For years, efforts to increase the number of women in leadership have focused on access – removing barriers, expanding training and improving representation. While these measures remain important, they do not tell the whole story. A growing number of women are questioning whether leadership, as it is currently practiced, reflects how they choose to lead.
As World Economic Forum Global Gendar Gap Report, 2025, cites, globally, women occupy about 28.1% of top leadership roles, with significantly lower representation across South Asia (18-20% 1) and the Middle East (~10-13% 2). While these figures are often cited as evidence of exclusion, Women Emerging argues they also reflect choice.
Women Emerging, a global non-profit, founded by Julia Middleton, former CEO of Common Purpose and a best-selling author, focuses on why prevailing leadership approaches fail to resonate with many women. According to our Theory of Change, while there is work being done across the globe to produce systems change so that the odds of women emerging, leading and succeeding are not so heavily stacked against them. This work needs to be complemented with a steady supply of women choosing to lead. Leadership, as it is commonly practiced, is largely hierarchical, historically male-dominated and often shaped by western thinking. While some women adapt to this approach to leadership, others choose to walk away from leading altogether.
This challenges a long-standing assumption that under-representation stems mainly from confidence or capability gaps. Instead, we suggest that women are making assessments about whether current leadership approaches resonate with who they are and how they lead. Traditional leadership approaches have focused on helping women succeed within existing systems, emphasising skills such as assertiveness, visibility and negotiation. While effective for some, these largely assume that the current leadership approaches resonate with all women.
We take a different approach. Rather than proposing a single approach to leadership, we invite women across geographies, generations, abilities, aspirations, backgrounds, beliefs, sectors and specialisms to join a virtual “expedition” to discover an approach to leading that resonates with them. The outcome? Each woman discovers her own personal approach to leading.
Julia Middleton, best-selling author of If That’s Leading, I’m In, says “There is a huge jigsaw that is women empowerment, with some huge pieces in it about women’s employment, health, rights, etc. In one corner of the jigsaw there is one small piece that needs filling in. It provides women with an approach to leading that works for them. It’s a piece that helps them decide to lead their way. Women Emerging is devoted to filling in this piece in the jigsaw.”
Data from our expeditions suggest that the approach resonates. 91% per cent of participants said they could confidently say, “If that’s leading, I’m in.” 88% per cent found the approach directly relevant to their current and future roles, while 85% rated it culturally relevant – an important distinction in a field often criticised for adapting western leadership approaches.
The limitations of dominant leadership approaches are increasingly visible as trust in institutions declines; inequality deepens, and global challenges from climate change to artificial intelligence accelerate.
As debates about leadership continue, the focus is shifting away from whether women should lead and towards whether prevailing leadership approaches reflect how women choose to lead.
About the Author:
Sonam Dave is a marketing leader, passionate about helping women thrive and lead in the workforce with confidence. As the Marketing Director at Women Emerging, she leads marketing and partnerships, that reimagine what leadership looks like for women. With close to two decades of experience in leading brand and growth strategies across industries, she is known to build and grow high-performing, multi-cultural marketing teams. LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sonamdave/
