Members of the Women Emerging Expedition
With the many serious and complex problems we face as a nation and around the world, advancing women’s leadership—and including women’s much-needed perspectives, skill sets and approaches to leadership and problem-solving in all areas of society—is more important than ever. Not only has the lack of diversity and traditional models of leadership failed us at every level—from the devastation of our planet to crumbling social safety nets to the use of militarism over diplomacy to increasing authoritarianism and the rolling back of human rights and women’s rights—but it has also prevented women from being able to participate in a system that wasn’t designed for them to thrive.
The leaders we most urgently need in the world are those who model new paradigms of leadership and embrace qualities too often denigrated in our society and deemed "feminine," yet exist in all of us. Values like empathy, compassion, consensus building, listening, collaboration—leaders who prioritize the needs of the collective rather than the individual. There is evidence that women often embody and bring these qualities to the table, yet these attributes are not typically welcomed in existing models of leadership. This can make pursuing leadership positions unappealing for women since it may feel like it requires them to diminish a large part of their natural way of being.
What would be a model or approach that would resonate with women and empower them, and people of all genders, to lead in new transformative ways? This was the impetus behind Julia Middleton’s launch of the “Women Emerging Expedition,” a non-profit movement and virtual expedition to encourage, inspire and support women in, and into, leadership and to create paradigms of leadership that work better for women. “So many mistakes are being made and opportunities are being missed for lack of women leaders,” said Middleton. “Too many women are put off by the way leadership is currently done. They are deciding not to lead, and their talent, experience and insight is being wasted at a moment when the world really needs it. That needs to change. That’s why I started Women Emerging, so that more women say, ‘If that’s leadership, I’m in.’”
For the Women Emerging Expedition, 24 esteemed women leaders from across the globe are spending 24 weeks exploring new approaches to leadership that resonate with them and holding live online sessions where they share their experiences, learnings and strategies while nourishing and inspiring each other on their leadership journeys. The women participating in the expedition offer a diverse range in nationality, age, perspective and experience, including a neuroscientist from Pakistan, a Paralympic athlete from Australia, a CEO philanthropist from Singapore, a violinist from Paris, a Māori psychiatrist from New Zealand and many others. In addition, thousands of other women around the world are engaged in the expedition in different ways, acting as “guides,” talking through ideas with the expedition members or speaking on the expedition podcasts.
The hope is that this effort will help shape a new approach to leadership, offer inspiration, support and advice from leaders from all over the world, provide learning materials that all leaders can use in their own leadership journey and ultimately create a worldwide movement that redefines leadership and creates real change in the way it is both seen and done. They are currently halfway through the expedition, and in 2023, they will bring their findings together in a range of published and online resources in multiple languages, much of which will be available on a free, open-source basis so that as many women and organizations as possible can access and contribute to it.
To get a sense of where the future of leadership might be headed, I asked the participants why an approach to leadership that resonates with women is needed and what insights they have gleaned so far. Here is a selection of some of their answers:
Why is an approach to leadership that resonates with women needed?
Too many women still feel that leadership is not for them—that they have to trade in their authenticity or shift their core priorities in order to lead. And this perpetuates exclusion (not just of women) and deprives us of the creativity, humility, insight, passion and love that women can bring to our complex problems and that are so sorely lacking in leadership. We have the resources to move toward a more equitable and sustainable world. We urgently need leaders willing to imagine and work for radically different futures. So we need an approach to leadership that resonates with and engages more women and that makes it clear that this is a path we can take authentically, that we belong unconditionally and that our aspirations and visions are what leadership is. —Dr. Ana Luz Porzecanski | Conservation Biologist, New York
I recognize that masculinity and femininity are qualities that reside along a spectrum, and when we say an “approach to leadership that resonates with women,” we are also implying a feminine/feminist worldview. We are also working with the assumption that the historical trajectory of the idea of leadership, and the professionalization of this trait, have left women out. It is for this simple reason that we need forms and functions of leadership that not only resonate with women but get defined by women. The opportunity for an intersectional and inclusive view of the world is made more possible if we imagine a leadership that resonates with women. When we imagine such a leadership, we introduce a chink in the armor that protects and sustains the very structures of power that control and oppress.
Where is my critique of how women could also appropriate and misuse power? That critique is not lost on me. But to give into that critique would also mean that we fail to question the authority of a narrow definition of leadership that has dominated the world thus far. Isn’t it time we imagine at least half of all world leaders being women, leading the world in a way that resonates with women? —Aparna Uppaluri | Global Program, Gender Justice-International Program of Ford Foundation, India
Many women, especially women of color in the [Global] South, women like me—an Arab woman wearing Hijab, a mother of two, working with vulnerable communities—feel left out from approaches to leadership that center the White male. Those approaches sideline emotional intelligence, compassion, understanding, participatory approaches, listening and the community. Today, with the problems in our communities worldwide, we need to rethink existing leadership models to make sure they are more inclusive and representative of all components of society. —Dr. Rouba Mhaissen | Founder and Director of Sawa Foundation, Turkey
I am not advocating for an approach to leadership that resonates with women, but one that resonates with all humans, regardless of where they find themselves on the gender spectrum. A human-oriented leadership that embodies and exhibits equal parts courage, fierceness, empathy and compassion. —Lissa Young | Associate Professor of Leadership and Management at U.S. Military Academy, Expedition “Disruptor,” U.S.
