The Role of Women in Leadership: Breaking the Glass Ceiling

What happens when women become leaders and change the world?

It’s easy to tell why it takes so long for women to achieve leadership roles in various fields. For most men, success means being a leader, and men are generally more comfortable in positions where they lead. For women, however, being a leader isn’t an option. In fact, some women feel uncomfortable leading others at all. Why do women lag behind their male peers in terms of earning power, influence and visibility in their respective fields?


And then we look at the numbers. While a majority of Fortune 500 CEOs are male, only 6% are women. There are only 24 female cabinet members in the U.S. despite the fact that there are 20 times more women working in the U.S. than men. And while the overall representation of women in corporate leadership has risen from 16% in 1978 to over 32%, the numbers for women in technology and engineering have remained stagnant at less than 10%.

There are three big takeaways here:

• Women need to challenge conventional wisdom and the status quo in order to change the way things are.

• There’s an incredible amount of opportunity in the world of business.

• Women are perfectly suited for this opportunity — but not just because they’re “naturally” more collaborative, caring and empathetic.

In this post, I’m going to talk about how we can create a new reality where women are truly seen as leaders.

Let me start by saying: women aren’t just strong. They’re powerful, too. We’ve seen this play out for centuries in the fight for equal rights, women’s liberation and the role of women in leadership. Women don’t want to be treated like second class citizens.

But this is changing. There are more and more women who are taking charge of their lives and are willing to put themselves out there. These women are breaking the glass ceiling and opening doors that were once closed. This is our future, and it’s exciting to see.

So, as a society, what can we do to create this new reality? First and foremost, we need to stop viewing women as second-class citizens. We need to start treating women as equal human beings and treating them as leaders.

Women are already great leaders. In a world where women are still struggling for equality in education, marriage, religion, pay and other areas, it’s not a stretch to say that women are the natural leaders in the workplace, in politics, in families and in every part of life.

Women are better communicators, collaborators, problem solvers, strategists, caregivers, managers and creators.

So, what can we do to ensure that women get the opportunities they deserve? Here are six steps to help us create this new reality: