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Despite significant strides made in recent years, women leaders find themselves continuing to battle a host of misconceptions that can impede their career advancement and success. To improve the health, sustainability and diversity of the overall workforce as well as their bottom lines, many corporations today are making it a priority to address outdated notions and eliminate unfair biases that persist around women leaders in C-suites and boardrooms globally.
Here, Forbes Coaches Council members discuss stereotypes and deeply ingrained biases that may still be at work in the minds of decision makers, hindering the careers of women leaders around the world. Beyond elevating women into leadership roles and recognizing their significant contributions, companies can employ various strategies to debunk the misconceptions outlined below and build a culture of mutual respect that flows from the top down.
1. Women Leaders Are Meant To Be Caretakers Of The Team
A big misconception is that women leaders, despite being in leadership positions, are supposed to be the caretakers of the team, ensuring that someone is taking notes, the room is reserved and lunch is being delivered. This is often an unconscious bias, but one that exists nonetheless. Debunk it by speaking up when you witness this behavior or expectation in action by clarifying roles and expectations. - Carrie-Ann Barrow, Scaling Strategies
2. Women Don’t Match The Definition Of ‘Executive Leader’
The biggest misconception that hinders women is the way executive leadership is described. Sometimes, women may seem to be too aggressive, too emotional, too quiet and submissive, or too limited because of domestic demands. It’s like trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. The solution? Let’s redefine modern executive leadership to debunk these stereotypes. - Inga Bielińska, Inga Arianna Bielinska Coaching Consulting Mentoring
3. Women’s Skills Are Less Valuable
The gender wage gap is evidence of the misconception that women’s skills are less valuable. Balance is vital to healthy ecosystems. The dynamic of an authentic masculine with its feminine counterpart is an example. Organizations of the future must understand the massive importance of both. Women should find environments in which our feminine contributions are celebrated and respected. They exist. - Zitty Nxumalo, Deftable, LLC
4. Women Have Divided Focus And Conflicting Loyalties
Misconceptions about women leaders, particularly those with families, often revolve around perceptions of them having divided focus and conflicting loyalties. Despite these stereotypes, numerous examples exist of women leaders effectively harmonizing their responsibilities. By championing equal opportunities and fostering supportive work environments for all, we can work towards dismantling such biases. - Neshica Bheem, Coachfluence
5. Women Lack Assertiveness
Since women are more emotional, sometimes this emotional aspect is misconstrued as a lack of assertiveness. This is one of the major misconceptions that will impact women’s career advancement. Nevertheless, women’s brains possess greater resources than men’s for empathetic leadership, and if they know how to demonstrate it, women will be able to beat those unfair biases that form the glass ceiling. - Paula Vidal Castelli, Paula Vidal Castelli Intl., LLC
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6. Women Can Show Up As Their Authentic Selves
Over the past two decades, there have been growing calls for leaders to show up as authentic. Authenticity is important for all leaders, but there is a persistent paradox that continues to play out in the C-suite. Like it or not, it is still far more risky for women than men to show up as their authentic, true selves in the workplace. - Carol Geffner, CB Vision LLC.
