Female Leadership

🥊 “Jingjin, have you ever considered that women are just inferior to men?” That was her opening line. The lady who challenged me was not a traditionalist in pearls. She was one of the top investment bankers of her time, closed billion-dollar deals, led global teams, the kind of woman whose voice dropped ten degrees when money was on the line. And she meant it. “Back in my day, if I had to hire, I’d always go for the man. No pregnancy leave. No PMS. No emotional volatility. Just less… liability.” And she doesn’t believe in what I do. Helping women lead from a place of wholeness. Because to her, wholeness is a luxury. Winning requires neutrality. And neutrality means: be less female and suck it up! I’ve heard versions of this many times, and too often, from high-performing women who "made it" by suppressing. But facts are: 🧠 There are no consistent brain differences between men and women that explain men’s “logic” or women’s “emotions.” 💥 Hormones impact everyone. Men’s testosterone drops when they nurture. Women’s cortisol rises in toxic workplaces, not because they’re weak, but because they’re sane. 📉 What we call “meritocracy” is often a reward system for those who can perform like they have no body, no children, no cycles. None of those are biologically male traits. They’re artifacts of a system built around male lives. So, if you're a woman who's bought into this logic, here are some counter-strategies: 🛠 1. Study Systems Like You Studied Deals Dissect the incentives, norms, and bias loops of your workplace the same way you’d break down a P&L. Don’t internalize what’s structural. 🧭 2. Redefine Strategic Strengths Stop mirroring alpha aggression to prove you belong. Deep listening, self-regulation, and nuance reading, these are leadership assets, not soft skills. Use them ruthlessly. 💬 3. Name It, Don’t Numb It If your hormones impact you one day a month, say so, but also say what it doesn’t mean: It doesn’t cancel out 29 days of clarity, strategy, and execution. 🪩 4. Build Your Own Meritocracy Start investing in spaces, networks, and cultures where your wholeness isn’t penalized. If none exist, build them. 🧱 5. Deconstruct Before You Self-Doubt When you catch yourself thinking “maybe I’m not built for this,” pause. Ask: Whose rules am I trying to win by? Who benefits when I question myself? This post isn’t about defending women. We don’t need defending. It’s about calling out the internalised metrics we still use to measure ourselves. 👊 And choosing to rewrite them. What’s the most 'rational' reason you’ve heard for why women are a liability?

“Be bold, but not too bold. Be humble, but not too humble. Be proud but not too proud” Welcome to the tightrope many women walk on their path to leadership. McKinsey & Company’s recent piece ‘The inner game of women CEOs’ (linked in comments) struck a chord with me - not because the insights were new, but because they told a story familiar to many of us. As a woman leading in media, I’ve had to reconcile some very human tensions: → Lead with conviction, but stay open to change. → Build strong relationships, but make the tough calls. → Stay humble, but don’t shrink yourself. → Deliver results, but don’t lose your sense of purpose. → Serve the organisation, but keep some balance for yourself. The best leaders I know - women and men, embrace these polarities rather than trying to resolve them. It’s not about having all the answers. It’s about being clear on your values, knowing when to listen, and building resilience for yourself, for your team and for the business. For anyone aspiring for your next challenge : don’t wait until you feel “ready”. None of us ever do. You grow into the role by showing up - fully, enthusiastically and with a sense of purpose. And when in doubt? Ask yourself: What would the most courageous version of me do next? That’s the voice worth listening to.

