Leadership Wasn’t Designed for Women Like Us So Let’s Redefine It

How often have you looked at the people in positions of power and thought:

"If that’s leadership, I want no part in it"?

I hear it every day from ambitious, purpose-driven women. Not because they lack confidence. Not because they’re afraid to lead. But because the version of leadership they see is completely disconnected from who they are, and the future they want to build.

Leadership, as it stands, rewards ego over empathy, noise over nuance, and short-term wins over lasting impact. It demands women squeeze themselves into a mould built on outdated ideals like dominance, hierarchy, and self-sacrifice.

And here’s what the research makes painfully clear:

Women aren’t rejecting leadership. They’re rejecting how it’s been modelled.

After reviewing dozens of studies for my next whitepaper, one thing stood out: while everyone talks about getting more women into leadership, no one’s asking women how they define it.

What does leadership feel like?

What values should it reflect?

And what would make it worth stepping into?

The System Isn’t Broken by Accident. It Was Built This Way.

The evidence is undeniable:

• Women especially women of colour and those from marginalised backgrounds, face systemic barriers baked into leadership structures.
• Leadership is still framed by masculine traits: authority, dominance, decisiveness. If you lead with compassion, collaboration, or long-term vision? You're often overlooked.
• Intersectionality is ignored. The more layers of identity a woman holds, the further leadership drifts from being accessible or appealing.
• And perhaps most telling? There’s a glaring gap in research exploring how women themselves define great leadership.

We’ve spent decades trying to fix women, telling them to be more confident, more assertive, more like "them."

It’s time we fixed the system instead.

Why This Matters Now

If leadership continues to prioritise ego, exclusion, and short-term gains, we don’t just lose women in leadership we lose the kind of leadership the world urgently needs.

Leadership that’s:

• Compassionate

• Inclusive

• Focused on sustainable prosperity

This isn’t just a gender issue. It’s a future-proofing issue.

If Not You, Then Who?

That’s why I launched If Not You, Then Who?

A research-led movement giving women a voice in redefining leadership on their terms.

I’m interviewing 25 women across industries, cultures, and backgrounds to answer the question no one else is asking:

What would leadership look like if it actually reflected your values and the future you want to build?

Your lived experience is the evidence we need to create a leadership model that doesn’t ask women to compromise who they are.

Because leadership shouldn’t be about fitting in.

It should be about leading in a way that feels human and drives meaningful impact.

Want to Shape the Future of Leadership?

If you’re a purpose-driven woman who’s felt the disconnect, who knows leadership could and should be different this is your invitation.

📍 Apply to be part of this groundbreaking research here

Let's build a definition of leadership that finally reflects us.

Because if not you, then who?