When COVID arrived, it sped up organisational development. It forced more people to work from home, stretched our mental health and demanded a quicker adaptation to technology. It was an overwhelming time and forced employees to reflect.

But where women held leadership roles and were allowed to show up more authentically, a sense of hope appeared. Their unique skills and feminine qualities transformed their business’s culture.

They brought collaborative prowess to new cross-functional work models, showed empathy to ease our overburdened emotional states, and co-created fresh solutions through inclusive leadership.

The message was clear, diversity, especially at leadership level, brought value to organisations that were in constant change. It created conditions for all voices to be heard, including women’s.

Today, COVID is less of a threat, but a positively disruptive evolution is unfolding. You can see it in the growing presence of artificial intelligence and hybrid work solutions.

There’s also a demographic shift, ushering millennials and Gen Zs into leadership positions where they must manage diversity effectively. Younger leaders prefer to work for caring organisations that make meaningful contributions towards global challenges such as unemployment, poverty and climate change.

It’s a refreshing new world!

But there are challenges. The traditional masculine leadership style which has hierarchical characteristics is still predominant in most organisations. And although it fosters assertiveness, decisiveness and profits, it cannot bring the best out of the current and new organisational environment. For this, we need a different set of skills.