She said yes to every single project. Yet, she was overlooked for the promotion. They said: “She’s irreplaceable.” “We’d be lost without her.” But when it came time to lead the next big thing - She wasn’t even on the list. Over the past decade working in women’s leadership, I’ve seen this story play out far too often. Women staying in roles long past their expiration. Not because they lack clarity - But because they’ve been conditioned to confuse loyalty with worth. Loyalty to a team. To a leader. To a company culture that praises their reliability... But never promotes their vision. So how do you ensure you’re valued - not just used - for all that you bring to the table? Here are 5 practical, research-backed strategies I’ve seen top performers consistently use: ✅ Be Known for Vision, Not Just Execution ↳ “She delivers” is solid. ↳ “She sets the direction” is strategic. ↳ Build a reputation rooted in foresight - not just follow-through. ✅ Document and Distill Your Wins ↳ Don’t wait to be noticed. ↳ Capture and communicate your impact consistently. ↳ Think: outcomes, initiatives, feedback snapshots. ↳ This becomes your proof of value during reviews, promotions, or pivots. ✅ Speak the Language of Business ↳ Translate your work into metrics that matter: revenue, retention, growth, efficiency. ↳ When leaders see your contribution tied to business outcomes, you shift from “nice to have” to “can’t afford to lose.” ✅ Build Cross-Functional Credibility ↳ Influence isn’t built in silos. ↳ Make your value visible across teams. ↳ When multiple departments rely on your insight, you become a strategic connector - not just a contributor. ✅ Create Strategic Allies, Not Just Mentors ↳ Power isn’t just about performance - it’s about proximity to influence. ↳ Nurture relationships with decision-makers, peer champions, and collaborators. Influence grows through meaningful connection. The truth is - being essential isn’t the same as being seen. You can be deeply loyal to others - and still loyal to your own growth. These shifts aren’t just career strategies. They’re acts of self-respect. Because when you decide to lead from alignment, not obligation - You stop waiting to be chosen. And start choosing yourself. 💬 Which of these strategies feels most relevant to where you are right now? I’d love to hear in the comments below. ♻ Repost if you believe it’s time to stop rewarding quiet loyalty - and start recognizing conscious leadership. 🔔 Follow me, Bhavna Toor, for more. 📩 DM me to bring our holistic leadership development programs to your organization - that are a powerful combination of inner-work and real-world strategy.

When I was in corporate, we'd promote people from high achiever to leader and assume a magic transformation would happen - that they'd suddenly feel comfortable delegating, coaching and watching others struggle without stepping in. Today I led about 150 women (virtually) from the Women in Electronics organization through four key tools to shift from high achiever to strategic leader. Here’s some strategies to make the shift: ▫️Notice your payoff from doing. The thrill of achievement provides a quick dopamine hit (helper’s high!). But that’s something you need to resist to get to the greater fulfillment of patiently coaching others to improve. ▫️Get out of the overwhelm cycle It’s hard to build sustainable confidence if you are overworked and overwhelmed. Ask yourself: Am I overwhelmed because it’s just easier and quicker to do it myself? What low-stakes tasks can I delegate where it’s okay for people to make (and learn) from mistakes? ▫️Stop overusing empathy. Being an empathetic leader is a key skill! But overusing empathy to the point we rush in and protect and save our team from disappointments and challenges is overusing empathy to the point of being disempowering. Can you be comfortable with allowing them to struggle a bit as they learn something new? Remember, when you overfunction, you allow others around you to underfunction. #womenleaders #confidence #careers #leadershipdevelopment

Are you making this leadership mistake? Recently, I was catching up with a friend. She’s transitioned into a much senior role after being a Subject Matter Expert (SME). As she shared her struggles with me, I realized one key thing Although she was now in leadership, she still acted like an SME Let me explain As an SME, you are expected to know ‘everything’ about your subject area. As a leader, you are expected to be able to galvanize SMEs to get the job done. The mindset required is very different. This is a key leadership mistake many women make. Our desire for perfection keeps us in the SME mindset, focused on the functional instead of driving towards the strategic. Here are the steps my friend and I discussed - Build a team you can trust This is critical. As a leader you need to not only have the right team but also a team that you have enabled to succeed. The trust must go both ways so they can give you their best and you in turn must fight the cause of the team behind closed doors. - Build your network externally and internally As a leader, you need to have and build influential connections that gets the job done. Your contacts, connections, and potential network must come into play inorder to drive business results. This is often a blindside for many female executives and they only realize how poorly networked they are when they need help. To turn the tide, female leaders must focus on strategic networking. - Engage your stakeholders at the right level High-level stakeholder engagement is key. You must understand who your visible (and invisible stakeholders) are. You need to open key lines of communication with them and ensure that the meetings before the actual meeting happens. This limits surprises and helps you gauge the temperature before you enter the room. - Personal brand At this level reputation is everything. This is no longer about what you know. It’s about what people think about you and the best way to curate this is to decide what you want to be known for and create a story and strategy that communicates this. A key thing you’ll notice about these 4 points is that they border on the ‘softer’ side of the skills spectrum and are very relational in nature. This, in my mind, is because leadership is fundamentally about relationships, enabling leaders to build strong networks, manage complex interpersonal dynamics, and influence those around them. Yes, technical skills are important, but these softer skills create a unique value quotient for leaders. What are your thoughts? What key skills do female leaders need to succeed? Which of these soft skills do you find the easiest or hardest to lead with? PS: If you are female leader interested in developing any of these skills, I have some solutions for you. Send me a DM, let's start the conversation.

"Vrinda needs to be more assertive." I got this review every single time For five years straight. Until my manager added: "Like your male colleagues." That's when the pattern became clear: I wasn't less assertive but assertively different. My assertiveness: ↳Building consensus before meetings ↳Influencing through questions ↳Creating space for quiet voices Their assertiveness: ↳Dominating discussions ↳Stating, not asking ↳Taking space Catalyst research shows 76% of women receive feedback about being "too aggressive" or "not aggressive enough." Men, 24%. After that review, I developed the "Style Stack" method: Document YOUR impact style: Instead of "I should be more..." Track: "I achieve results by..." Example from my stack: "I close deals through relationship depth" (not aggressive pitching) "I lead through coaching questions" (not command and control) "I innovate through pattern synthesis" (not loud brainstorming) Then match metrics to YOUR style: Relationship depth = client retention rates Coaching questions = team development scores Pattern synthesis = innovation implementations When reviews come, you have data: "My consensus-building style delivered 3 successful launches with zero team turnover." Beat that, aggression. P.S. What feedback do you keep getting that's really about style, not performance? #WomenInLeadership #LeadershipStyle #InclusiveLeadership #CommunicationSkills

A highly qualified woman sat across from me yesterday.   Her resume showed 15 years of C-suite experience. Multiple awards. Industry recognition.   Yet she spoke about her success like it was pure luck.   SEVENTY-FIVE PERCENT of female executives experience this same phenomenon.   I see it daily through my work with thousands of women leaders. They achieve remarkable success but internally believe they fooled everyone.   Some call it imposter syndrome. I call it a STRUCTURAL PROBLEM.   Let me explain...   When less than 5% of major companies have gender-balanced leadership, women question whether they belong.   My first board appointment taught me this hard truth.   I walked into that boardroom convinced I would say something ridiculous. Everyone seemed so confident.   But confidence plays tricks on us.   Perfect knowledge never exists. Leadership requires:   • Recognising what you know • Admitting what you miss • Finding the right answers • Moving forward anyway   Three strategies that transformed my journey:   1. Build your evidence file Document every win, every positive feedback, every successful project. Review it before big meetings. Your brain lies. Evidence speaks truth.   2. Find your circle Connect with other women leaders who understand your experience. The moment you share your doubts, someone else will say "me too."   3. Practice strategic vulnerability Acknowledging areas for growth enhances credibility. Power exists in saying "I'll find out" instead of pretending omniscience.   REALITY CHECK: This impacts business results.   Qualified women: - Decline opportunities - Downplay achievements - Hesitate to negotiate - Withdraw from consideration   Organisations lose valuable talent and perspective.   The solution requires both individual action and systemic change.   We need visible pathways to leadership for women. We need to challenge biased feedback. We need women in leadership positions in meaningful numbers.   Leadership demands courage, not perfect confidence.   The world needs leaders who push past doubt - not because they never experience it, but because they refuse to let it win. https://lnkd.in/gY9G-ibh

Here’s a thought: if you’re following someone else’s idea of what “good leadership” looks like, are you really leading? For too long, the expectations for leaders – especially women in senior roles – have stayed stuck in a one-size-fits-all mould. We’ve been encouraged to be polished, perfectly prepared, even predictable. But where’s the room for bold, original or different thinking in that? Real impact comes from doing the unexpected, from leading with the unique skills and stories you bring to the table – not the ones you’re expected to. I’ve seen it time and again with the powerhouse women I coach: the moment they stop squeezing into outdated “leadership ideals” and start leading in a way that’s uniquely them, they not only gain influence – they change the conversation entirely. 💪🏻 If you’re ready to challenge the status quo, start here: 𝟭. 𝗘𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗲𝗱𝗴𝗲𝘀 – the parts of you that don’t fit the mould? That’s where your power is. Show up with the whole picture, not just the polished parts. 𝟮. 𝗧𝘂𝗿𝗻 “𝗻𝗼” 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗮 𝘁𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗼𝗶𝗻𝘁 – when you hear “we’ve always done it this way,” that’s your cue to bring fresh thinking. 𝟯. 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘀𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘆, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝘁𝗹𝗲 – real leadership is about the impact you create, not the job title on your 'old skool' business card. Real change won’t come from blending in – it comes from leading with originality, insight, and a healthy dose of courage. So, let me ask: what part of the “leadership rulebook” are you ready to throw out? #leadership #professionalwomen #careers www.AmandaBlesing.com

