Nine Women, Nine Conversations: What I Learned About Leadership, Courage, and Showing Up. Insights from the Leadership Discoveries podcast

Over the course of the Leadership Discoveries podcast, I have had the privilege of sitting down with leaders from across sectors, geographies, and generations. But when I looked back at a particular set of conversations featuring women at very different stages and in very different contexts. I noticed something striking. These were honest and sometimes surprising exchanges about what leadership actually looks like in practice: the choices that define a career, the moments of doubt that nearly derailed one, and the quiet acts of courage that rarely make the headlines.

What follows is what I took from those conversations and what I believe every leader, regardless of gender, can learn from them.

1. The Leap: Why These Women Left the Safety Net Behind

Three of the women I spoke with, Anne-Clare Wadsworth, Ashley Cox, and Jill Ellul, had each walked away from established careers in the life sciences and pharmaceutical sectors to found their own companies. What struck me was that none of them described the decision as straightforward. It was, as Ashley put it, "equally exciting and terrifying."

Anne-Clare co-founded Amica Scientific after more than twenty years in medical communications, driven not by dissatisfaction but by a vision for something different: an organisation built on friendship, purpose, and collaboration. She and her co-founders wanted to bring together the best people to do the best work for clients — and to have fun doing it. That may sound simple, but it is a radical departure from the profit-first models that dominate so many industries.

Jill Ellul had a similar moment of clarity. When her VP at AbbVie suggested she broaden her experience beyond innovation, Jill realised she did not want to do anything else. At fifty, she made the leap and founded Mojoco. She had spent years encouraging others to be brave and curious. It was time, she decided, to take her own advice.

Ashley Cox founded Caledonia Life Sciences to fill a specific gap: helping early-stage biotech and pharma companies articulate their commercial value at a time when funding is tighter and partnering is harder. What she brings, she says, is not a cheaper option but a more personalised one , deep expertise without the overhead of a large consultancy.

In each case, the founding story was not about ego or empire-building. It was about purpose. And in each case, the women I spoke with were candid about the fear that sat alongside the excitement.

2. The Inner Critic and the Compliment We Cannot Accept

If there was one theme that surfaced with startling consistency, it was this: women in leadership positions routinely undervalue themselves. Ashley Cox was characteristically blunt on this point. People call her brave and inspirational for starting her own company. Her internal response? "It doesn't feel like this." She told me that if she had a pound for every senior woman leader she has spoken to who battles imposter syndrome, she would be living on an island somewhere.

Carol O'Kelly, CEO of Redstorm Communications and one of the leading voices on personal branding for senior leaders, offered a provocative reframe of this conversation. Carol draws a sharp distinction between nerves and imposter syndrome. The physical reaction of stepping into a high-stakes moment, the adrenaline, the gut flutter is not a syndrome, she argues. It is energy. The problem is that women too often label that energy as evidence of inadequacy rather than fuel for performance. As Carol put it: you get confidence from being brave, and you get bravery from feeling fear. Confidence is not a personality trait some people are born with. It is a learnable skill.

She also posed a question that stopped the room during a recent keynote: what makes you truly remarkable? Not what makes you different. Not your unique selling point. But what makes you remarkable. Carol told me that when she asks an audience the first two questions, every hand goes up. When she asks the third, nobody can meet her eye. And yet, she insists, you cannot build a credible personal brand, or a credible leadership presence without being able to answer that question. Her challenge to leaders, particularly women, is blunt: be the tall poppy. Stand up and be seen. But do it in your own brand voice.

Deirdre Wafer's story added another dimension. When someone suggested she apply for a role at LinkedIn, her first reaction was disbelief. She was fifty-two. LinkedIn, she told herself, "is probably not for somebody like me." Seven years later, she was a senior Marketing lead and global co-lead of LinkedIn's Wisdom employee resource group, championing age inclusion. What held her back was not a lack of capability. It was her own perception of what she was allowed to aspire to. And she was honest enough to say it: "A lot of that was on me."

These stories are a reminder that the barriers women face are not only structural. They are also internal. Until we address both, progress will remain slower than it needs to be.

3. Showing Up Differently: Why Representation Still Matters

One of the most memorable stories across all eight conversations came from Eithne Harley, a marketing leader at Accenture. During a business visit to the Royal Irish Academy in Dublin, she looked at the portraits lining the walls of the reception rooms and realised that not a single one depicted a woman. She said it out loud: "Where are the women?"

That question became the catalyst for Women on Walls, an initiative where Accenture commissioned portraits of distinguished women members of the Academy, individual portraits that told the historical stories of women whose contributions had been overlooked. It was, as Eithne described it, a moment of both brand building and truth telling.

What I find powerful about this story is that it started with a simple observation. Eithne did not set out that day to launch a national arts initiative. She was in a meeting about hiring, but she was paying attention. More importantly she had the confidence to voice what she noticed.

Ailbhe McNamara, my Gen Z guest told me that the woman she most admires is her best friend's mother a single parent who worked her way from secretary to CEO. It reminds us that role models are often close to home.

4. The Culture Question: Values, Connection, and Being More Human

Several of these conversations circled back to the same fundamental question: what kind of culture enables people to do their best work?

Jess Podgajny, managing director at BW Consulting and founder of the tech company LLUNA, was emphatic that values must be more than words on a wall. What makes values real, she argued, are the behaviours that support them, These behaviours are defined by the people inside the organisation, led by example from the top. She also made a compelling case for intentionality in hybrid working: if you want people in the office, give them a reason to be there. Create what she called "memorable moments",  experiences that make the commute worthwhile and give people something to talk about when they get home.

Dr. Eimear Nolan, associate professor at Trinity Business School, brought the cultural conversation into a global frame. Her own experience of culture shock while living in Spain led her to a career focused on cultural intelligence. Her advice for leaders is deceptively simple: "Be more human." Understand that people from different cultural backgrounds may not express themselves in the ways you expect. Small gestures of recognition and curiosity can make an enormous difference to someone who feels unseen.

Ailbhe McNamara reinforced this from a generational perspective. What she wants from a workplace is purpose, inclusion, transparency, and the safety to ask questions without being judged. And the one soft skill she believes every leader must have? Listening.

These are not revolutionary ideas. But the fact that they keep surfacing, from a Gen Z student in Dublin, a consulting leader in Philadelphia, and an academic who has studied culture across three continents,  suggests that many organisations are still not getting them right.

5. What I Take from These Conversations

I have spent three decades in global leadership and several years now as an executive advisor and coach. I have a PhD in strategic leadership and HRM. But what continually surprises me is how much I learn from simply listening to leaders describe their own experience.

Across these nine conversations, the message that comes through most clearly is this: leadership that endures is leadership that stays human. It is purpose-driven, not ego-driven. It is honest about doubt and generous in its support of others. It values curiosity over certainty. And it recognises that the cultures we build,  in our organisations, our industries, and our broader professional communities, either enable or constrain the leaders who come after us.

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