When a Woman Reaches the Top, What Becomes Possible for the Women Coming Behind Her?

When a woman reaches a senior leadership position, her appointment can create a sense of possibility for other women. They hope their expertise will be recognised, their voices heard and their opportunities widened. They begin to imagine themselves progressing too.

What happens next depends on how she uses her authority.

This is the third article in my Women & Work series. In “Why Do High-Performing Women Stay in Toxic Workplaces?”, I explored why leaving a damaging working environment can be so difficult. In “You Don’t Have to Make Yourself Smaller to Make Another Woman Feel Secure”, I considered what happens when you begin editing your expertise and withholding your contribution in response to another woman’s behaviour.

Here, I want to explore the leadership that creates those conditions. How can a woman gain influence and then reinforce the very expectations that limit other women? And what might help her recognise that pattern in herself?

I have seen capable women begin questioning their judgement because a senior woman withheld information they needed to do their jobs. They were expected to make decisions and deliver results while working with an incomplete picture. They spent time checking their understanding, piecing together conversations and wondering what they had missed.

Their uncertainty grew from the conditions around them. Yet, over time, they began to interpret it as a problem with their own ability. When you repeatedly find yourself without the context others appear to have, it becomes easy to wonder whether you are falling short.

I have also watched a senior woman seek men’s opinions and readily endorse their contributions in meetings. A man would offer a view and receive an immediate, “I echo that.” A woman bringing her professional expertise might receive a dismissive nod, a superficial acknowledgement or a challenge that undermined her credibility.

Across repeated encounters, a pattern became clear. Men’s opinions gained visible approval. Women’s expertise was more readily questioned. Everyone in the room could learn something from those exchanges about whose judgement mattered.

This brings us to patriarchy and the ways its assumptions can become embedded in working life. In a culture where men have historically held authority, male approval may come to carry particular weight. Ideas about who looks like a leader, whose opinion deserves attention and whose expertise can be trusted may continue to shape decisions even as more women enter senior roles.

A woman building her career within that environment may learn to align herself with the people she perceives as powerful. Their approval may bring acceptance, access and progression. Over time, seeking that approval can become a familiar way of protecting her position, including after she has gained considerable authority herself.

Internalised misogyny helps us examine how women can absorb and reproduce beliefs that give men greater credibility or diminish other women. It may show up in whose judgement we trust instinctively, whose ambition makes us uncomfortable or whose authority we feel compelled to question.

The behaviours I have described invite that examination. Their meaning needs to be considered in context; someone’s private motives remain theirs to explore. What we can observe is how they distribute recognition, information and opportunity—and the effect this has on others.

For a woman looking to a senior female leader with hope, that effect can be particularly painful. You may have imagined that she would understand some of the pressures you face. When your expertise is repeatedly dismissed, you begin calculating the risks of contributing. You rehearse your words, soften your recommendations and seek reassurance before speaking.

Gradually, more of your energy goes into managing the relationship. Less is available for the work you are qualified to do. You may eventually look elsewhere for an environment in which you can contribute fully.

The organisation loses something in that process. Questions remain unasked, decisions receive fewer perspectives and valuable expertise goes unused. Other women watching may also draw conclusions about what progression requires: whose approval to seek, which views to echo and how much of themselves to edit.

That is why I believe this deserves honest reflection from those of us who hold authority. We need to be willing to ask what our behaviour does for us. Why do I seek this person’s endorsement so readily? What am I protecting when I keep information close? What do I feel when another woman speaks with conviction or brings expertise beyond my own?

There may be a desire for acceptance beneath those habits. There may be anxiety about status, or an expectation that another woman must prove herself through the same difficulties we experienced. Understanding that history gives us a starting point for choosing how we lead now.

We also need to ask what example we are setting. If another woman learned how to exercise authority by watching us, what would she learn? Would she see expertise acknowledged fairly, information shared responsibly and disagreement given proper consideration? Would she learn that she could progress while trusting her own professional judgement?

Those questions lead to practical choices. We can give colleagues the context they need to make sound decisions. We can acknowledge a woman’s contribution clearly and ensure she receives credit for it. We can examine whether we apply the same scrutiny to comparable contributions from men and women. We can use our influence to support access to opportunities and make room for expertise beyond our own.

Organisations have a responsibility here too. The culture that rewards particular behaviour helps sustain it. Who receives sponsorship, how leaders are held accountable and whose voices influence decisions all deserve attention. Greater representation creates an opportunity to examine those arrangements and change what people experience at work.

When a woman reaches the top, she gains influence over what becomes possible for others. Every decision about information, recognition and opportunity contributes to that possibility.

For me, the question is one of legacy: when other women encounter your leadership, what do they come to believe is possible for them?

The answer begins taking shape while you are still in the role.