The Women’s Foodservice Forum’s annual Leadership Development Workshops wrapped up last week at Coca-Cola’s headquarters in Atlanta – the eighth and largest of this year’s series, which rotated cities throughout the fall. Speakers included Courtney Ramsey, who has spent more than 15 years in corporate learning and development and human development, and Candace Doby, chief executive officer of The Can-Do company, leadership development strategist, and author of “A Cool Girl’s Guide to Courage.”

To get a sense of the event’s purpose, WFF chief marketing officer Krista Gibson took the stage to note that there will be no conversations about balance sheets or the off-premises mix, but rather “We’re talking about you today.” Indeed, the workshop focused on professional development, encouraging participants to never stop learning, to amplify their value, to be courageous, and to take risks. Such a conversation is timely now as the industry evolves its focus on employee wellness and professional development to support recruitment and retention efforts.

Ramsey noted that it’s important to understand your “superpower,” derived by understanding what you both enjoy and excel at, and the majority of the room said they were strong in developing relationships, which bodes well for employees in hospitality, perhaps. Other superpowers included innovation, information, and activation.

“Once you’re able to identify and clarify your superpower, you’ll be able to leverage it in a professional setting and foster greater collaboration, impact, and productivity within your organization,” Ramsey said.

Of course, doing so requires a degree of courage, which can be difficult to embrace. Doby said it’s important to understand your brilliance in order to be more courageous.

“Maybe you’re thinking about Albert Einstein, but we’re going to democratize the word ‘brilliance.’ Instead of thinking of ‘brilliance’ as exceptional intellect, brilliance presents itself by what you say, what you do, and how you do it,” Doby said. “We’re all afraid of losing our social connections, of failure, and of being judged.”

Mastery and experience help us overcome such fears, she added.

“We don’t take risks if we don’t have internal resources to do so. To get more courage at work, find competence and confidence. That takes knowledge, experience and proficiency, skill, and ability,” Doby said. “Also, trust in your ability.”

The program concluded with a panel featuring Inspire Brands chief financial officer Kate Jaspon, GoTo Foods senior vice president of marketing – international and licensing Kerri Christian, and Coca-Cola’s vice president and general manager of franchise leadership and operations Tanika Cabral, and senior vice president of global talent, development and HR system partnerships Tapaswee Chandele.

All four panelists agreed that employees – especially women who are significantly more likely to experience imposter syndrome – need to “get out of their own way.”

“Reframe your inner dialogue. Just like every other human, you’re a work in progress,” Chandele said. “For me, I’m taking risks because it’s the right thing to do, not to prove a point to anybody. Once I learned how to do that, that’s when it clicked for me.”

“If it doesn’t work out, change it. Accept that change is going to happen all the time,” Jaspon added.

Christian said such a mindset change starts with taking small steps, like working on a committee, meeting someone for coffee, taking a stretch project, or mentoring someone.

“As leaders, we should be helping employees take risks and be courageous,” Cabral said.

 “As you keep growing, you realize it’s less about you and more about the work and your team,” Chandele added. “Embrace what you do well and know that some things you don’t. Enjoy the experience. That’s a nice way to invest in yourself.”