Effective Leadership Styles: What Works Best for Women in the Workplace
Leadership has changed. The image of the person at the top making every decision, giving every order and having every answer no longer represents the only way to lead effectively. Today’s workplaces increasingly require leaders who can communicate a clear vision, make confident decisions, navigate change, develop talent and build teams where people can contribute their best work.
For women, however, leadership can come with an additional layer of complexity. Women may still encounter conflicting expectations about how confident, assertive, collaborative or approachable they should be. Research published by the American Psychological Association found that, across leadership contexts overall, men and women did not differ in perceived leadership effectiveness; when looking specifically at ratings from others, women were actually rated as significantly more effective. At the same time, research discussed by Harvard Business Review has documented the additional balancing act women leaders can face between expectations of warmth and expectations of competence.
That makes an important point: women don’t need to become someone else to become effective leaders. There isn’t one personality, communication style or leadership model that every woman should adopt. The more useful goal is to develop a leadership approach that combines self-awareness, adaptability, communication, confidence and accountability.
At THIS IS IT NETWORK™, we believe that begins with knowing who you are.
A transformational approach to leadership can be particularly valuable for women who are responsible for moving teams and organizations toward a larger vision. Transformational leaders don’t simply distribute assignments; they help people understand where they are going and why the work matters. They communicate purpose, encourage new ideas and connect individual contributions to a larger mission. A leader with a strong vision can inspire people, but the vision only becomes useful when everyone else can understand it. Leadership is not simply having the idea. It is being able to communicate that idea clearly enough that other people can help bring it to life.
Collaboration is equally important. Effective leaders recognize that having authority does not mean having every answer. They listen to their teams, seek different perspectives and create opportunities for people to contribute ideas. But collaborative leadership should not be confused with avoiding decisions. You can listen carefully, welcome different opinions and still be the person responsible for making the final call. In fact, some of the strongest leadership combines openness with decisiveness: listen, learn and then lead.
Adaptability may be one of the most valuable leadership skills in today’s workplace. The same approach will not work for every employee, every challenge or every stage of a business. A new team member may need additional direction and feedback, while an experienced employee may perform better with greater independence. A crisis may require quick decisions, while long-term strategic planning may benefit from collaboration and discussion. Strong leaders learn to ask, “What does this situation require from me right now?” Being adaptable does not mean being inconsistent. It means being aware enough to understand when your leadership approach needs to change.
Women can also benefit from developing a coaching mindset. Leadership is not simply about getting today’s work completed; it is about developing the people who will help accomplish tomorrow’s goals. Coaching leaders provide feedback, recognize potential, ask thoughtful questions and help employees develop new skills. That does not mean avoiding difficult conversations. Supporting someone and holding them accountable can—and should—exist at the same time. You can care about your people while maintaining high standards. Empathy and accountability are not opposites.
This distinction is particularly important when we talk about servant leadership. Supporting your team can create trust and strengthen workplace culture, but service should never require self-sacrifice. Women can sometimes find themselves taking on additional emotional labor, fixing problems that belong to other people or becoming endlessly available in the name of being supportive. Leadership does not require you to do everyone’s work. It requires you to create an environment where people have the resources, expectations and accountability necessary to do their own work successfully.
And sometimes leadership simply means making the decision.
Women should not feel the need to apologize for exercising appropriate authority. Gather the information. Ask the questions. Listen to the people who should be heard. Consider the consequences. Then make the call. Not every decision will be universally popular, and not every decision will ultimately prove correct. Confidence is not believing you will never be wrong. Confidence is trusting yourself enough to make a thoughtful decision and being secure enough to adjust when new information proves necessary.
Authenticity also matters, but authentic leadership should not be confused with refusing to grow. At SCREAM YOUR DREAM™, one of our core principles is Don’t Fake It. You do not need to imitate someone else’s personality to become an effective executive, entrepreneur or manager. If you are naturally energetic, use that energy. If you are thoughtful and measured, make that part of your leadership presence. If you are creative, bring creativity to problem-solving. If organization is one of your strengths, use structure to help your team succeed.
Authenticity means understanding your natural strengths while remaining willing to develop the skills you don’t yet possess.
This is increasingly important because the path to leadership remains uneven. The 2025 Women in the Workplace report from Lean In and McKinsey & Company found that women and men remain highly committed to their careers, but women continue to encounter barriers to advancement, including less sponsorship and manager advocacy at important stages of their careers. The research also found that when women receive comparable career support, the gap in their desire to advance disappears. That should remind organizations that developing women leaders is not solely the responsibility of women themselves. Companies also have a role in creating equitable access to opportunity, sponsorship, feedback and advancement.
Recent research also challenges the idea that younger women simply aren’t interested in leadership. Lean In’s 2026 research on Gen Z women found that when young women believe their companies genuinely want women in leadership, 74% aspire to top roles—roughly on par with Gen Z men overall. Environment matters. Opportunity matters. Being able to see a path forward matters.
Ultimately, the most effective leadership style for women isn’t one single style.
It may mean being transformational when communicating the vision, collaborative when developing a new idea, coaching-oriented when developing talent, adaptable when circumstances change and decisive when a choice needs to be made. Leadership isn’t a box you select. It is a collection of skills you continue developing throughout your career.
At THIS IS IT NETWORK™, we often encourage women to understand their Unique Equation: Who are you? What do you do? Why do you do it? Those same questions can provide a valuable foundation for leadership.
Who are you when you lead?
What value do you bring to your team?
Why should people trust you to help move them forward?
The goal isn’t to become the loudest person in the room. It isn’t to become tougher, softer, more masculine, more feminine or more like the executive who came before you.
The goal is to become clearer about your values, stronger in your communication, confident in your decisions and intentional about the environment you create for others.
Know when to listen. Know when to collaborate. Know when to coach. Know when to change direction. And know when it is time to make the call.
Most importantly, don’t wait for someone else to define what leadership should look like for you.
Find your leadership voice. Use it intentionally. And continue to SCREAM YOUR DREAM™.
THIS IS IT NETWORK™
