The Data Finally Caught Up
From cubicles to corner offices across the globe, women are finally breathing a sigh of relief: We no longer need to act like men to win. Your natural feminine energy is your superpower, and now, studies back up what you’ve always intuited: Over the past 10 years, S&P 500 companies led by women delivered 384% total shareholder return versus 261% for male-led firms.
Pull up your big girl panties because this article will help you turn that energy into a system that grows your business, attracts clients, and builds your influence without burning you out.
That opening stat is important for one reason. It ends the tired argument that women need to borrow a more masculine leadership style to produce serious results. They do not. The question now becomes: what are these women doing to create better outcomes and more durable growth?
Why This Matters to a Business Owner
Say hello to your new operating advantage.
Leadership (good or bad) determines how your company runs. It affects how quickly decisions turn into execution, how often work needs to be redone, and how much of the business still depends on you to function.
Research from Zenger Folkman, published in Harvard Business Review, found that women score higher than men across most leadership competencies, including communication, initiative, developing others, and driving results. The ‘emotional sensitivity’ women are often criticized for is fueling and strengthening their influence, how clearly work is understood, and ensuring it is executed consistently without extra layers of correction.
That consistency compounds. It reduces friction inside the business and among team members, increases speed, and allows the company to grow without requiring more from the leader at every step.
Where This Pays Off in Your Business
The same traits women have been told are “too much” in business are the ones that actually create trust, alignment, and follow-through inside a company.
When you pay attention to how something is landing while you’re communicating, people understand you the first time. When you can read what someone is not saying, you address the real issue rather than the surface conversation. When you care about the environment you’re creating, people stay engaged instead of shutting down or checking out.
That’s not personality. That’s leadership.
The leaders people trust are the ones who make them feel safe, seen, and supported while still holding a clear standard. Clarity matters, and the environment determines whether it actually works. I can be Open, Honest, and Direct… no problem. But without the Positive, Nurturing Environment- what does that make me? I’ll give you a hint: it starts with a ‘B’.
Women more often than not naturally tend to do both.
That’s where the advantage is.
When people trust the person leading them, they listen more closely, they take ownership of their work, and they follow through at a higher level. That changes how a team performs. It changes how a business grows.
And it’s already something you do naturally.
IRL Business
I’ve lived both energies. At home and in business.
When I was first building my career, I quickly climbed the “ladder.” But that ladder was far from comfortable. I ran business and relationships the way I thought I was supposed to. I matched the energy of the men around me. I spoke directly and bulldozed for results, leading with performance and keeping conversations transactional. We hit numbers, goals were met, and no one could argue with the results.
But when my name showed up on someone’s caller ID, they already knew why I was calling, and if they felt the slightest bit behind… guess who got ghosted? Guess who the leader was that wasn’t able to step in, support, solve, and help them move forward? Hint: she’s writing this article now.
The men I worked next to could walk out of the hardest meeting and be laughing thirty seconds later. I couldn’t do that. The grind energy didn’t clock out when I did, and it spilled out at home with my kids long after working sessions. They were just trying to talk to their mom, but I was locked into the masculine and my nervous system didn’t know what to do with it.
That’s what leading against your natural energy costs you, and it’s not just at work. It impacts every corner of your life if you let it.
It Also Works on Clients
This is where it can get really interesting. This same energy is what converts clients and keeps them around long-term.
I was working on a new project with my partner. We had previously agreed that I would take the lead, even though this client came through his existing relationship, and he was the original referral.
Not too far into it, ‘scope creep’ reared its too-common head, and we needed to flag and set boundaries fast. If your business is service-based, you know exactly what I’m talking about. It starts small, just barely outside the realm of what you agreed to, but if you don’t address it early, you’ll soon find yourself and your team doing double the work for the same check and wondering when the heck this happened.
I called it what it was with my partner and said, “I cannot be the one to say this on this call.” It’s too direct and I will sound like a *B. Without the safe and comfortable cushion of the existing relationship, my directness would land wrong. Our boundaries were right on scope, but the messenger in that moment was the problem.
My partner addressed what was in scope for the project, the relationship held together, and we maintained a healthy, high standard. We were open, honest, and direct, but we built that part of the conversation inside a nurturing environment, because without that, we would have lost them.
We kept them, and to this day, they’re one of my favorite clients.
That’s OHD/PNE in action. That’s what knowing when to lead with heart and when to hold a boundary looks like inside your business and conversations. It’s not being too sensitive or overthinking everything… It’s strategic.
Here’s What This Looks Like in Practice
There are real habits you can start building into your workflow this week. And surprise, surprise, you’ll probably notice you’ve already been doing versions of them your whole life.
Structure every meeting the same way.
My mentor taught me to open and close every meeting with one good thing. Personal or Professional. Get everyone to share something that has happened since the last time you spoke. My kids and I do a version of this at dinner every night called Roses and Thorns.
Your natural instinct to connect before you get into business isn’t just women being chatty. That’s your superpower showing up! You are creating the environment where real work can safely happen. And guess what happens when people feel safe? Their amygdala chills the f-out, and pre-frontal cortex lights up. The best work gets done, and flow state can kick in. Open with one good thing, handle what needs to be handled. Then close with one good thing they got from the call. You set the tone at the start and lead them to leave them with something valuable at the end. This is intentional leadership at play.
Address tensions without blowing up the relationship.
Most people do one of two things when conflict shows up: they side-step and avoid it completely until it builds to the point of eventually blowing, or they come in guns-a-blazing and make the situation worse.
Like it or not, ladies, we are told our whole lives to pick a side: Be nice or be direct. But with the feminine advantage we don’t have to choose!
“Yesterday’s conversation didn’t sit right with me. The tone felt dismissive, and that’s not how I want us to work together. I value our relationship and respect what you bring, and I want us aligned. Can we reset how we communicate moving forward?”
Viola! Behavior is named without attacking the person. Standard held without lighting the whole relationship on fire. Boundary set: communication standards are high.
Wrap
That stat at the top of this article? It didn’t happen because those women hustled harder or finally learned to lead like men.
It happened because they leveraged and leaned into who they are as leaders: a woman.
Many of us have been told throughout our careers to be careful with our emotions. That we’re too sensitive, care too much about how something might land, are ‘over-thinking it’, or somehow beside the point.
Ha. It was never beside the point. It is the point.
So here’s your homework before you close this tab: find a conversation you’ve been dodging. You know the one already – it’s the first thing that popped into your mind just now. Ask yourself: Is the environment safe enough for it to land? If it’s not what you can do to change it?
Go get em’, *B.
