Common Traps Female Executives Face in Corporate Environments

Would you believe me if I told you that around half of the women in your team are reluctant to raise problems, concerned that this will impact their leader's perception of them? Our Three Barriers research found that women are very cautious about raising issues, negativity or even raising concerns due to the belief that this can cause repercussions for their career progression. In my line of work and research, I am very aware of the gendered expectations and behaviours that women will adopt within a workplace and how there is a narrow acceptable operating range of behaviours available to women. Too assertive and you're aggressive. Too warm and you're not decisive enough. Too confident and you're arrogant. But nearly half of women actually withholding issues in their role due to these fears, that's startling. What can organisations do? 🔶 You can create a a culture of psychological safety to enable employees to speak up. Leaders role modelling vulnerability themselves, and responding positively when others display vulnerability, helps to show that it is safe. 🔶 You can encourage allyship so that issues raised are supported by others. Equip employees at all levels to demonstrate allyship. 🔶 You can counteract gender biases by changing processes and systems. Audit your talent procesess, frameworks and cycles for biases and stereotypes and counteract them. This will also helo to nudge behavioural change at scale. #EDI #GenderEquity #ThreeBarriers

🌓 “Just Say No.” Three words that sound like power, but feel like punishment. For women, "No" isn’t just a decision. It’s a reputation risk, a relationship gamble, and an emotional weight we carry long after the meeting ends. 🪞 Women don’t lack the ability to say no. We lack the permission to say it without consequences. 🧠 When we do say no, we don’t just avoid a task, we spend the next 72 hours calculating fallout: “Will I be seen as unhelpful?” “Did I just close a door?” “Will this show up in my performance review?” 🧽 Meanwhile, women are asked 44% more often than men to take on the tasks no one wants, the office housework that keeps things running, and keeps us invisible. 🧷 Why does this keep happening? Because the system assumes women will say yes. Because harmony gets rewarded while ambition gets audited. Because it’s easier to default to “the reliable one” than to fix a broken distribution of labor. 🛠 Three moves you can help yourself out of the trap: ✅ Trade, don’t absorb. “Yes, if…” or “No, because…” Turn every ask into a business trade. Script: “Happy to own X this time. To protect deliverable Y, I’ll pause Z. Please confirm priority so I update timelines.” Or: “That sits outside my scope. Best owner is [role]. If needed, I can review for 15 minutes", (no ownership) ✅ Make receipts louder than smiles. Convert invisible work into visible artifacts, on paper, in public. Script: “Summarizing: facilitated client retro (1 hr), produced minutes and action log (45 min), unblocked A/B (impact: on-time launch). Monthly, send a two-line value memo: “Here are the operational lifts I absorbed, hours saved, and impact on revenue/risk. For next month, I’ll rotate out of these so I can advance [strategic goal].” ✅ Redirect the pattern, not just the task. Stop the volunteer trap at the source. Script: “Instead of volunteers, let’s assign by role and rotate. I can take notes this sprint; next sprint goes to [name]." If it keeps circling back to you: “I’ve done the last two. Who’s next in the rotation?” If senior pressure persists: “I’m at capacity. If this is the highest priority, which deliverable should slip? I’ll need that trade-off noted.” 🧭 And if you lead, look closer: if your team runs on the unpaid labor of a few women, that’s not high performance, it’s quiet exploitation. 🎯 This isn’t about teaching women to be tougher. It’s about YOU teaching workplaces to stop taking advantage of women’s strength, and giving women the scripts and setups to be seen and heard without penalties. 📆 Therefore, we’re running “How to be seen and heard at work”, a live, tactical workshop on the 2nd. Oct, on saying no without fallout, turning invisible work into visible impact, and engineering influence without overwork. Join here: https://lnkd.in/gte3PVrM 👊 Because your next promotion shouldn’t require a smiley-faced apology, or a second shift.

"We just didn't have any women who were ready." PepsiCo's Indra Nooyi on why a woman didn't succeed her. The full quote? "I would have loved for the board to have had a woman to pick from. But at the end of the day, the board selects the C.E.O., and we just didn't have any women who were ready for the job." She said this in August 2018 while announcing her departure from PepsiCo. Things still haven't changed much. *** Only 3 times in history has a woman CEO been succeeded by another woman at a public company. *** Ironically, one of those 3 was Debra Crew - the woman at PepsiCo who WAS ready but left for the top job at Reynolds American before Nooyi stepped down. Even one of the most powerful women in corporate America couldn't crack this code. This isn't about individual failure. The system puts women in impossible positions. It's about a shift that happens when collaboration meets scarcity. After 8 years of watching nearly 2,000 women navigate their careers, here's what I've noticed about the system: 1. Women collaborate beautifully at mid-level → We share opportunities and celebrate wins → There's plenty of room for everyone to succeed 2. But something shifts as roles get scarce → Only a few C-suite spots per company exist → Suddenly, your female colleague is competition 3. The math becomes brutal at the top → 10 qualified women, 1 CEO role → 15 talented leaders, 3 C-suite positions 4. The system makes lifting each other up much harder → Information sharing becomes more guarded → Sponsorship opportunities get hoarded 5. Men compete within abundance, not scarcity → They've always had more seats at the table → Competition feels different with more opportunities 6. No one prepares women for this shift → We built our careers on supporting each other → The new rules feel foreign and uncomfortable 7. Some women adapt by becoming more strategic → They focus on securing their own position first → Self-preservation becomes the priority 8. Others opt out entirely → "If I have to step on others, I'm out" → The pipeline shrinks even more What now? The change comes when we stop pretending scarcity doesn't exist, and start demanding that companies create more opportunities instead of forcing women to compete for crumbs. I do believe there is hope. 📚 A generation ago: There were almost zero women at the top. We've made progress, albeit painfully slow. 📅 In the next 5 years: Companies will be forced to open more senior roles as Boomers retire. More seats = less zero-sum thinking. 🔮 In the next 10 years: Gen Z women who've never known collaboration as weakness will reach senior levels. They'll compete differently. 🤔 What's your take? Have you felt this shift happen in your career? ♻ Repost to share this perspective with your network. 👉Follow me Stephanie Eidelman (Meisel) for more ideas about advancing your career while lifting others.

The credibility leak in your executive brand is killing your advancement. And you don't even know it's happening. A Managing Director just lost a C-suite opportunity. Not because she lacked results—but because during a final panel interview, she apologized three times for "taking up their time." The hiring committee's feedback? "Strong operator. Not ready for the boardroom." After 25+ years in financial services, I've watched countless executives unknowingly sabotage their advancement through small behaviors that scream "I don't belong here." 𝗖𝗿𝗲𝗱𝗶𝗯𝗶𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗞𝗶𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗿𝘀: 𝟭. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗣𝗲𝗿𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗣𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗼𝘅 "Sorry to bother you..." "If I could just have a moment..." "When you get a chance..." Every qualifier erodes your authority. You're not an interruption. You're an executive with business to conduct. 𝟮. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗢𝘃𝗲𝗿-𝗘𝘅𝗽𝗹𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗿'𝘀 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗽 Watched an MD spend 15 minutes justifying a straightforward budget decision. The more you explain, the less confident you appear. State your position. Let it breathe. 𝟯. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗶𝗴𝗶𝘁𝗮𝗹 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱𝗲 Your email auto-response apologizes for delays. Your LinkedIn shows you "aspiring" to the role you already deserve. These micro-messages compound into macro-impressions. 𝟰. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗼𝗱𝘆 𝗟𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘆𝗮𝗹 Taking a seat on the 'overflow' perimeter of the meeting room instead of an available spot literally at the table.  Looking down while speaking. The nervous laugh after making a strong point. 𝟱. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝘂𝗲 𝗩𝗮𝗰𝘂𝘂𝗺 "I was thinking..." "This might be wrong, but..." "I'm not sure if this makes sense..." Stop negotiating against yourself before anyone else even enters the ring. 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝘅 𝗜𝘀 𝗦𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗹𝗲𝗿 𝗧𝗵𝗮𝗻 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗸: → Replace "Sorry to bother you" with "I need your input on X" → Replace "This might be wrong" with "My recommendation is" → Replace "When you have time" with "Let's connect Tuesday" → Replace the nervous laugh with a pause → Replace justification with declaration Your expertise got you here. But these credibility leaks are keeping you from where you belong. The executives who make it to the C-suite aren't necessarily smarter. They've just stopped apologizing for taking up space. 💭 Which credibility leak are you springing without realizing it? Name it below—awareness is the first step to stopping the leak. ------------ ♻️ Share with an executive whose brilliance is being dimmed by these habits ➕ Follow Courtney Intersimone for more truth about commanding executive presence

