Jane Benston - Women's Leadership

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Jane Benston - Women's Leadership

I help mid-career professional women step up to the next level of leadership, impact and recognition.. without burning out or selling their soul.

www.janebenston.com We help high-achieving corporate women in senior leadership positions navigate their career and to feel more secure in their success. Contact Founder and Principal Consultant Jane Benston to find out more.

11/10/2026

“How on earth has it taken us 15 years to take an international holiday together?”

I'm just back from four weeks in Croatia, Montenegro and Istanbul with my lovely man and this is a thought that has been running on repeat while we were away and since we've been home.

If I’m honest, I’d struggled to see how I could step away, keep the business going and meet my commitments to our clients. There was always something that needed my attention, and I kept waiting for a quieter time to go. It’s a pattern I see in so many of the women I work with, and clearly I’m not immune! So work kept coming first, while our travel plans waited for “one day”.

But swimming in the Adriatic, exploring the cobblestone laneways of old towns and enjoying seafood and gelato reminded me how much I’d been putting off.

We loved the history, the people we met and those early mornings on the boat, watching the coastline drift past without rushing off to start the workday.

Mostly, I loved having time together.

I’m so glad we finally made it happen. And we’re already talking about where to next!

We love smaller towns, great food, history and time in nature.

Where have you been that you think we’d love? Tell me where – and what made it special.

07/10/2026

The REAL reason your time keeps disappearing at work…

Most of us are good at imagining what we would do with more time – finally get to that strategic project, have the conversation we’ve been putting off, spend a decent amount of time thinking about what’s next, or maybe just have a little more breathing room at the end of the day.

But while creating space is one thing, making decisions about what deserves that space is another.

Before long, you get pulled into a problem that needs solving or a meeting you’re invited to out of habit, and then the email lands that really does need an answer today…

None of these things are necessarily unreasonable and some will genuinely need your input.

But when everything feels urgent, the things that are important-but-not-urgent fall off the schedule.

And the work that creates the greatest value at this stage of your career won’t often arrive with a flashing red light attached to it.

This is one of the traps I see capable, reliable women fall into.

Being responsive and helpful is a strength. Being the one who is trusted to get things done is a strength.

But if everyone else's urgency always wins … when does your strategic work happen?

As you move through your career, your value stops coming from how much you can get done and increasingly comes from your judgement – what you notice, what you prioritise, the decisions you make, the opportunities you identify and the direction you help create.

And you can't do that particularly well when you're constantly reacting to whatever happens to be in front of you.

That doesn't mean ignoring everything that comes your way – there will always be real emergencies, unexpected requests, and things that need your attention.

It means becoming more deliberate about identifying “this needs my attention right now” (if it needs your attention at all).

When you look back over the last few weeks, did your attention go to things that genuinely matter at your level of leadership … or to whatever was most pressing in the moment?

04/10/2026

No time in your week for the work that really matters?

If your days have become so full of meetings, requests and solving problems that there's little space left to showcase your potential as a strategic leader, you're not alone.

It's a conversation I have with women in leadership every week.

If you're ready to create more space for the work that will strengthen your impact, influence and reputation, I'd love you to join me for The Less Busy, More Strategic masterclass.

Click here to save your seat https://janebenston.lpages.co/less-busy-more-strategic-masterclass/

01/10/2026

𝗦𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝗳 𝗯𝗲𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝘆 𝗯𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝘁 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸?

If you know you need to focus on the strategic work of leadership, but are so buried in the day-to-day you never get to it, this one is for you.

The women who come to me know they are at capacity.

Their reputation as a capable and reliable ‘get things done’ woman means they’ve become the go to, which means everyone else’s priorities are filling their day.

And the work that would reflect their leadership capability keeps getting pushed further and further down the list.

But recognising the problem is not the same as seeing how to fix it. That’s where I come in.

The Less Busy, More Strategic Masterclass is my free 90-min training that shows you exactly how to let go of some of the day-to-day “doing” and create more space for higher value work.

If your days are filled with meetings, requests, problems to solve and people who need your help...

But the work that would strengthen your impact, influence, and reputation keeps being pushed aside…

This is the leadership reset you need.

Register here today: https://janebenston.lpages.co/less-busy-more-strategic-masterclass/

28/09/2026

I’ve lost my confidence.

I hear this more than you might think – from smart, capable, mid-career women who have every reason to back themselves... but don’t.

