Career Development & Professional Growth

As International Women’s Day nears, we’ll see the usual corporate gestures—empowerment panels, social media campaigns, and carefully curated success stories. But let’s be honest: these feel-good initiatives rarely change what actually holds women back at work on the daily basis. Instead, I suggest focusing on something concrete, something I’ve seen have the biggest impact in my work with teams: the unspoken dynamics that shape psychological safety. 🚨Because psychological safety is not the same for everyone. Psychological safety is often defined as a shared belief that one can take risks without fear of negative consequences. But let’s unpack that—who actually feels safe enough to take those risks? 🔹 Speaking up costs more for women Confidence isn’t the issue—consequences are. Women learn early that being too direct can backfire. Assertiveness can be read as aggression, while careful phrasing can make them seem uncertain. Over time, this calculation becomes second nature: Is this worth the risk? 🔹 Mistakes are stickier When men fail, it’s seen as part of leadership growth. When women fail, it often reinforces lingering doubts about their competence. This means that women aren’t more risk-averse by nature—they’re just more aware of the cost. 🔹 Inclusion isn’t just about presence Being at the table doesn’t mean having an equal voice. Women often find themselves in a credibility loop—having to repeatedly prove their expertise before their ideas carry weight. Meanwhile, those who fit the traditional leadership mold are often trusted by default. 🔹 Emotional labor is the silent career detour Women in teams do an extraordinary amount of behind-the-scenes work—mediating conflicts, softening feedback, ensuring inclusion. The problem? This work isn’t visible in performance reviews or leadership selection criteria. It’s expected, but not rewarded. What companies can do beyond IWD symbolism: ✅ Stop measuring "confidence"—start measuring credibility gaps If some team members always need to “prove it” while others are trusted instantly, you have a credibility gap, not a confidence issue. Fix how ideas get heard, not how women present them. ✅ Make failure a learning moment for everyone Audit how mistakes are handled in your team. Are men encouraged to take bold moves while women are advised to be more careful? Change the narrative around risk. ✅ Track & reward emotional labor If women are consistently mentoring, resolving conflicts, or ensuring inclusion, this isn’t just “being helpful”—it’s leadership. Make it visible, valued, and part of promotion criteria. 💥 This IWD, let’s skip the celebration and start the correction. If your company is serious about making psychological safety equal for everyone, let’s do the real work. 📅 I’m now booking IWD sessions focused on improving team dynamics and creating workplaces where women don’t just survive, but thrive. Book your spot and let’s turn good intentions into lasting impact.

If marriage were a job, Indian women would be working double shifts - unpaid. What happens when women in India get married? Data from the Time Use in India Survey (2024) offers a sobering answer: It changes everything for them. And almost nothing for men. Marriage shouldn’t cost women their ambition. Yet the data is clear: 💡 Married women spend 388 minutes a day (~6.5 hours) on unpaid work. 💡 Married men? Just 47 minutes. And it’s not for lack of education. Women study more than men before marriage. But their participation in paid work drops dramatically after. So, what can organizations do to support women beyond policies? 1️⃣ Normalize Flexibility - for Everyone → When remote work or flex hours are only extended to mothers, it reinforces bias. → Make flexible work options standard for all genders - and actively encourage men to use them. 2️⃣ Don’t Penalize Career Pauses → Re-entering after a break shouldn’t feel like starting over. → Create returnship programs, mentor pathways, and learning pods help women relaunch with dignity and growth. 3️⃣ Evaluate Performance, Not Presence → Stop rewarding performative busyness or “face time.” → Value outcomes over optics - so caregiving employees aren’t quietly punished. 4️⃣ Build Allyship from the Top → Train managers to identify and dismantle gendered assumptions: → Who’s asked to take notes? Who’s interrupted? Who’s given stretch roles? 5️⃣ Redesign Leadership Pipelines → Offer flexible pathways to leadership that allow for ramp-ups, sabbaticals, or re-entries - without diminishing roles or rewards. The goal isn’t to lower the bar - it’s to widen the path. Because when we allow people to grow on their terms, we don’t just retain talent - we amplify it. Here's the truth: Talent doesn’t disappear with marriage. It’s systems that make it harder for women to stay in the game. As leaders, let’s stop treating marriage or motherhood as exit points - and start designing cultures where equity is lived, not just stated. What’s one shift your organization has made - or could make - to truly support women’s growth? Let’s share ideas that move the needle. ♻️ Repost to spark awareness. 🔔 Follow me, Bhavna Toor, for data-driven insights on women's leadership.