The Real Reasons Women are Exiting the Workforce As a senior leader at the intersection of policy, product, and advocacy, I've witnessed a critical trend that demands our attention. I've witnessed, firsthand, a disheartening trend: accomplished women, poised for leadership, choosing to exit the workforce. This exodus isn't due to a lack of ambition or capability but stems from systemic challenges that remain unaddressed. Top 3 Reasons Women are Quitting: 1/ Burnout Epidemic: Balancing high-stakes professional roles with personal responsibilities often leads to chronic stress and exhaustion. Many women find themselves at a breaking point, questioning whether enduring this relentless pressure is sustainable.The absence of adequate support systems exacerbates this fatigue, making the option to step away seem like the only viable solution. 2/ Comfort Zone Trap: Many talented women are paralyzed between known mediocrity and unknown potential. The fear of breaking away from 'comfort' keeps them stagnant. 3/ Stagnation in Career Advancement Despite their dedication and expertise, numerous women encounter barriers that hinder their progression into senior leadership roles. This glass ceiling not only stifles their professional growth but also diminishes their motivation to remain within organizations that fail to recognize and reward their contributions. I recall a conversation with a mentee—a brilliant product manager and mother of two. Despite her exemplary performance, she felt perpetually on the brink of burnout, unseen in her aspirations, and constrained by an inflexible schedule.Her story is not unique but echoes the experiences of many. The solution I proposed to her focused on three critical strategies: 1/ Speak to your manager about a flexibility and office timings that allow her to balance professional responsibilities with family needs. Manage your time more effectively and wisely 2/ Create a career progression plan in the current job that identifies opportunities available for exceptional impact and a future promotion, to break the stagnation she found herself in 3/ Contribute to organisation wide initiatives that establish open communication channels and implement policies that support work-life balance, in turn helping others through the same dilemma. This demonstrates commitment to her and her organisations collective success. Women aren't just leaving jobs—they're making powerful statements about workplace culture. It's imperative that we, as leaders and organizations, confront these challenges head-on. Creating structured mentorship opportunities can provide women with guidance, support, and advocacy, helping them navigate career challenges and advance into leadership roles. Mentorship isn't just support—it's survival. Your Turn: >> What trends have you noticed contributing to this issue, and >> How can we collaboratively create a more inclusive and supportive workplace for all?

Hear me out. I’ve witnessed dismissive comments and gendered biases undermining women leaders. Unfortunately, rigid gender roles continue to limit women’s opportunities to lead without facing criticism. Even in the most inclusive workplaces. Women leaders continue to be second-guessed, judged more harshly, and held to unfair standards. This doesn’t just harm individual careers—it weakens the entire organization’s ability to innovate, adapt, and grow. Here’s how senior executives can reshape workplace culture to ensure that every leader, regardless of gender, is valued and empowered: 1. Challenge sexist language and behaviors to ensure respect and inclusion at every level of the organization. 2. Implement leadership training programs that focus on eliminating unconscious bias and promoting equality. 3. Foster open conversations about workplace culture to ensure all employees feel heard and supported. 4. Revise organizational policies to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, ensuring gender is never a barrier to leadership. 5. Support women in leadership roles, giving them the same opportunities and respect as their male counterparts. Let’s create an environment where leaders are judged by their abilities, not outdated gender norms.

“Michelle, can you take the minutes?” Years ago, I was in a meeting with senior executives when my boss turned to me and asked me to take the minutes. My response? “Why? Just because I’ve got a vagina?” Now, was that the most strategic way to handle it? Probably not. Did it get my point across? Absolutely. This moment highlighted a more significant issue: women being assigned non-promotable tasks that do nothing to advance their careers. Taking minutes, organising meetings, and onboarding new employees are essential tasks, but they become career roadblocks when they are disproportionately assigned to women. Managers, ask yourselves: • Who is being asked to take on these tasks in your team? • Are these responsibilities shared fairly? • Are you unintentionally reinforcing gendered expectations at work? Women, next time this happens, try: • “I’ve taken the minutes the last few times. Let’s rotate this responsibility.” • “This task should be shared fairly. Who hasn’t done it yet?” • “I’d like to contribute to the discussion, not just document it.” #WomenAtWork #CareerAdvice #GenderEquity #LeadToSoar