This approach is needed because our world now is a global village in terms of the challenges facing us. Even though we may not see the leadership challenges in Iran or Sierra Leone as directly affecting us, we fully understand how climate change challenges are global and how leadership in this aspect affects more than just your corner of the world. It’s therefore imperative that we source, harness and emphasize leadership that is multi-faceted, which focuses on non-linear impact, which prioritizes diversity and inclusion, and which transcends borders. —Isata Kabia | Founding Director of Voice of Women Africa, Sierra Leone
Growing up with a hidden disability, my focus was not on being a leader but being accepted. Even after winning three gold, three silver and a bronze medal in the Paralympic Games, I still did not see myself as a leader. Why? Because many of the leadership styles that I was surrounded by did not resonate with me until I met several leaders, both women and men, that had a style I resonated with. It was one that unlocked potential with love and empowerment. It was leading for the greater good not for one’s own gain. It was not results driven but contribution driven that ended up leading to brilliant results. —Katrina Webb | Paralympic Athlete, Australia
Leadership must unleash the talents of all, not just the few. We need leaders who can do this not through command but by believing, as mothers do, in the best in everyone's child and committing to seeing that giftedness expressed. We frankly need more humble, caring and serving leaders who lead not from brute strength but from weakness, unleashing the generative gift of mutuality and wholeness. What is needed now is an active, empathetic, bridge-building leadership to reinvest resources into life systems and microeconomies, and the courage to change the current structures that no longer serve the well-being of the whole and only benefit the few. —Melissa Kwee | CEO of National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre, Singapore
Halfway through the Women Emerging expedition, what are you uncovering?
The answer is multi-faceted—it captures topics such as culture, language, environment, beliefs and values. It’s also clear that it is not the intention to rip up the rule book and say what has been thought to be leadership to date is now no longer valid or that men are excluded. It’s quite the contrary. Instead, we need to be acutely aware of the lens through which we observe, but not judge, and be open to learn from others. —Laura Fleming | CEO of Hitachi Energy, U.K. and Ireland
Living in contrasting time zones, climates, seasons, and being from different generations, we have discovered the joy of distinctiveness. Listening with our women’s ears and hearts means there is an intrinsic and intuitive acceptance. We are the living laboratory of this discovery journey, testing out expedition theories in our own lives. Science and research are not enough—we must tell our own stories. This is the self-reflective practice of women leading. Putting women in leadership positions alone doesn’t change organizational or political cultures much, if at all, or for long. Our determination is to dismantle structures, behaviors and attitudes, and then rebuild with a purposeful intergenerational, planet-centered focus... Any approach to leadership we identify must honor real women’s lives at its heart, in ways that are relevant to us all. —Dr. Hinemoa Elder | Māori Child and Adolescent Psychiatrist and Author, New Zealand
I have learned a lot of patience and humility for the process of listening. Not just hearing, but listening, with full presence and understanding, points of view that were never part of my life experience. Stepping into listening means including voices that previously were treated with less importance just because they were not present in our geographical or background context. —Anna Kuk | Violinist, Director of San Organique and Artistic Director of ReVerb Ensemble, Paris
We deeply understand that leadership is not about one but many. Women know that we are more powerful when we stand together, rise in our own collective voice and bring others along by the power of many. Leadership is collective. Leadership is care. Leadership is collaborative. These values coalesce in our ability to step into our power and own it. We are able to overturn the rules, norms and stories that reinforce inequality based on gender, sexuality, race, religion, caste, class and so much more.
Across the world, we share experiences, and by linking them, we can create powerful solutions that come from everywhere, not just the industrialized nations or the Global North. Feminist leadership is recognizing that real growth happens when we center the margins, allowing every human to have economic agency and potential to thrive. —Mona Sinha | Global Executive Director of Equality Now, Board Chair of Women Moving Millions and ERA/FFWE, Executive Producer of Disclosure, U.S.
It has been an interesting process to see how, as we peel layers of resonance, more nuances emerge—those of heritage and traditions, race and ethnicity, language and culture, patriarchy and colonialism, generational chiasm and diverse priorities and more. While it has been a journey of seeking answers of leadership, each member is also uncovering themselves, making this an odyssey of collective self-realization. —Dr. Ayesha Mian | Founder and CEO of Synapse Pakistan Neuroscience Institute, Pakistan
I discovered a space characterized by benevolence, active listening and openness with women leaders who come from all over the world. Beyond our cultural and social differences, there is something powerful that unites us: acting for women, with women, with a focus on being radically inclusive. Get women who want to make an impact on the world in the same room and you will see the power leading to the transformation of this world! Fatima Zibouh | Expert/Analyst on Diversity, Inclusion and Discrimination, Researcher of Social and Political Science, Brussels
For more information on the expedition and its participants, visit the Women Emerging website.
Answers have been edited for clarity and brevity.
