Eleanor Beaton, founder, president and CEO of Eleanor Beaton & Co. Communications Ltd., is a women’s leadership development mentor and host of her podcast Fierce Feminine Leadership: The Success Podcast for Ambitious Women in Business. Peers say she dreams big and achieves big; and helps other women dream bigger and achieve more too. She sends out a tidal wave of empowered women ready to smash the glass ceiling. Beaton has this to say: “I teach emerging women leaders how to ask for – and get – what they deserve. And it’s not just the money. It’s more time, more recognition, and their place in the spotlight.”
Early in her career, Beaton faced a challenge. “… like many women in our society, I was raised to listen to authority, follow the rules, raise my hand and wait to be called upon. While this was helpful in school, it was not very useful in the world of work, and kept me from speaking up, being visible and taking risks. Learning to ‘unlearn’ some of the lessons we often hand down to girls was one of the biggest obstacles I needed to overcome.”
Beaton is one of eight global advisors on women’s leadership development to the Visiting Women’s Executive Exchange Program at the Yale School of Management. In 2017, Bet on Me, a book she co-authored, was short-listed for a National Business Book Award and her column, The XX Factor, was a finalist for a National Magazine Award.
For Beaton, diversity and inclusion means that high-level decisions are influenced by a group of people who represent a variety of cultures, genders and socio-economic backgrounds. Diversity is important in the workplace, she believes, because it “…always leads to greater ROI, ROE and a stronger record on innovation.”
Beaton offers women this wisdom: “What got you to your current level of success will not empower your next leap. Hard work is now just table stakes. To unlock the next level of success, you need to cultivate a distinctive brand, own your leadership presence and develop the relationships and political savvy required to make a meaningful impact.”
