Are Women Better Leaders? (The Research Says Yes and Here's Why)

Are women better leaders? For most of my career, I would have laughed at that question. I always felt that my brain didn't work "right" or "normal."

Maybe it was because I couldn't really hear for the first 5½ years of my life due to chronic ear and sinus infections. I'm not neurodivergent, but I am highly intelligent, and I tend to soak up data probably because I love learning.

This led to me being bullied in school for the questions I asked, confrontations with teachers who didn't appreciate my curiosity. I remember wishing that I could be "retarded" at many points. Anything to fit in.

I felt like an 8-pointed star trying to fit in a square hole.

It wasn't until college that I could really let my brain work the way it wanted to work—or so it seemed. Finally, space to think in webs and connections instead of rigid lines.

Then I entered corporate America, and it felt like I was back in elementary school. I had to mold my thinking to a more linear manner: A+B+C=D. Don't step out of that mold. Don't ask too many questions. Don't see patterns they couldn't see.

For 33 years, I forced my naturally integrated, pattern-recognition brain into linear, compartmentalized thinking. I was successful by every external measure, but internally, I was slowly suffocating.

It wasn't until I started diving into coaching and studying neuroscience that I realized something revolutionary: I wasn't a misfit trying to succeed in a world not built for me.

I was designed for exactly the kind of leadership the world desperately needs.

And here's the plot twist, Beautiful Soul: so are you. The research on women's leadership effectiveness doesn't just suggest we can be good leaders—it proves we often excel where traditional leadership fails.

The Leadership Crisis No One's Talking About

Can we talk honestly for a minute? Because what's happening in organizations right now is basically a slow-motion train wreck.

You've got these legacy leadership models—built by men, for men, back when business was simpler—trying to handle today's complexity. It's like watching someone try to perform surgery with a butter knife. Sure, you might eventually get something done, but it's messy and someone's probably going to bleed out.

Here's what's actually breaking down:

Everything is connected now. One supply chain hiccup in Southeast Asia crashes your quarterly numbers. A tone-deaf social media post tanks your stock price. Employee mental health directly impacts your bottom line. But traditional leadership? Still thinking in silos like it's 1985.

Remote work means you can't just bark orders and expect results. You actually have to—gasp—understand what motivates people and create psychological safety. Revolutionary concept, right?

Technology changes faster than leadership development programs can keep up. By the time they update the curriculum, everything's already obsolete.

And don't get me started on stakeholder capitalism. Suddenly, you can't just optimize for shareholders while treating everyone else like collateral damage. You have to actually care about employees, customers, communities, and—I know this is wild—the planet.

The result? Deloitte's 2025 research shows that while 73% of organizations recognize they need to completely reinvent how middle management works, only 7% are actually making real progress. There's a massive 66% gap between knowing what needs to change and actually changing it.

Meanwhile, companies clinging to old-school leadership are watching their innovation rates tank while their best people burn out and quit.

But here's where it gets interesting, Brave Soul...

Your "Weird" Brain is Actually Perfect for This Mess

Remember how you always felt like your brain worked differently? How you'd see connections others missed? How you'd want to analyze seventeen different angles before making a decision, and everyone would roll their eyes at your "overthinking"?

Plot twist: Your brain is exactly what organizations need right now.

Let me share some science that'll blow your mind. Researchers at Harvard Business School discovered that when organizations face complex challenges, they need leaders who can integrate multiple variables simultaneously.

And here's the thing: this is exactly how women naturally approach problems. While traditional leadership celebrates quick, single-focus decisions, women leaders consistently demonstrate integrated thinking—considering multiple stakeholders, long-term implications, and systemic connections.

Translation: Your "scattered" thinking is actually systems intelligence. Your "emotional" responses are stakeholder analytics. Your "slow" decision-making is comprehensive risk assessment.

Real talk: During COVID, you know which countries handled the crisis best? The ones led by women. Research by Supriya Garikipati and Uma Kambhampati found that countries led by women had systematically better COVID outcomes—not because of different policies, but because of integrated thinking that addressed health, economics, and social factors simultaneously instead of treating them like separate problems.

While male leaders were optimizing for single metrics, women leaders were like, "Wait, if we save the economy but everyone dies, that's not actually a win."

Revolutionary thinking, apparently.

Here's what your brain naturally does that organizations desperately need:

You See the Whole System

While linear thinkers break problems into pieces, you see how everything connects. That project failing over there? You spotted three months ago that it would impact employee morale, which would affect customer service, which would hurt retention. But did anyone listen? Of course not.

You Consider All the Humans

Your "people-pleasing" is actually stakeholder optimization. You naturally think about how decisions affect everyone involved because—shocker—sustainable solutions require buy-in from actual humans.

You Spot Patterns Early

That "intuition" that something's off? It's pattern recognition. Your brain processes subtle environmental changes and sounds the alarm before problems become obvious. Companies with women leaders show 40% better crisis recovery rates because we see the icebergs before the Titanic hits them.

You Adapt and Optimize

Your willingness to change course when you get new information isn't "wishy-washy"—it's adaptive intelligence. You optimize for outcomes, not ego.

McKinsey's research consistently shows companies with women in senior leadership outperform male-only teams by 15%. Teams led by women have 50% higher psychological safety, which Google's research proves is the biggest predictor of team performance.

Your brain isn't broken. It's the future.

