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.
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.
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.
She has the title. The team. The achievements.
To everyone else, she’s made it. But when she closes her laptop at the end of the day or looks in the mirror before heading into a meeting, something feels off. Not broken.
Just…off.
If you’ve ever felt like the demands of leadership are pulling you in a hundred directions, you’re not alone. The higher you rise, the more blurred the lines become between your professional responsibilities and your personal life. And while many people talk about “work-life balance,” I prefer a different approach…work-life harmony.
This week, headlines reported something alarming: women are steadily disappearing from leadership roles in tech and major social platforms.
At first glance, it might feel like a “tech sector problem.” But it’s not. The implications ripple far beyond Silicon Valley and affect every industry we touch.
There’s a moment many women leaders can recall…that first post, podcast or public message where they finally decided to share their voice. It took courage. It took clarity. And for many, it took years to get there.
But today, even that moment of bravery is under threat.
We’ve celebrated more women entering leadership than ever before. And rightfully so.
But beneath the headlines, a quieter story is unfolding.
Women are leaving leadership pipelines at every stage…and we’re not talking about it enough.
This isn’t a pipeline issue. It’s a retention issue.
For years, we’ve been told the problem is at the top.
The elusive C-suite. The final glass ceiling.
But what if the real issue isn’t just the ceiling?
What if it’s the ladder itself?
According to research, for every 100 men promoted from entry-level to manager, only 81 women are promoted, and the numbers are even lower for women of color. This is what’s known as the broken rung-the first step up that too many women are missing.
I’ve coached hundreds of brilliant women who tell me they’ll speak up after the next meeting, go for the promotion next quarter, invest in themselves next year. And when we dig deeper, the waiting isn’t about strategy. It’s about fear. About permission. About the myth that one day, confidence will just arrive.
That’s the scenario too many women in leadership find themselves in. The title is shiny. The stakes are high. And the situation? Often a mess. Welcome to the Glass Cliff…a term coined to describe the unsettling reality that women are more likely to be placed in leadership roles during times of turbulence, decline or flat-out failure. It’s a promotion yes…but one perched on shaky ground.