Women in Leadership and Why This (still) Matters
- Raj Hayer
- Feb 16
- 7 min read
For all the disruption it has unleashed, the pandemic propelled us toward the next generation of work. It has elevated remote work and fused professional and personal life for many employees.
“It’s not about excluding men, but about empowering women. We need to make that very clear.” – Raj Hayer, Tiny Box Founder and CEO
Leaders who know how to self-manage while navigating the unexpected have forged ahead during this challenging year. The emotional discipline, resilience and self-awareness required in a crisis play to strengths that many women have honed as they’ve worked their way into corner offices and board rooms, trying to look the part even though they hardly resemble their peers and predecessors.
The obstacles many women have faced as they have ascended have seasoned them to lead as the next generation of work takes shape, cued by the pandemic’s unique .
That's why Raj Hayer interviewed two different generations of women in the TinyBox Dialogues to uncover the barriers we face and what we can do about it.
Barriers Women Face
The working landscape is changing and the business world is no longer just a man’s game. However, despite progress toward gender equality within the workplace, women still face pushback. Many barriers to women in leadership remain, including the following obstacles:
Stereotypes
Most industries have been dominated by male leadership for so long that the traits of a good leader are often seen as masculine. Women are often perceived negatively when they exhibit these traits. To add insult to injury, women may be seen as unfit for the role when they do not demonstrate these typical leadership qualities. Additionally, some people may think of specific roles and industries as traditionally female and others as traditionally male.
Discrimination
Work environments dominated by biases favouring men can be hostile toward women. Women may be passed over for promotions and experience sexual harassment, workplace harassment and other unprofessional behaviour.
Lack of networking opportunities. While bias is becoming less prevalent in the working world, its impact can still pose challenges for women looking to network. As a result, there may be fewer opportunities for mentorship or arrangements to help women move into leadership positions.
Myth of work-life balance
“We need to enable environments where women can be mothers as well.” - Maria Jose Perea Marquez, Co-Founder and Entrepreneur at LD7
Old ideas about the domestic roles of men and women can limit the support women may need to balance work and everything else properly. As a result, some people may unfairly believe women can’t put in the time and effort required to lead. But every day, women continue to defy that myth, and plenty of others.
What can learning and development do?
It is essential for both men and women to be aware of these barriers and work together to minimise them. They are the underlying causes of the leadership gender gap that significantly impacts corporations’ diversity and inclusion. Leaders, human resources departments and trainers play a big role, because all employees are affected by leadership development practices. These practices include whom we are developing, how we are developing them, when we’re developing them, on what issues they’re being trained and how leadership styles are applied.
As a learning and development professional, you can influence leadership development at your organisation.
Collaborate with human resources to create training programs that develop leadership talent,
Develop application-based workshops and assessments, develop training reinforcement and metrics,
Educate employees about the barriers discussed in this article.
Only after these barriers are removed will women advance in large numbers to senior leadership positions. It is the only way to achieve more diverse, inclusive and balanced leadership across global organisations.
8 reasons why we need more women in leadership roles
In today’s world, women may not always realise their potential, and once unleashed, they have a direct route to success. When they find themselves in a leadership role, their capability and abilities are undeniable. The following are multiple benefits women can bring to leadership roles.
1. Women leaders will paint the future
“Let’s let women have their own career paths.” - Maria Jose Perea Marquez, Co-Founder and Entrepreneur at LD7
A woman who is currently not in a leadership role can be a daunting prospect entering such a high-profile role with current stigmas that may be attached. In turn, this could push away the younger generation from striving to break down barriers.
Women just entering the workforce will need to be inspired by other women who are currently smashing their role as a leader in the workplace. Once achieved, it can carve a direction for all young aspiring women leaders to increase the global percentage and break new records.
2. The enhancement of teamwork
There is no doubt that we have all seen women demonstrate passion, enthusiasm and a capability to take command of a situation when need be, let’s not look further than our own mothers or female caregivers in this instance.
Women are able to make bold and wise decisions as leaders; this helps make the team environment less authoritative and more cooperative, bringing a family-like feel to the team. This boosts teamwork across the organisation and helps implement a new culture within the business.
