Member since January 2023
Dr. Patricia Suggs, international speaker, consultant, conflict resolution expert, coach, trainer, Boomer expert, and CEO of ARISE Leadership Consulting, LLC. Education: Ph.D., M.Ed, M.Div. She is ICF certified in coaching, certified in conflict resolution and in spiritual direction.
She inspires and coaches high-achieving women, both corporately and individually, to step out of their comfort zone to be authentic and unapologetic leaders. Areas of leadership focused on include: imposter syndrome; developing boundaries; becoming adaptable to change and learning techniques to deal with conflict effectively and with compassion. Being unapologetically confident is key to being an authentic and compassionate leader. She has spoken at national and international conferences; workshops, and other trainings.
Dr. Suggs has published the book: ASPIRE: Women Finding Their Purpose. Articles she has published in books include: The Little Woman on my Shoulder: Women and Self-Sabotage in Yes, You Can!: Believe in Yourself, edited by Linda Ellis Eastman; It is Time for Women to Gather in Leaders: Women Who Change the World Through Their Business, AMA Publishing; and Women Must Stand Up to Stand Out in The Total Woman Vol.II: A Holistic Approach to Life Balance.
Leadership - helping high achieving women leaders to have unapologetic confidence and become successful leaders
Conflict resolution - teaching the tools and techniques to handle conflict effectively and with compassion
Helping women become the exceptional leaders they were born to be
Picture it: I was walking down the hall with my boss, (he was walking fast because he was going to a meeting) but we were cohosting a conference and had details to work out. So I was walking fast and talking fast! My boss was going to a meeting with his boss, and as we approached his boss's office, he turned toward me and 'FLICKED HIS WRIST IN MY FACE!' I was livid, my heart was pounding, my adrenaline was spiked! What he did was disrespectful. It was wrong. As I walked away seething inside, I decided I needed to talk with one of my mentors. Thankfully, he wasn’t in a meeting. So I went into his office and vented! He listened carefully then began calming me down. His advice: Whatever you do, don't try to resolve this with him today. You need to take a couple of days to cool off and calm down. Then go talk to him calmly. I thanked him and then left for my boss’s secretary and made an appointment to speak with him in three days. You can imaging what those three days were like: I was tense; anxious; and filled with dread. What would I say, how would I say it? Well, the day came and I was a nervous wreck. I took a lot of deep breaths and there were moments of thinking maybe I'll just cancel, or reschedule. But I knew that wasn't a good idea. I had to do this. So I went to work got settled in my office and prepared for our meeting. As I walked toward his office, my anxiety rose exponentially. I was finally there. I asked his secretary how he was and she said he is in a good mood. Sigh! That was one thing in my favor. So I took a couple of deep breaths, clenched and unclenched my fists, knocked lightly on his door. He said come in, and then reached for the door. I am waiting to go into my boss's office, my anxiety level is at an all time high, my hand is shaking as I reach for the door to knock. It feels like an eternity to get to that point. I take deep breaths, shake it out, and take another deep breath, then knock..... He is in a great mood, which is great and very important, because it means he will listen. We say hello, I sit down and the first thing I do is to go over what needs to be done for the conference we are working on together. Then when I have crossed off all of the points, I begin by saying, I need to ask you something, then I say No I need to tell you something. He said ok. And I asked, Remember when we were walking down the hall on the way to your meeting talking about the conference? He says yes. I then say, Well when you getting ready to go into the office you looked at me and you FLICKED your wrist in my face. I thought we were colleagues. He looked at me with his eyes wide opened and says “Of course we are colleagues, I am so sorry, I had no idea I did that.” We then talked a little more and ended on a very good note.
In 1977 I was ordained a United Methodist minister. My husband is a minister also (we met in seminary) and our first appointments were in the mountains of NC. My next step was to go back to school (a long time dream) to earn a second Masters and a Ph.D. in Gerontology. My hopes were to be hired to work with congregations in the area of older adult ministry. Churches didn't and still don't typically hire in this area I found out. I loved teaching and training so I applied and was hired at Wake Forest University School of Medicine as well as Director of Aging for the Northwest Area Health Education Center. I developed trainings and lead many of them. I also learned to write grants and wrote and received grants in the area of geriatric education. I was Director of the Applachian Education Center. After 17 years there, I went on to pastor part-time churches who could not afford a full-time pastor and began my coaching journey. I became ICF certified in coaching and certified in conflict resolution. I coached a few hundred individuals and also led trainings in leadership, conflict resolution, and other related topics. I then began to narrow my niche and focus on high achieving women. With my experiences in leading while working through bias and discrimination beginning in the 70's, I realized I am in a unique position to help other women navigate through all of the bias and become successful leaders. My passion is to enable women to become the leaders they were born to be.