7. Women Lack Potential
Women leaders sometimes hold misconceptions about their own potential. These self-limiting beliefs, which are often rooted in early-life events and cultural conditioning, can cause them to downplay their achievements and hesitate to voice their opinions, resulting in missed opportunities. One way to resolve this is to offer structured mentorship programs that connect them to influential advocates. - Vered Kogan, Momentum Institute
8. Childless Women In Their 30s Are Risky Hires
A misconception that persists is the belief that hiring a childless woman in her 30s is risky, as she will soon become pregnant, causing inconvenience to the company. This outdated belief undermines the capabilities and dedication of women leaders and professionals. It’s essential to recognize that personal choices regarding family planning should not impact the evaluation of a woman’s professional competence. - Angela Sedran, The Business Growth Accelerator
9. Women Can’t Take On Work Travel
I travel globally to keynote conferences and support my clients around the world. I’ve been surprised by how many times this year I have been asked how my family copes while I am away. I know my husband has never been asked this question. Decision makers should not let this bias stop them from offering global opportunities to women. - Katie Anderson, Katie Anderson Consulting
10. Women Lead With Emotion, Not Logic
One misconception about women leaders, even in 2023, is that they lead primarily with emotion rather than logic. This stereotype paints women as being too “soft” or too “emotional” to handle tough business decisions or navigate high-pressure situations, which can hinder their progression to higher leadership roles. However, my experiences facilitating transformative retreats have shown me otherwise. - Michelle Maree, The Nomad Escape
11. Empathic Leadership Equals Weakness
A pervasive myth, regardless of gender, is that leading empathically means leading from a place of weakness. On the contrary, people who lead with heart will lead their companies with intelligence, boldness and savviness to win the game. It is not only possible to do both, it is imperative to do so if we are going to successfully engage our younger employees. - Jan Johnston-Tyler, EvoLibri Consulting
12. Women Can’t Negotiate And Close A Deal
To believe that a female leader is unable to negotiate and close a deal effectively is a massive blind spot for executives and boards, hindering their decision-making process. Those women who excel are harshly judged on many facets other than their capabilities in this area. C-suites need to undertake a long internal review of their biased views and perspectives, as it is the company that loses out. - Arthi Rabikrisson, Prerna Advisory
13. Women Need Mentors
This has been debunked; women don’t need mentors—they need sponsors. The difference? A sponsor has a seat at tables with decision makers and puts their name, reputation and network on the line in support of the person they’re sponsoring. To effectively support the advancement of women, organizations should replace mentoring with sponsorship programs. - Emily Grandinetta, MCC, Grandinetta Group, LLC
14. Women Can’t Lead Through Difficult Situations
C-suite decision makers can help to debunk the myth that women are not capable of successfully leading through difficult situations by putting women in visible leadership positions. Publicly crediting women for their ability to think critically and strategically in business will also shine a light on those contributions that are less visible and/or happen behind closed doors. - Lindsay Miller, Reverie Organizational Development Specialists
15. Successful Women Leaders Are More Aggressive
While it may be true in some cases that successful, assertive female leaders are more masculine or aggressive, many successful female leaders beautifully embody the strength and clarity of assertiveness alongside softness, openness and femininity. The key is to foster an environment where authenticity and diverse leadership styles are honored and valued. - Anna Yusim, MD, Yusim Psychiatry, Consulting & Executive Coaching
16. Women In Leadership Roles Are Only Filling A Quota
The idea of “tokenism” is that when women are included in leadership roles or decision-making processes, they’re only there to fill a quota or present an image of diversity rather than being genuinely valued for their expertise, insights and capabilities. Ensure that no team members are “token” women by giving equal opportunities to all members to lead projects and showcase their expertise. - Liudmila Schafer, MD, FACP, The Doctor Connect Consultancy
17. Women Are Not ‘All In’ Professionally
There is a misconception that women are not “all in” and aren’t able to separate themselves from their domestic duties. We still see the impact that motherhood has on women’s careers, and how it is brought up in conversations about their leadership and opportunities. If we continue to advocate for equality and pay equity, we can lessen their domestic burdens and allow for more childcare and support. - Stefanie Ricchio, SRBC Inc.
18. Women Have To Lead Like Men Do
Women leaders often create their own suffering in relationship to decision makers. We imagine that we have to lead like men do—still, even in 2023! And it’s neither true nor does it serve our teams. Women leaders, like men leaders, need to learn who they are, trust their inner wisdom and power, and unapologetically show up from that place. Decision makers respect that quality of confidence. - Lisa Hale, Focused Leadership Consulting
19. Women Aren’t Interested In Career Advancement
The perception is that women prefer lower-status roles, while men are aggressive status-seekers. While human resources, legal and administrative roles are important, they’re still supportive. Instead, give women access to profit and loss responsibility early in their careers through cohort-based sponsorship programs so that they are seen as qualified and on track for the C-suite. - Loren Margolis, TLS Leaders
20. Women Leaders Are Harsher On Women Employees
Two misconceptions I have heard about women leaders are that they are harsher on women employees and less willing to help women advance. These get interpreted as women leaders holding double standards and being spiteful. Most organizations have employee surveys that assess leadership, and looking at feedback data could dispel hallway sound bites that may follow certain women leaders. - Melissa DeLuca, DeLuca & Willow