The Leadership Gender Gap is getting worse. Fast. Here's how I personally would fix it, after speaking with 100's of Women Leaders in the past 2 years... Yesterday an article from LinkedIn News UK caught my eye. Accordingly to the World Forums' 2024 Global Gender Gap Report, the number of Women in Senior Leadership positions are in decline: 2022 = 37.5% 2023 = 36.9% 2024 = 36.4% (YTD) Perhaps I need to remind you that companies with the highest percentages of Women board Directors - Outperformed those with the least by: - 53% on return on equity. - 42% on return on sales. - 66% on return on invested capital. So with the decline in Women Leaders, you can also expect a decline on both top and bottom lines to follow. I'm assuming NO company would be happy with that. Here's 6 suggestions from me 👇 1. Listen - ASK women what they want and need to progress their careers. - Hear what's going on for them (Menopause, Childcare, Health challenges) - Know the barriers they face to progression, how can you break them down? 2. Support - Mentor and guide their careers with care. - Boost their confidence and mindset with coaching. - Support return from maternity leave or prolonged time off. 3. Retention - Invest in Women, promote Women. - Nurture and encourage your top talented Women. - Utilise and develop their many strengths and skills. 4. Flexibility - Implement job share or part time senior roles. - Allow side hustles and other ways to explore their creativity. - Working hours, working locations to support Mums, carers and preferences. 5. Pay - Recognise a good job done. - Fair Pay - close the gender pay gap. - It'll cost approx 213% to replace them when they leave (just FYI) 6. Culture - Look at your hiring and promotion biases and procedures. - Women are twice as likely to experience microagressions as men. Stop. - Are Women well represented in your organisation? If not, why not? What would you add? 👇 How can we solve this crisis, champion our Women and thrive in Business? 🙋♀️ I'm Beth, I post about Women in Leadership and Career Mindset tips daily. 🔔 Head to my profile, press follow & hit the bell so you don't miss a post.

For years, ‘feminine’ leadership traits, like empathy, vulnerability and intuition have been devalued and criticised in the workplace… With many women being encouraged to replicate masculine models of power, and be more authoritative and directive. These expectations have not just forced women to squeeze themselves into a box that doesn’t fit them and into a system that wasn’t designed for them - but it’s limited their career success and is a huge reason why women continue to be underrepresented in leadership positions to this day. One of the six paradoxes of power that many women experience in the workplace - the Leadership Paradox - tells women to ‘be a leader, but not like that’, and insists that women lead like men, and not as their true selves if they want to receive recognition and climb the organisational ranks. Consider your own working experiences as a woman… (If you’re a male ally reading this, consider these questions from the perspective of your female co-workers). • Have you ever been labeled as ‘aggressive’ or ‘bossy’ when you’ve spoken up or asserted yourself? • Or perhaps, on the other hand, you’ve been called ‘soft’ or ‘weak’ when you’ve demonstrated empathy or compassion? • Have you had many female leaders to look up to or, like many women in the Women Rising community, have you had very few or no female leaders or role models above you in your organisation? While I offer a myriad of strategies for overcoming and dismantling the leadership paradox in my book, Women Rising: The forces that hold us back and the tools to help us rise, a strategy I want to offer you today is to develop your own leadership blueprint. • What are your unique leadership strengths? • Where could you find opportunities to utilise these strengths more in your workplace? • What are your leadership values? • What values aligned opportunities could you access or create? These ponderings will help you to get clear on the kind of leader you want to be, the innate strengths and qualities you already possess, and how you can be proactive in showing up in your workplace in a new way and inadvertently, play a role in dismantling a paradox that harms the majority of working women. I’d love to hear your reflections in the comments. #womenrisingbook #leadershipparadox #leadership