Self-confidence is the key to success. We need strong, compassionate women leaders and this demands self-confidence. However, women can have a particularly difficult time developing and maintaining self-confidence. They tend to focus more on caring for others rather than themselves. This is true in their professional and personal lives. And because women have to prove themselves in the workplace extra pressure is put upon them to succeed. It is no wonder that self-confidence is an obstacle for most women at least some of the time. Research shows that even those women who have succeeded in extraordinary ways still have those moments when self-confidence wavers. Therefore, it is imperative that women find ways to strengthen their self-confidence and feelings of self-worth. The world needs their leadership.
Upon completion of this talk, participants will:
- Understand the intricacies of self-confidence
- Learn how women are impacted by low self-esteem
- Discover the Key Techniques to developing and keeping self-confidence (and regaining it in those moments when you waiver)
As women we have to be perfect. Many women live by this statement.
It is no surprise that research has shown that people are more likely to attribute a man’s success to ability and a woman’s to luck. And because you are female, you are held to a higher standard in many/most professions. Therefore the burden of proof is on you to prove your competence in ways rarely required of men. Most women are raised to be nice and serve others. So even when they become successful those little voices are still there.
One great example is when women and men were studies to compare how they respond to new job opportunities: men would go for the job even if they only had 50% and even less of the qualifications listed; while women would not go for the job if they didn't have all of the qualifications.
Upon completion of this talk attendees will:
- Discover what makes a perfectionist
- Learn key techniques to overcome perfectionistic tendencies
- Transform perfectionism into healthy ways to succeed
While Conflict is an everyday occurrence, dealing with it is often difficult and uncomfortable. However, it is critical that women leaders learn these skills. Research shows that in business women often avoid conflict. While sometimes to avoid is okay, most of the time avoidance only exacerbates the situations. When we don’t face these difficult people and situations, we tend to swallow our feelings and keep them down. Until, inevitably, they all come back up and often in inappropriate ways and in inappropriate situations. Confronting disruptive people/situations is absolutely key to being an authentic and effective leader.
Upon completion of this talk, participants will:
- Confidently lead difficult conversations at work and in their personal lives (even if uncomfortable)
- Utilize 5 simple strategies to calmly express their thoughts or feelings when talking to abrupt, disrespectful people (even when you are nervous)
- Ask powerful questions to get the root of any problem
- Transform people-pleasing into powerful leadership skills
- Utilize the one technique that diffuses disruptive people and situations instantly
Picture it: I was walking down the hall with my boss, (he was walking fast because he was going to a meeting) but we were cohosting a conference and had details to work out. So I was walking fast and talking fast! My boss was going to a meeting with his boss, and as we approached his boss's office, he turned toward me and 'FLICKED HIS WRIST IN MY FACE!' I was livid, my heart was pounding, my adrenaline was spiked! What he did was disrespectful. It was wrong. As I walked away seething inside, I decided I needed to talk with one of my mentors. Thankfully, he wasn’t in a meeting. So I went into his office and vented! He listened carefully then began calming me down. His advice: Whatever you do, don't try to resolve this with him today. You need to take a couple of days to cool off and calm down. Then go talk to him calmly. I thanked him and then left for my boss’s secretary and made an appointment to speak with him in three days. You can imaging what those three days were like: I was tense; anxious; and filled with dread. What would I say, how would I say it? Well, the day came and I was a nervous wreck. I took a lot of deep breaths and there were moments of thinking maybe I'll just cancel, or reschedule. But I knew that wasn't a good idea. I had to do this. So I went to work got settled in my office and prepared for our meeting. As I walked toward his office, my anxiety rose exponentially. I was finally there. I asked his secretary how he was and she said he is in a good mood. Sigh! That was one thing in my favor. So I took a couple of deep breaths, clenched and unclenched my fists, knocked lightly on his door. He said come in, and then reached for the door. I am waiting to go into my boss's office, my anxiety level is at an all time high, my hand is shaking as I reach for the door to knock. It feels like an eternity to get to that point. I take deep breaths, shake it out, and take another deep breath, then knock..... He is in a great mood, which is great and very important, because it means he will listen. We say hello, I sit down and the first thing I do is to go over what needs to be done for the conference we are working on together. Then when I have crossed off all of the points, I begin by saying, I need to ask you something, then I say No I need to tell you something. He said ok. And I asked, Remember when we were walking down the hall on the way to your meeting talking about the conference? He says yes. I then say, Well when you getting ready to go into the office you looked at me and you FLICKED your wrist in my face. I thought we were colleagues. He looked at me with his eyes wide opened and says “Of course we are colleagues, I am so sorry, I had no idea I did that.” We then talked a little more and ended on a very good note.
