When I first started my career, confidence wasn’t something women were encouraged to talk about. We were told to “work hard and let your results speak for themselves.” There wasn’t much space for conversations about self-belief, presence or owning your voice.
Fast forward to today, and confidence is emerging as one of the most important drivers of leadership success. And thankfully, the data is starting to reflect that shift.
Early in my career, I watched brilliant women stall…not because they lacked skill, ambition or drive, but because no one with power was actively championing their next move. They had mentors who offered excellent advice, but when opportunities arose behind closed doors, their names weren’t in the room.
Your title is respected. Your results speak for themselves. You’re the one others look to when decisions need to be made, when leadership needs to hold steady, when the stakes are high.
And you deliver. Over and over again.
But when the workday ends and you walk through your front door, there’s a moment…quiet, almost imperceptible…when the weight of the day doesn’t leave your shoulders. You set down your bag, but not the invisible load. And while your family has been waiting to see you, what they get instead is what’s left.
When a CEO exits, the ripple touches every part of the organization: strategy, board composition, culture, investor confidence.
And the research is clear. Companies with a strong successor plan outperform peers on shareholder return and employee retention.
I’ve spent decades, watching how leadership dynamics shift when the right person, male or female, takes the top seat.
The data now confirms what experience whispers: when a woman steps in as CEO, the ripple isn’t subtle…it’s seismic.
According to Altrata’s 2025 report on U.S. corporate boards, companies with a female CEO average 39% women on their boards, compared to just 33.7% in companies with male CEOs. Senior leadership teams show a similar pattern…greater balance and depth at every level.
For decades, women have steadily increased their presence in management and professional roles. In the U.S., women now hold nearly 46% of managerial and professional jobs, up from just 29% in 1980. At first glance, that sounds like a victory.
But the higher you climb, the more the numbers stall. Recent data shows that while middle management is approaching parity, women remain far less visible at the very top-CEO seats, board chairs and executive committees. Even more troubling, some sectors are quietly slipping backwards in senior representation.
When most people think of women breaking leadership barriers, private equity isn’t usually the first industry that comes to mind. Long seen as one of the most male-dominated corners of finance, private equity has historically lacked diversity at every level.
But that’s beginning to change.
Recently, senior women like Beth Pickens and Louise Boothby have been recognized as true trailblazers…proving that even in the most exclusive financial circles, qualified women are reshaping what leadership looks like
When we talk about women in leadership, we often think of boardrooms, corner offices or political arenas. But there’s another battlefield where women are quietly stepping into positions of enormous influence…cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity isn’t just a technical discipline anymore. It’s a leadership imperative. Breaches can topple organizations, compromise national security, and destroy public trust in a matter of hours. Which makes the question of who is leading in cybersecurity one of the most pressing leadership conversations of our time.
This year’s “Bro IPO Summer” headlines tell us something we can’t ignore…despite decades of progress, when companies prepare to go public, women are still being left out of the most visible leadership seats.
A recent study of tech IPOs revealed that 88% had only zero or one woman on their boards and 93% had similar gps in their executive teams. That’s not just a disappointing statistic…it’s a flashing red signal.
Over the past few weeks, the conversation around women and artificial intelligence (AI) has shifted dramatically. First, the headlines warned us: AI could put women’s careers at risk. Then came a new perspective: Women are already leading the ethical AI conversation.
A few short weeks ago, conversations about women in leadership and artificial intelligence (AI) carried a note of concern. Reports and trend pieces warned of AI’s risk to women’s career advancement…fears that automation, bias in algorithms and uneven access to tech upskilling could leave women behind.
High-achieving women often hold themselves to impossibly high standards. You juggle demanding careers, personal responsibilities and societal expectations…yet somehow still feel you’re not “enough.”
One of the hardest truths to confront is what we can be our own harshest critics. If you wouldn’t speak to a colleague, a loved one or a friend the way you sometimes speak to yourself, why is it acceptable to direct that treatment inward?