[00:00:00] have you ever sat in a meeting and had something important to say and then watched the moment pass because you second guessed whether you, or for that matter, your voice mattered, or maybe it's this. You walk into a high stakes room with people that potentially have less experience than you, less expertise than you, and then somehow you are feeling and second guessing what you're bringing into the room.
Here's what I know after working with senior female leaders, your expertise isn't landing the way it should, not because you lack the capability. If anything, that's something you've got spades of, but because there's a gap between your capability. And how you're being experienced. And that gap could be costing you visibility, credibility, and the leadership opportunities that you've actually earned. Welcome to the Style and Strategy Podcast, where personal brand [00:01:00] meets leadership and style. I'm Sonya, a personal brand and style coach who's been exactly where you are juggling career and business success. Personal growth and finding a style that truly fits. After decades in corporate leadership, I've learned that showing up isn't just about what you do, it's about how you align who you are and how the world sees you.
This season, I'm bringing you practical strategies, bold insights, and honest conversations to help you amplify your presence, unlock your next level, and lead with clarity and confidence. Let's dive in.
So today I wanna talk about something that might surprise you. So the biggest global study on leadership recently revealed.
What people actually need from their leaders in 2025, and it's not what most women think they need to be [00:02:00] proving.
So in February, 2025, Gallup released the largest study on leadership ever conducted. Over 30,000 people across 52 countries, representing about 76% of the world's adult population. And they asked. What do you need most from your leaders? , The answer wasn't strategic vision. It wasn't decisiveness, and it wasn't even competence.
56% of the people said, hope, hope, trust, compassion, and stability. Now, if you are a woman in leadership, you might be thinking, great. So I need to be hopeful, trustworthy, compassionate, and stable in addition to doing everything else that I'm doing. Isn't that just the impossible balancing act I'm already doing?
And here's where it gets interesting, right? Because the rules about what executive presence. Actually [00:03:00] means have fundamentally shifted in the last two years, and it's finally working for us instead of against us. But what I find is in the conversations that I'm having, it's like most women don't know this yet.
So I'm on an absolute mission to make sure that they do.
Because I am seeing too many brilliant women holding themselves back when they need to be stepping into owning who they really are. Because they don't know this yet, they're still trying to prove themselves using the old playbook, right? Because that's what it feels like you need to do. And that's exactly why these brilliant, capable women, um, potentially still blending in.
So let me take you into a little bit of detail around this, the Gallup, report and research that was found. Now please note the original report was issued in February and there's been [00:04:00] some further news coverage over the last. Quarter or so. So it was really brought it back further sort of, analysis and, , findings from it.
But I'm gonna take you back to break down what that Gallup report actually found. So when people were asked to describe leaders who most positively influenced their lives. Four universal needs emerged. So I touched on the first one earlier, hope 56%. The ability to inspire a belief in a better future, to give people something meaningful to look forward to.
The second one being trust 33%. Reliability, integrity. Being someone whose word means something. You know that old saying, do what you say you're gonna do. Or in other words, walk the walk and talk the talk. Talk the talk, and walk the walk. I think it might be, I think you know what I mean. Then number three [00:05:00] was compassion.
7% making people feel cared about and listened to. I found that 7% actually quite interesting because I think today that in some circumstances we are missing a little bit of, uh, compassion. So I would, I was actually surprised with that number. I'd be interested to know what you think. And then finally, stability is only at 4%.
So providing psychological safety during uncertainty, again, a little bit of a surprise, to me. But then again, given, the shift in the workforce population
and the increase on what I'm gonna call maybe portfolio careers, popping up. Maybe this is why the stability has come in, only at 4%, but that's, like I said, providing psychological safety during uncertainty. But here's what I want you to take away from this.
When leaders meet [00:06:00] these needs, wellbeing goes through the roof, right? It actually improves dramatically. So the rates increase from 33% to 38%, and the whole impact of not feeling engaged, , you know, focused in on what the organization is doing and all of that sort of stuff in, in leadership, you know, that element of it, goes up with it.
So interestingly, right? Hope. Isn't fluff hope is actually strategy. But here's what I see women getting stuck on because for decades we've been told that what it takes to be taken seriously. As leaders, we need to be more assertive, more confident, more strategic, and more masculine. And when we start to show compassion, care, vulnerability, we are told.
And tell me if I'm wrong around this, but we're told that's a bit too soft for leadership, [00:07:00] you know, or you don't have that impact. But the research now is proving what I've been saying for years. The collaborative, the inclusive, the emotionally intelligent leadership that women naturally bring. That is a strategic advantage.
So the problem isn't your leadership style. It's potentially that your presence and how you're visually experienced and verbally experienced isn't matching the weight of the expertise that you bring into a room. So let me share what I hear constantly from the women I work with, right? It's, I overthink.
I over prepare. I struggle to voice my opinion because in my head it needs to sound perfect when the person next to me probably doesn't have that. It might be that I make myself smaller, so others in more senior positions feel less threatened. [00:08:00] Oh. Or I will spend my days thinking, well, maybe not days, but I'll spend my mornings thinking, what am I wearing?
