International Women’s Day is an opportunity to recognize the women who strengthen our workplaces every day. It’s also a moment for leaders to step back and consider: are we creating the conditions that allow women, and our organizations, to reach their full potential?
The latest findings from McKinsey & Company and LeanIn.Org in the 2025 Women in the Workplace report highlight a familiar yet ongoing challenge. Women enter the workforce in strong numbers. Nonetheless, the first promotion remains a significant bottleneck. Fewer women move into early management roles, meaning fewer are positioned for senior leadership later.
For the first time, the Women in the Workplace report also identifies a noticeable gap in expressing the desire to advance: 80% of women say they want to be promoted, compared to 86% of men. It is worth noting that this gap disappears when women have equal access to sponsorship, opportunity, and support.
The encouraging news? This is solvable. Organizations that create intentional support systems can see real progress.
Below are four leadership practices that can help make a meaningful difference:
Prioritize Sponsorship, Not Just Mentorship
Mentorship helps people navigate the workplace. Sponsorship helps them advance within it.
Sponsors actively advocate for high potential leaders. They recommend them for challenging roles, advocate for them in promotion discussions, and ensure they are visible to senior leaders. Yet the Women in the Workplace report reveals that only 31% of entry-level women have a sponsor, compared to 45% of men. This gap contributes directly to slower advancement and fewer future opportunities.
Effective sponsorship is more than ticking a box and it doesn’t happen accidentally. Instead, it requires leaders to intentionally ask:
- Whose name do I put forward for high-visibility work?
- Who gets access to decision-making rooms?
- Who am I actively advocating for when they are not present?
Watch Out for Hidden Bias
Day to day, bias can be hard to spot. Instead, it shows up subtly in many ways. For example, it can be found in the language used in evaluations or the way assumptions influence decisions. Some types of bias that show up in the workplace are affinity, recency, proximity, confirmation, and contrast bias.
Research from Harvard Business School shows that leaders often rely on past experiences and long-held assumptions when evaluating performance. As a result, two people with similar track records may be judged very differently; in turn, this quietly shapes who is viewed as ready and who remains overlooked.
For senior leaders, it is helpful to think:
- Is our criteria for promotion explicit and is it applied consistently?
- Is everyone being evaluated fairly? Or are we rewarding personality over outcomes?
Learning to identify biases is a process that requires curiosity and intention. Don’t expect to be perfect at it from the get-go. By intentionally identifying and disrupting bias, we’re able to make stronger decisions for ourselves and our teams.
If this is something you’d like to learn more about, consider Cadence’s course on Disrupting Unconscious Bias and learn how to recognize and address different types of bias.
Build Clear Roadmaps to Advancement
The Women in the Workplace report shows that companies are scaling back numerous resources that benefit women. Programs like formal sponsorship, career development, and flexible work arrangements are being cut, even though these directly influence women’s representation and advancement.
At the same time, research from Harvard Business Review highlights that women often have fewer opportunities to build experience capital—the knowledge and skills gained on the job that drive career progression. When women have fewer chances to build experience capital, gaps widen over time.
Clear, structured pathways make career growth accessible. Leaders can help ensure that everyone in the workplace has defined development programs, access to opportunities, and training that builds both technical and leadership skills. These can help break early career bottlenecks and reduce the ambiguity employees often face about “what’s next.”
Create an Inclusive Culture
Inclusion is not a “nice-to-have.” It’s a necessity. In inclusive workplaces, everyone feels supported, heard, and respected. And when people feel supported and able to contribute, teams benefit from their full capabilities.
Bear in mind, policies alone do not create inclusion. The way people interact daily is what shapes culture. So, ask yourself this: Do people feel safe here? Do women see leaders they can look up to?
Leaders have a direct role in creating inclusive workplaces where everyone can thrive. They influence what behaviour is rewarded, what language is normalized, and what gets discussed in performance conversations.
Conclusion
Supporting women in the workplace is not a single initiative. It is a leadership practice that requires persistence and intention. It asks leaders to pay attention to early career transitions, to challenge assumptions, and to create systems that allow everyone to reach their full potential.
Learn from Women Leaders
For leaders who want to hear how these principles play out in real careers, the One Step Beyond podcast features conversations with women navigating complex leadership environments. Here are a few to get started:
Synthia Kloot – COO of Clark Wilson, LLP: Empowering Change: The Transformative Power of Volunteer Work. Through volunteerism and a strong commitment to DEI, Synthia illustrates how leaders can open doors, expand networks, and create the conditions where professionals can move forward.
Christine Ross – Executive Vice President of Proof Experiences: Feedback Makes You Your Best. Christine talks about prioritizing direct, timely feedback and human-centered client relationships. She also highlights the importance of expanding networks during uncertainty.
Keri Fraser – Chief People Officer at Westland Insurance: Refuse To Be Looked Over. Keri reframes sensitivity as a leadership strength rather than a liability. She speaks on the importance of refusing to be overlooked and aligning with leaders who recognize talent.
Stephanie Klocke – VP of R&D at BD Peripheral Intervention. Stephanie shares what it takes to lead in the innovation space. She reflects on her journey from individual contributor to leading teams and being responsible for their development.