What Happens When Organizations Finally Get It

When companies stop trying to force everyone into masculine leadership molds and actually leverage how women naturally think? Magic happens.

Innovation explodes. Instead of innovation happening by accident, it becomes systematic. Women leaders connect insights across departments, creating breakthrough solutions that compartmentalized thinking misses entirely.

Risk drops dramatically. That "overthinking" you've been apologizing for? It prevents expensive mistakes. While everyone else celebrates quick decisions, your comprehensive analysis saves organizations millions.

People actually want to work there. Emotional intelligence becomes strategic advantage when women leaders create environments where people feel seen, heard, and valued. Customer loyalty increases because strategies account for human factors, not just spreadsheet data.

They become antifragile. Organizations led by women don't just survive disruption—they leverage it. Because when you think systemically, change becomes opportunity instead of threat.

Remember COVID? Research by Garikipati and Kambhampati found that countries led by women had significantly better COVID outcomes across health and social metrics. Not because they had different policies, but because they understood that health, economics, and social stability were connected systems, not separate challenges to optimize.

Time to Stop Apologizing and Start Leading

OK, Beautiful Soul, here's where we stop playing by their rules and start writing our own.

You've spent years translating your natural brilliance into formats that water it down. Converting your integrated insights into boring linear presentations. Apologizing for thorough analysis. Downplaying your pattern recognition as "just a feeling."

What if you stopped?

Instead of: "Sorry, I know I'm overthinking this..." Try: "I want to do comprehensive risk assessment because complex problems require integrated solutions."

Instead of: "I just have a feeling something's wrong..." Try: "I'm seeing patterns that suggest we need to adjust our approach before this becomes a bigger issue."

Instead of: "Maybe we should consider how this affects people..." Try: "Let me map the stakeholder dynamics so we can optimize for sustainable success."

Instead of: "I know this seems slow, but..." Try: "I want to ensure we account for systemic implications before proceeding."

See the difference? You're not changing what you do—you're changing how you position it. Same brain, better framing.

Here's how to build your future leadership platform:

Become the Pattern Spotter. When you see trends or connections others miss, document them. Share your analysis. Build your reputation as someone who sees around corners. Stop keeping your insights to yourself.

Champion Solutions That Actually Work. Present approaches that solve multiple problems simultaneously. Show how considering all stakeholders creates stronger, more sustainable outcomes than the "move fast and break things" approach.

Volunteer for the Messy Stuff. Step up for the multifaceted challenges that make linear thinkers break out in hives. Position yourself as the person who thrives where others struggle.

Make Everyone Around You Smarter. Help your team see connections. Build their capacity for complexity. Become known as the leader who elevates everyone.

For more on how to identify and leverage your specific leadership pattern, check out my post on How Women Lead: 4 Natural Patterns from Exhausted to Influential. 

The Future Belongs to Your Brain

Here's what I know for sure: The challenges facing organizations today—climate change, technological disruption, global instability, stakeholder capitalism—cannot be solved with yesterday's leadership models.

They require exactly what you naturally bring:

• Integration over compartmentalization
• Systems thinking over linear processing
• Stakeholder intelligence over single metrics
• Pattern recognition over reactive problem-solving

You're not trying to become a leader. You already are one—designed for exactly the challenges organizations face today.

The question isn't whether your brain is built for leadership. The question is whether organizations are ready for the leadership your brain provides.

And honestly? They don't have much choice anymore. The old ways are failing spectacularly. The future belongs to leaders who can navigate complexity, not simplify it away. Who can integrate multiple perspectives, not choose single metrics. Who can think systemically, not just sequentially.

You've been training for this your entire life, even when it felt like you were struggling to fit into boxes that were never designed for your capabilities.

Time to stop shrinking and start expanding.

Your Leadership Reality Check

This week's experiment: Look for one complex organizational challenge where your integrated thinking could create breakthrough solutions.

Ask yourself:

• What patterns am I seeing that others are missing or dismissing?
• How could stakeholder consideration improve this decision beyond the obvious metrics?
• Where could thorough analysis prevent expensive mistakes that quick decisions might create?
• What connections exist between separate initiatives that could amplify impact?

Then take action. Present one insight that demonstrates your systems thinking. Frame it as business advantage, not personal opinion. Use language that highlights impact: risk mitigation, stakeholder optimization, competitive advantage.

Journal prompt: "If organizations desperately need the exact cognitive advantages I possess, how does that change how I show up as a leader? Where could my integrated thinking solve problems that traditional approaches can't touch? What would happen if I stopped hiding my natural advantages and started positioning them as exactly what the world needs?"

Let's Keep This Conversation Going

What complex challenge could your integrated thinking solve? Drop it in the comments—I love hearing how women are positioning their cognitive advantages as competitive advantages. Seriously, your insights might be exactly what another woman needs to hear.

Ready to Lead the Revolution?

If you’re ready to position your natural brilliance as exactly what organizations need, the Aligned Leadership Mastermind was built for you. In this private, high-touch 6-week experience, you’ll learn how to transform your integrated thinking, your energy, and your presence into undeniable leadership value.

Because the future of leadership isn’t about fitting into yesterday’s models — it’s about designing tomorrow’s solutions. And that’s exactly what you were built to do. Click the image below to begin your application.

Curious about the full experience? Click here for the complete mastermind overview