Because I don't want to be seen as abc.. These are brilliant women, strategic thinkers, deep experts in their fields, and yet there is this disconnect. Capable but not being experienced as they want to be respected, but not really impacting with the gravitas that they want, and they're valued for their execution.
But not always invited to the table when it comes to strategy or when they are invited. They're not voicing their view because something in their head is saying otherwise. And so. If we pull out another report by McKinsey [00:09:00] in 2024, that particular piece of research confirms that 54% of women in leadership experience what they call competence-based microaggressions, i.e.
having their judgment questioned in areas where they're literally the expert. So just let that land 54%. That's crazy. And I've got all the details in relation to some of these stats in the reports at the bottom, in the show notes there. So women are almost twice as likely as men to be mistaken. For someone more junior.
I could tell you in my prior career, I have had that happen, , time and time again. And so I've been there, I've walked through that and I know what that feels like. And then the question doesn't become how do I become more capable, right? How do I become more educated? [00:10:00] How do I, all of those things.
The actual question you need to be thinking about is how do I close the gap between my capability and how I'm being experienced by other, and that is where personal brand and leadership presence come in. Now, when I say personal brand, I know what you might be thinking. Influencers, and there's nothing wrong with influencers, right?
But to give you a visual of what you might be thinking. But that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about your personal brand, right? IE how people experience you and your leadership. When you are not in the room, it's the reputation that absolutely precedes you. It's like that credibility that opens doors before you say a word.
That trust, that allows your ideas to really land in the moment. And here's why it matters more than ever. Research [00:11:00] shows that 50% of a company's reputation and 44% of its market value is attributed to the CEO's reputation. So not the product, not the strategy, the leader, right? Your presence at that level is how you show up, how you communicate, how you're visually experienced.
It determines how all that expertise that you've got is actually received. You know that I've talked about that first impressions, you know, can form within milliseconds now, and, and that gap, you know, over the years has actually dropped significantly and that 55% of that impression, , that initial impression.
Appearance plays into that mix. Now, I'm not saying that to, create any sort of pressure or anything like that, right? I'm just trying to give you some of the facts around it, and I'm saying it because it's real, right? And I [00:12:00] know that you would've experienced it every time you walk into a meeting, you present to stakeholders and if your personal brand and how your experience doesn't match that expertise that you're bringing that leadership capability.
I know that you are working twice as hard for half of that recognition, and that was why I'm so passionate about the work that I do and why I pulled it together in what I like to call my framework, the 3D impact method. Because I kept seeing these amazing women with decades of experience, deep expertise, proven results, and they were being underestimated, and they didn't actually see.
The brilliance that they actually brought to the table, right? And the level that they were operating at.
so I wanna talk to you a little bit around it, right? So I call it the 3D impact method, right? Why the objective is we wanna create impact. But the 3D element is, yes, my framework [00:13:00] has three actual literal D's in it, but more so. I was so tired of when I was in that world of being seen as 2D and not 3D.
There is so much depth to everyone regardless whether you are, uh, female or male, right? That sometimes you get boxed in, especially in particular roles that you've been doing for a long time. Suddenly that role kind of connects to you and people forget that you've got this broad, diverse, , experience.
To, to bring through. So this is why I put together these three critical pieces. So the first one being discover. So this is all about your leadership identity. So where we define who you are at your core and what you stand for, how you lead when you're at your best. And I've got a number of proprietary frameworks as part of that to get really [00:14:00] clear on that version of you that needs to be seen and a big component.
Of this is using human design for leadership, or as I like to call it, leadership by design, right? A unique ability to be able to look at both, the mind side as well as energetic frequency and, how you bring that and how that's experienced by others. The second part of that critical component is define, so that style strategy, how you visually and verbally express that identity.
Right. And I'm not talking old school dressing for success, so I wanna be really clear on, on that. Yes, that can play a role, but it's not really the fundamentals of what I'm about. Right. What we are doing here is really. Creating a signature style and communication approach that is a visual brand that reinforces that, uh, credibility and authority and, but most importantly feels like you, [00:15:00] not a cookie cutter approach.
It is unique to you and what you bring to the table. And then finally, is the design element, right? This is like visibility strategy. This is how you show up in the rooms that matter, how you're experienced digitally and in person, and how that presence lands before you even speak. Because that is what's gonna take you from holding back in those rooms to finding and connecting with your own personal power.
So when you are walking in there with the three of them combined, you are leading with impact. Because when you go back to that Gallup report on hope, trust, compassion, and stability, the four things that they're saying people need from their leaders, they don't exist in this isolated world over here, right? If people can't trust you, if they don't kind of know you. [00:16:00] They can't receive the vision you are putting out there.
If your presence doesn't match the weight of your message, and they can't feel that stability from you, right? Even though that makes up a smaller amount, it's still there, right? They can't feel the stability, the conviction from you. If your own identity feels like it's slightly off and you are not sure.
Your personal brand, think about it as the infrastructure that allows your leadership to really be felt. So here's something that might give you permission to stop doubting yourself. And I know you might be thinking, I'm not doubting myself. I don't think I'm doubting myself, am I? Maybe Korn Ferry in 2024 did some research that found 71% of CEOs experience imposter syndrome.