3. Business-wide communication can be enhanced
Communication is said and known to be among a woman’s strongest skill. Female leaders will utilise this power to enhance meaningful conversations with employers, co-workers and partners, thus creating an open communication stream that creates a sense of clarity.
4. Achieve a better financial outcome
The more diverse a workplace is, the more probable it is that original ideas will be put forth. This promotes development and increases organisational sustainability. Diversity in the workplace should include both genders in equal measure rather than only giving preference to women.
Gender diversity at work benefits performance, staff retention, creativity, and, as has been demonstrated, collaboration across the organization. A workplace survey found that organisations with gender-diverse workforces are 21% more likely to have above-average profitability.
5. Fresh new outlooks and perspectives
We have outlined the need to construct a diverse workforce, and with this will come new experiences and perspectives that ultimately contribute to bringing some much-needed innovation into the business.
Women leaders will bring skills, different perspectives, and innovative ideas to the table, but these three combined will help create new perspectives that lead to better decision-making as a whole for the business.
6. Women leaders can provide better mentorship
The importance of role models, particularly for the younger generation, cannot be understated. Everyone needs someone to mentor them so they can advance in their careers, regardless of gender. Women leaders are more effective mentors than men, especially when it comes to coaching and mentoring young talent.
A study found that 29% of women think that being a woman will prevent them from advancing. Women in leadership positions can seize this chance to start empowering the talented young minds of the following generation in order to go past this challenge.
7. The ability to wear many hats
In a women’s life, wearing different hats within their roles is often a common occurrence. You can find them often balancing careers, households and taking up the mantel of parental guidance along with many other experiences. These combined help women leaders to quickly adjust to new situations and focus on finding solutions to real-life work issues.
8. Women in leadership roles can close the gender pay gap
Something that can often be overlooked is that the gender pay gap can be transformed into a gender opportunity gap. When men and women begin their careers from scratch, it has been observed that men are typically given more opportunities that lead to higher-paying employment.
“Leadership styles can differ between women and men. This is a good thing.” - Maria Jose Perea Marquez, Co-Founder and Entrepreneur at LD7
However, more women in leadership positions can assist achieve a broader objective and reduce the wage gap more successfully in addition to the advantages we've already highlighted.
How can your workplace better foster gender equality?
Use skills-based assessments
Asking candidates to perform tasks they would be expected to carry out in the role they are applying for, enables organisations to assess their suitability based on their performance. These tasks need to be standardised across all applicants to ensure fairness.
Recruiters are also urged to use structured interviews, where all candidates are asked the same questions in a predetermined order and format. Grading the responses using standardised criteria reduces the risk of unconscious bias.
Have women mentor men
Another way to improve gender equality in the workplace is by letting women mentor men. Mentoring in the workplace can prove invaluable in helping an employee progress their career. The benefits of junior business women having a mentor to help break the barriers they face are well documented.
But specifically having women mentor men could benefit both parties, and society as a whole, by allowing people to learn more about different working and leadership styles.
Make work-life balance a priority
Improving work-life balance can benefit both men and women. Gender equality in the workplace also widens considerably after women have children, an issue which can be tackled by shared parental leave policies and enabling working parents to share childcare more equally.
Remove the gender pay gap
Employers can promote gender equality in the workplace by being transparent about wages, to ensure women aren’t receiving less than men in equivalent roles.
Pay brackets can encourage female applicants and employees to negotiate their wage by giving an indication of reasonable expectations for a particular role.
The case for balancing the power equation in leadership has never been clearer; elevating women in decision-making benefits politics, businesses, and communities. But progress in women’s leadership will not happen automatically. The below actions we can take together—across governments, corporations, academia, non-profits, and civil society—to balance power in leadership and decision-making:
Commit to gender parity in leadership.
Implement laws and regulations that guarantee a safe and open environment for women’s participation and leadership.
Establish policies and practices that encourage women’s leadership and promote gender parity.
Invest in and develop public services and programs that enable women to succeed as leaders.
Enable and support women’s organisations and movements.
Change the narrative on women in leadership, and confront socio-cultural drivers of gender inequality.
References :
Watch or listen to the full dialogue on Youtube
Meet Maria Jose at the Wayfinders Summit'26 by Mayfly Maven.
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