In 1977 I was ordained a United Methodist minister. My husband is a minister also (we met in seminary) and our first appointments were in the mountains of NC. My next step was to go back to school (a long time dream) to earn a second Masters and a Ph.D. in Gerontology. My hopes were to be hired to work with congregations in the area of older adult ministry. Churches didn't and still don't typically hire in this area I found out. I loved teaching and training so I applied and was hired at Wake Forest University School of Medicine as well as Director of Aging for the Northwest Area Health Education Center. I developed trainings and lead many of them. I also learned to write grants and wrote and received grants in the area of geriatric education. I was Director of the Applachian Education Center. After 17 years there, I went on to pastor part-time churches who could not afford a full-time pastor and began my coaching journey. I became ICF certified in coaching and certified in conflict resolution. I coached a few hundred individuals and also led trainings in leadership, conflict resolution, and other related topics. I then began to narrow my niche and focus on high achieving women. With my experiences in leading while working through bias and discrimination beginning in the 70's, I realized I am in a unique position to help other women navigate through all of the bias and become successful leaders. My passion is to enable women to become the leaders they were born to be.
Self-confidence is the key to success. We need strong, compassionate women leaders and this demands self-confidence. However, women can have a particularly difficult time developing and maintaining self-confidence. They tend to focus more on caring for others rather than themselves. This is true in their professional and personal lives. And because women have to prove themselves in the workplace extra pressure is put upon them to succeed. It is no wonder that self-confidence is an obstacle for most women at least some of the time. Research shows that even those women who have succeeded in extraordinary ways still have those moments when self-confidence wavers. Therefore, it is imperative that women find ways to strengthen their self-confidence and feelings of self-worth. The world needs their leadership.
Upon completion of this talk, participants will:
- Understand the intricacies of self-confidence
- Learn how women are impacted by low self-esteem
- Discover the Key Techniques to developing and keeping self-confidence (and regaining it in those moments when you waiver)
As women we have to be perfect. Many women live by this statement.
It is no surprise that research has shown that people are more likely to attribute a man’s success to ability and a woman’s to luck. And because you are female, you are held to a higher standard in many/most professions. Therefore the burden of proof is on you to prove your competence in ways rarely required of men. Most women are raised to be nice and serve others. So even when they become successful those little voices are still there.
One great example is when women and men were studies to compare how they respond to new job opportunities: men would go for the job even if they only had 50% and even less of the qualifications listed; while women would not go for the job if they didn't have all of the qualifications.
Upon completion of this talk attendees will:
- Discover what makes a perfectionist
- Learn key techniques to overcome perfectionistic tendencies
- Transform perfectionism into healthy ways to succeed
While Conflict is an everyday occurrence, dealing with it is often difficult and uncomfortable. However, it is critical that women leaders learn these skills. Research shows that in business women often avoid conflict. While sometimes to avoid is okay, most of the time avoidance only exacerbates the situations. When we don’t face these difficult people and situations, we tend to swallow our feelings and keep them down. Until, inevitably, they all come back up and often in inappropriate ways and in inappropriate situations. Confronting disruptive people/situations is absolutely key to being an authentic and effective leader.
Upon completion of this talk, participants will:
- Confidently lead difficult conversations at work and in their personal lives (even if uncomfortable)
- Utilize 5 simple strategies to calmly express their thoughts or feelings when talking to abrupt, disrespectful people (even when you are nervous)
- Ask powerful questions to get the root of any problem
- Transform people-pleasing into powerful leadership skills
- Utilize the one technique that diffuses disruptive people and situations instantly