Yeah. Take a double take there. [00:17:00] Right. I bet you don't think like when you're looking at some CEOs out there that they're feeling that. But seven out of 10 CEOs felt like they're somehow having to put a mask on. That whole old concept of faking it till you make it again, expertise has nothing to do with it 'cause they're competent enough to recognize how much they still don't know.
And that's why normally in those cases, they have a really good, strong team around them. Here's what that research also found. 85% of those same CEOs simultaneously feel totally competent in their roles. So let me just wind that back, that imposter syndrome.
That you're feeling does not equate to you are unqualified. It means that you are self-aware enough to see complexity. It means that you care enough to [00:18:00] question, am I doing it right? The problem is actually when that doubt stops you from owning your own presence.
And coming back to some of the women that I've worked with and what I see is you've spent so much time proving competence that you've forgotten how to simply be and be grounded in the leader that you already are. You might be waiting for permission, waiting to feel ready, waiting for someone else to validate.
What you already know, but leadership presence isn't something you earn once and keep forever, right? I can tell you it's an evolution. It's a personal evolution in yourself as well as a professional one. It's something you cultivate. It's intentional, it's strategic, and it's authentic. And it's the difference between hoping people [00:19:00] see your value and making sure that they actually experience it.
Let me tell you what's changed around this whole concept around executive \ presence, because this is a validation for every woman who's been told, you're too collaborative, you're not. Strong enough, you'll, you don't have the gravitas. HBR compared. Executive presence surveys from 2012 to 2022 and the shift was seismic, right? Huge. Gravitas, Yes, It still matters, but what constitutes that has changed. Inclusiveness, respect for others are now the third and fourth most valued leadership traits, right after confidence and decisiveness, authenticity, shop to the top who you know, not necessarily. And just last month I [00:20:00] was listening to, a podcast with Brene Brown and Adam Grant, and they had a conversation that captures exactly why this shift matters.
Brene Brown was writing and speaking, about the problems associated with traditional versions of executive presence in, her book. And they were having a conversation about that and. Adam Grant had actually said, and you can certainly validate this in the, I'll have in the show notes, the, the podcast that I, I'm referring to here, but it, he, he actually said that executive presence is a cover for discriminating against women and introverts.
Interesting. Right. I think he said what some of us might have been thinking. So when organizations say. A woman doesn't have executive presence, are they really talking about the performative confidence, the bravado that was coded [00:21:00] previously as leadership for decades. But as Grant points out in this particular podcast, he talks to is she competent?
Is she caring? Does she make her people feel better? Is she delivering? Then promote her, give her a go. Brown also introduced a different concept called Pocket Presence, and I thought this was quite interesting. So it was around situational awareness, systems thinking, and the ability to read what's happening in a room without needing to dominate it.
And here's the key difference. Effectively, they were describing really the old school executive presence as individual performance, whereas pocket presence, the collective capability.
So it's not about having all the answers. It's about holding that space for the right question. And for women in leadership, this is validation. The collaborative, [00:22:00] the inclusive, the emotionally intelligent leadership that has been previously dismissed, although we have seen some shifts. So, you know, it's not all, all doom and gloom, but it's now recognised as a strategic advantage that it always was.
So let me come back to where we started. Have you ever sat in a meeting and had something important to say and then watched that moment pass because you second guessed whether your voice mattered? I'm reminding you now, it's not because you lack capability, it's because there's a gap between how you're experienced and that capability and that gap is closable.
I've worked with clients who have said to me, post our sessions that walking into the room now, literally own it, but not. In somebody else's way. They own it. As [00:23:00] them, they say They no longer feel like they don't belong. And that is actually a shift internally,
and it's not confidence with zero doubt. The doubt's there, that's what makes you human. That makes you what? Self-aware. But presence, despite the doubt, not pretending to have it all figured out, but showing up fully as yourself, clear, intentional, that is what's impossible to ignore. . So this was a long one, but it was something that I thought was really important, to really bring to you and something that I'm really passionate about and why.
A lot of the why behind the work that I do. And the fact that it covers that internal and the external to bring that all together. So if this episode resonated with you, here's what I want you to know. You don't need to figure it out alone. The gap, the capability experience that is closable, the disconnect between your [00:24:00] leadership identity and maybe your personal brand.
Totally fixable. And that feeling that you are not quite showing up as the leader, you know you are. That is solvable. I work with senior leaders who are ready to align their presence with their expertise, so it really can move them forward to where they're headed next. Not just owning that room, but leading that room.
So. If you'd love to find out more, drop me a DM on Insta or LinkedIn, I'm happy to have a chat or if you wanna go a bit deeper. I have a 90 minute intensive where we can map out that leadership identity further and really uncover what's holding some of that presence back. And you can find the link in the show notes or like I said, drop me a dm.
, I'd love to hear from you and what really resonated. Or if you're on YouTube, drop a comment and let me know. ' cause the world doesn't need you to be someone else anymore. It needs you [00:25:00] to show up fully as you intentionally with the presence that your leadership really deserves. I hope you've enjoyed this episode.
I'll see you next week.
