take it and strengthens the pipeline you promote from.

Stronger teams under pressure

Participants learn how to build psychological safety, so issues are raised early and teams learn quickly. Combined with proven focus techniques, that means better quality work across the team.

Ready for how work is changing

Your female talent leaves ready to embrace AI and new ways of working, shape their own career paths and represent your business credibly in public.

How organisations use it

One place, or your whole female talent population

Send one woman and she joins peers from other organisations, gaining a wider network and a fresh perspective. Send a group and they build strong internal connections alongside that network, then bring a shared language back into your business.

  • No minimum. One place is as welcome as fifty, so you can start whenever your talent is ready.
  • The rate per person drops as numbers rise. Tell us the number you have in mind and we will price against it.
  • Empower+ adds sessions for your organisation only. Coaching, action learning sets, and objectives agreed with the business at the start.
Sarah Knight
Hosted throughout by

Sarah Knight

Sarah has spent 25 years building teams, developing managers and helping people reach their potential as an award winning coach, facilitator and culture and leadership specialist.

She hosts all four sessions, linking each one to the last, leading the group work and keeping your female talent connected and progressing between masterclasses.

Empower+

Tailored to your organisation

The four core masterclasses stay consistent across the open cohort, which keeps the calibre of expert high and the price accessible. Empower+ adds sessions that run for your female talent alone, built around your context and your talent strategy.

Let’s talk
  • Action learning setsBetween masterclasses, keeping participants accountable to each other on real challenges rather than case studies.
  • One-to-one and executive coachingTurning a general insight into a change in how an individual leads.
  • Launch eventAgree objectives and measures with the business before the cohort starts.
  • Distance Travelled eventClose the programme by evidencing movement against those measures.
  • Face to face deliveryWhere you are bringing women together from multiple sites and being in a room matters more.
The details

Format and investment

A programme for women in business, created by women in business. Built for women at any stage who are ready to take the next step in their career.

Investment

£1,349Per person plus VAT, all four masterclasses

  • No additional cost per session
  • Reduced rates as group numbers rise
  • No minimum number of places
  • Empower+ scoped and priced separately
Book places on the next cohort Talk to us about a group
Beyond the programme

More than a programme.
A network.

As an RTB client, you and your teams get more than the programme itself. Through our network of 900+ speakers and experts, your people get live webinars running alongside their programme, events, resources and the chance to book global experts directly.

View all insights View all our experts
Dame Kelly Holmes Featured speaker

Dame Kelly Holmes

Former double Olympic champion on leadership, high performance and mental health.
Erica Farmer Featured speaker

Erica Farmer

AI and future skills specialist with 25 years in learning and development.
Telent management development Case study

Over 10 years of award winning development at Telent

650+ leaders across 46 cohorts. Ten years of evidence that a structured programme changes who gets promoted.
Questions

Empower FAQs

What is Empower?

A four-masterclass programme for women ready to take the next step, led by high-performing women in business. Kate Richardson-Walsh OBE, Olympic gold medallist and GB hockey captain, on mindset. Sonya Barlow, award-winning BBC presenter and author, on the future of women at work. Penny Haslam, former BBC business journalist, on confidence and assertiveness. Sarah Furness, former RAF combat helicopter pilot, on performing under pressure.

The programme closes with a panel discussion featuring senior business leaders who have reached the top of their fields. Delivered online as an open cohort, starting in April, June, September and November, at £1,349 plus VAT per person.

Who is Empower for?

Women in your organisation who are ready to take the next step in their career, whatever that step looks like. It suits individuals and larger groups. It is a programme for women in business, created by women in business.

What is a women in leadership programme?

A development programme focused on what helps women progress at work: confidence, visibility, assertive communication and building a career in a changing world of work. The most effective are led by women who have achieved at the highest level themselves. Empower is four masterclasses led by high performing women.

Can we put a group of our own women through Empower together?

Yes, and you can also put one. There is no minimum. Individuals join a cohort of women from other organisations, which is where much of the perspective and honesty comes from.

Where you enrol a group, they build internal connections alongside that external network, and Empower+ then adds sessions that run for your group only.

What does Empower cost?

£1,349 plus VAT per person for all four masterclasses, with reduced rates for larger groups. There is no additional cost per session. Empower+ is scoped and priced separately, around the outcomes you want beyond the four sessions.

Do you offer discounts for larger groups?

Yes. The per person rate reduces as numbers rise, so putting a whole group of your female talent through works out cheaper per person than enrolling a few individuals. Talk to our team with the number you have in mind and we will price against it.

What actually happens in an Empower session?

Every session is fully interactive. The expert shares her own story and takes questions directly, then participants move into facilitated group work to apply it to their own roles. Sarah Knight hosts all four sessions, and the programme closes with a panel of senior business leaders.

Which experts lead Empower?

Four high-performing women, each leading one masterclass. Kate Richardson-Walsh OBE, Olympic gold medallist and captain of the GB and England hockey teams for 13 years, on mindset and leading from within. Sonya Barlow, award-winning BBC presenter, author and entrepreneur, on the future of women at work. Penny Haslam, former BBC business journalist and author, on confidence, influence and assertiveness. Sarah Furness, former RAF combat helicopter pilot and author, on performing at your best under pressure.

The programme closes with a panel of senior business leaders who have reached the top of their fields, discussing the part women play in building workplaces where people can grow.

How do you measure the impact of a leadership programme?

Session feedback tells you how the day went, not what changed. Agree the measures before the programme starts, using numbers the business already tracks: retention across the population you are developing, engagement, internal promotion and application rates. Empower+ can open with a launch event to set those objectives and close with a Distance Travelled event to evidence movement against them.

What is Empower+?

The extended version, and the part that runs exclusively for your organisation. Alongside the four online masterclasses, and depending on the scope you choose, it can include action learning sets, one-to-one and executive coaching, a launch event to set objectives and a Distance Travelled event to evidence impact. All of it runs for your female talent only, online or face to face, and is scoped and priced around the outcomes you want.

Are women’s leadership programmes accredited?

Some are, most are not, and accreditation adds cost and assessment workload in return for portable recognition. Empower focuses on confidence, capability and network rather than a qualification. Where a qualification is the requirement, our Leadership Accelerator leads to CMI Chartered Manager status.

How is Empower different from a general leadership programme?

Empower focuses on what helps women step up, taught by women who have led at the highest level. The cohort matters as much as the content: your female talent builds a network of peers at the same stage, working towards the same goals.

Next cohorts: April, June, September, November

Name the women
who are ready

Tell us how many places you need and we will price against it. One or fifty, the next cohort is open.

Enquire about Empower