Women in Leadership: Embracing Worth, Not Proving It
After the abandonment of DEI, Women Should Embrace Their Value Rather Than Demonstrate It
After decades of making strides, women in leadership are facing renewed pressure to validate their worth. This pushback on diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives has some senior female executives feeling like they're back at square one.
While accomplished women across industries continue delivering results, their contributions' merit is being questioned. The narrative around who deserves a seat at the table is shifting, creating an intense scrutiny that's personal, frustrating, and exhausting.
But here's the truth: we don't need to prove our worth — we need to own it.
Leveraging Data for Empowerment
Recent research supports this sentiment. A 2023 McKinsey & Company study found that companies with diverse leadership teams are 39% more likely to outperform competitors. Similarly, Harvard Business Review research revealed that women consistently score higher than men in 17 of 19 key leadership capabilities.
The Uphill Battle Persists
Despite this compelling evidence, the "broken rung" in leadership pipelines remains a significant barrier. According to McKinsey's 2024 Women in the Workplace report, only 87 women are promoted to management for every 100 men.
Pushing Forward With Conviction
Now's not the time to retreat or justify why we belong at the table. Instead, it's the moment to push forward with even greater conviction in the value we bring. Progress may not be linear, but history shows that women who have broken barriers before us didn't wait for validation. They stepped up, spoke up, and owned their worth.
Three Ways to Accelerate Action
- Embrace your uniqueness — your difference is your greatest strength.
- Don't wait to feel ready; jump in and figure it out along the way.
- Bet on yourself — every day, close your courage gap by acting despite fear.
Owning Your Worth for Impact
Instead of proving ourselves, let's focus on owning our value. We can stand tall in our worth, embrace our feminine leadership strengths, and make the necessary bets on ourselves to lead with courage. When we trade proving ourselves for backing ourselves, we reclaim the power given to the naysayers and start leading with the impact the world truly needs.
- Despite facing criticism from naysayers, women in leadership should not rely on creditlines to prove their worth; instead, they should leverage their proven track records of success and ownership of their value.
- As the study from McKinsey & Company in 2023 shows, companies with diverse leadership, including female leaders, are more likely to outperform competitors, underscoring the importance of leadership roles that values and embraces women's worth.
- Periods of challenge and pressure in one's career can be emotionally draining, but women in leadership should hold onto their worth and push forward with conviction, drawing strength from the trajectory of other courageous women who have broken barriers before them.