Whenever I meet with women and especially women of color in organizations, one thing stands out for me- they are ambitious about their careers. However, they feel stalled because of managers and works cultures that are not inclusive. McKinsey & Company’s recent article on the truth about women’s ambition and representation in corporate America reinforced my observations – so I decided to include their research in my monthly insights. The research reveals that the notion that work and life are incompatible, and that one comes at the expense of the other, is outdated. Women are more ambitious than ever and workplace flexibility is fuelling them. Despite this, women, and especially women of color, remain underrepresented in the corporate pipeline.  Slow progress for women to the manager and director levels, together with director level women leaving at a higher rate than men at the same level, result in fewer women in line for the most senior level positions. Clearly their careers are not stalled because of a lack of ambition but instead because of work cultures that are not conducive to their advancement. Article highlights: -         For the ninth consecutive year, women face their biggest hurdle at the first critical step up to manager. This year, for every 100 men promoted from entry level to manager, 87 women were promoted. And for women of color progress is lagging even further behind their peers. In 2023, 73 women of color were promoted compared to 91 White women (for every 100 men promoted). -         Women experience microaggressions at a significantly higher than men. 78% of women who experience microaggressions self-shield or change their appearance to conform in an attempt to be accepted and enable their success. Black women are twice as likely as White women to have to change something about themselves in order to conform. -         For women, hybrid or remote work is about a lot more than flexibility. When women work remotely, they face fewer microaggressions and have higher levels of psychological safety. To strengthen the pipeline and progress of women, the article from McKinsey suggests that companies should focus on 5 key areas: -         Tracking outcomes for women’s representation -         Empowering managers to be effective people leaders -         Addressing microaggressions head-on -         Unlocking the full potential of flexible work -         Fixing the broken rung, once and for all To learn more about these focus areas and how you can advance women at your organization, click on the link below to read the full article: https://lnkd.in/dWSb5jxf #WomenInLeadership #DEI #InclusiveWorkplace #WomenEmpowerment #DiversityEquityInclusion

It's not just you. We've pretended for years that it wasn't happening. Many of us, thought raising a complaint with HR would help. Only to start our own exits. And now with Trump's administration and his tsunami of executive orders, corporate leaders will have even greater license to discriminate. The veil has officially dropped. For the uninitiated, here is what it looks like for women in corp roles. Broken Rung Phenomenon: ➕The gender barrier that prevents us from advancing to the first big step on the corporate ladder, at the entry-level management level. ➕According to McKinsey, for every 100 men promoted to manager, only 85 women are promoted Motherhood Penalty: ➕ The financial and professional disadvantages women face after becoming mothers, including lower wages and reduced career opportunities. ➕ Mothers are perceived as less committed to their careers, leading to a wage gap where mothers earn around 71 cents for every dollar fathers earn. Impact: Limits career advancement and contributes to the gender pay gap. Double Bind: ➕ We face conflicting expectations: too assertive/aggressive if we exhibit leadership qualities and too passive if we don't. Either way promotions are harder. ➕ Studies show we are often criticized for being either too tough or too soft. Nothing we do is ever right. And we bend ourselves into pretzels trying. Glass Ceiling: ➕ That good ol' Invisible barrier that prevents us from reaching top executive positions in organizations. ➕ Women hold only 7.4% of CEO positions at Fortune 500 companies. Gender Bias in Performance Reviews: ➕ We are much more likely to be judged on our personalities, rather than our job performances. ➕ Men are judged on their job performance and future potential. Harassment and Hostile Work Environments: ➕ Unwelcome sexual and bullying conduct from men creating a hostile or intimidating work environment. ➕ Nearly 1 in 3 women have experienced sexual harassment in the workplace. Pay Inequity: ➕ The disparity in pay between men and women performing the same or similar work. ➕ Women earn approximately 82 cents for every dollar earned by men, with even wider gaps for women of color. The corporate world is an unequal playing field for women. The game has always been rigged. I have my own heart-breaking stories, and I hear them from women every day. To have a successful career, fully reach our potential, do meaningful work, have good mental health, raise our children... ... we must exit these environments and start our own companies. And that's just what we are doing. 💃 Women are starting companies at over twice the rate of men 💃 Black women are leading the growth of women-owned businesses The future looks different than we thought. But make no mistake we are succeeding. And will continue to succeed. And my mission is help women do exactly that.

Women in the workplace often face unfair criticism, and I've witnessed it firsthand.   From being told they don't smile enough, to being labeled 'too aggressive' or 'not technical enough', the list goes on.   As someone who sits at the exec table and in board rooms, I refuse to let these lines be crossed without speaking up.   Does speaking out benefit me personally, not necessarily, but it has made a difference for others.   Being a leader is about doing what's right, even when it's uncomfortable. If you find yourself in a room where these conversations are happening, ask yourself if you are willing to challenge the relevancy of the statements. If not, it's time to evaluate your role as a leader.   To all the women who've been told they are 'too' anything, remember it's better to be too much of something than not enough of anything at all!   #leadership #internationalwomensmonth #thementorlibrary