Confidence doesn’t just disappear overnight.

Most of the time it gets chipped away – bit by bit – by things like:

😣 A difficult relationship with a manager
😣 Feedback that left a bruise, maybe catching you by surprise
😣 Years of focusing on the kids, the household, and the people around you and leaving no time to focus on you
😣 Being overlooked, again, for an opportunity you were more than ready for

So, if you’ve found yourself second-guessing, playing smaller, or wondering if maybe “this is just how things are now”

I want you to know:

Waiting to feel confident before you take the next step is a trap that keeps you circling, overthinking, and playing safe.

Because confidence doesn’t come from thinking. It comes from doing – with the right support around you – things like:

⭐ Getting clear on your value.
⭐ Setting a boundary and holding it.
⭐ Asking for the opportunity.
⭐ Saying yes to growth and no to what no longer fits,
⭐ Having the difficult conversation you've been avoiding.

That’s how confidence comes back.

Not all at once – but powerfully, over time.

So, if you’re telling yourself “I just need to feel more confident first...” please hear this:

You’re more ready than you think.

You don’t need to fix yourself. You just need to start moving, with intention, support, and self-belief.

(You can borrow mine, if you need to).

I believe in you!

24/09/2026

Since working with Jane…

"The senior leadership team have commented on my new-found self-assurance and capabilities. I am seen as the right person for leadership opportunities and I step into these with dignity and certainty.

Leading is now at the forefront of what I do."

– A Leadership Connection member

20/09/2026

The most important work of leadership is rarely urgent.

Thinking strategically isn't usually urgent.

Building relationships and influence isn't usually urgent.

Looking ahead and preparing for what might be coming isn't usually urgent.

None of those things come with a deadline. But that does not make them any less important.

In fact, they may be some of the most important things you could be spending your time on.

But this is one of the traps I see capable, reliable women fall into.

When something needs doing, people know they can come to you. You’re good at making decisions, solving problems and getting things moving, which you often do by just getting the task done yourself.

One request at a time, other people's priorities become your priorities.

Being responsive and helpful is a strength. Being the one who is trusted to get things done is a strength.

But if everyone else's urgency always wins … when does your strategic work happen?

17/09/2026

𝐊𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠'𝐬 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 ≠ 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐨 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐢𝐭.

That's the gap most experienced women get stuck in.

It does not happen because they lack capability or insight. That couldn’t be further from the truth. They just can’t see the next step to get them out of it.

I built the Strategic Leader Quiz to close that gap.

It takes just 3 minutes, you answer handful of the right questions, and you'll walk away knowing exactly where you're stuck right now ... and the first practical shift to make.

Click here for clarity you can use: https://pages.janebenston.com/quiz-strategic-leader

14/09/2026

Here's a pattern I see often with capable, experienced professional women.

Your team will bring you something half-formed – an idea that isn't quite there yet, a problem that hasn't been fully worked through – and because you can already see the answer ... you quickly give it to them.

It feels like helping. But here is what it’s actually doing.

When you are quick to jump in, it stops the other person from working out why a particular outcome matters or finding their own way to get there. And it teaches them that the fastest path to a good answer is bringing it to you, rather than sitting with it themselves.

So they stop bringing you their 'work in progress' thinking at all.

Instead, they bring you the problem or request so you can "just tell me what to do."

It's not that they've stopped being capable. It's that you have accidentally trained them to think their thinking and judgment doesn't matter because you will always give them a shortcut to a decision.

And you can't create space for yourself while you're still the shortcut for everyone else.

09/09/2026

I'm about to run the ultimate test of my own advice.

I'm currently away for a few weeks exploring Europe – properly away. No expectation to check in, no keeping half an eye on how things are tracking without me.

That is very intentional and I have worked with my team to build capacity for me to be able to do this.

Because here's the thing about leadership: if everything grinds to a halt the moment you step back, that's not a compliment (even if it makes us feel very important!).

It is a gap that is seriously impacting your leadership.

While I'm away, my Friday newsletter is going deeper on exactly this – how to actually use the capacity you free up so old habits don't creep back in, how to protect what matters when everyone else's priorities land on your desk, and how to build a team that owns things instead of waiting on you.

If it's not landing in your inbox yet, now is the perfect time to fix that 👉🏻 https://janebenston.lpages.co/newsletter-subscribe/

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Melbourne, VIC

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http://www.janebenston.com/

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