Since 2015, there has been an increase of women in the C-suite from 17% to 28%* and an improvement of the representation of women at the highest levels. But it’s middle management that’s lagging. Women at manager and director levels have only increased by 3 and 4 percentage points, respectively. This has a big impact on the pipeline for the top jobs. Also impacting the pipeline for women at senior levels, women are leaving at a higher rate than in previous years and at a notably higher rate than men at the same level. This follows the 2022 trend. And women of colour are lagging behind their peers with representation. This article from McKinsey outlines four myths about the state of women at work and these are must-know details to inform your gender equity strategy. ➡ Myth: Women are becoming less ambitious McKinsey explain that women are more ambitious than before the pandemic, with flexibility providing possibility that wasn’t there before. Three in four women aspire to become senior leaders. This statistic is even higher for women of colour. ➡ Myth: The biggest barrier to women’s advancement is the glass ceiling It’s actually the broken rung that is the greatest barrier to women’s careers. McKinsey’s 2023 research found that for every 100 men promoted from entry level to manager, 87 women were promoted. With the inability to take this first important career step, women fall behind. Again, women of colour experience this at even greater rates than white women. ➡ Myth: Microaggressions have a ‘micro’ impact 78% of women who face microagressions self-shield at work, or adjust they way they look or act in an effort to protect themselves. For LGBTQI+ women, this pressure to adjust is felt at 2.5 times greater than the general population of women. ➡ Myth: It’s mostly women who want—and benefit from—flexible work While 77 percent of companies believe a strong organisational culture is a key benefit of on-site work, employees of all genders disagree. Only 39 percent of men and 34 percent of women who work on-site say a key benefit is feeling more connected to their organization’s culture. And yet over 80% of organisations have implemented formal return-to-office policies. What can organisations do? I firmly believe that the starting point for organisations is to be clear on what is really getting in the way. Shape Talent offer a Diagnostic Survey that offers a poweful way for business leaders to pinpoint with precision the true underlying barriers to women's career progression and understand whether an increased perception of barriers results in an increased intention to leave (and if so, which groups are most at risk). * This is in the US, as this report is US-based, but women's representation and the trends identified in the report are consistent with what we have found in our own research. #AcceleratingGenderEquality #ThreeBarriers https://lnkd.in/eyFqSuyV

We all know how important insurance is. But how does this market operate and what challenges does it face in the MENA region? This report answers this question quite well by analysing the key obstacles this industry faces in this complex and diverse part of the world. Here are my key takeaways: 🔶 Life insurance penetration in MENA is very low compared to non-life insurance and other regions, pointing to major growth potential. 🔶 Public pension systems have large unfunded liabilities, so expanding private retirement solutions like life insurance is crucial. 🔶 Insurers can help facilitate economic diversification in oil-dependent economies by enabling riskier investments. 🔶 Insurance supports trade growth, like covering emerging supply chain risks as economies move up the value chain. 🔶 Morocco shows how positive conditions like capable supervision, private sector insurers, and removal of restrictions can foster a leading insurance market. 🔶 Mandatory insurance lines are limited in the region, even motor third-party liability isn't universally enforced. 🔶 State-owned insurers dominate some markets, crowding out private sector development. 🔶 Lack of actuarial and technical skills hinders insurance sector development in many MENA markets. The MENA insurance market may have its quirks, but its potential is no mirage #insurance #MENA #financialinclusion #economics #growthpotential

💡 𝗧𝗵𝗿𝗶𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝗹𝗲-𝗗𝗼𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗲𝘀: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗜’𝘃𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗜𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗿𝗻𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻’𝘀 𝗗𝗮𝘆 𝗶𝘀 𝗮 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿 of how far we’ve come -and how much work is still ahead. When I transitioned from 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵, I went from working alongside brilliant women in leadership to being 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆 𝘄𝗼𝗺𝗲𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗿𝗼𝗼𝗺. It was a shock. And a steep learning curve. On That Martech Girl Podcast, I shared some of the biggest lessons that helped me not just navigate, but thrive: 📌 𝟭. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗻𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸. No one succeeds alone. Mentors, allies (both men and women), and industry groups can 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗻 𝗱𝗼𝗼𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗻𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗱. 📌 𝟮. 𝗟𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗶𝗻𝗱𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝘆. I spoke 𝗳𝗮𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗼𝗻. Tech and finance didn’t always understand it. I had to  𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗶𝗿 𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗴𝘂𝗮𝗴𝗲,, their priorities, their culture, 𝘀𝗼 𝗜 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗿𝗶𝗱𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗴𝗮𝗽. 📌 𝟯. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝘆 𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝗼𝘂𝘀, 𝗮𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀. Tech, sustainability, leadership - it’s all 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗹𝘆 𝗲𝘃𝗼𝗹𝘃𝗶𝗻𝗴. The people who 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁 𝗶𝗻 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 stay ahead and build credibility. 📌 𝟰. 𝗘𝗺𝗯𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗹𝘂𝗿𝗲. Women often take a 𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗰𝘂𝗹𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱, 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸-𝗮𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗰𝗵. But growth comes from 𝗽𝘂𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗱𝗲𝘀𝗽𝗶𝘁𝗲 𝘀𝗲𝘁𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀 Every failure is a lesson that makes you more resilient. 📌 𝟱. 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗲. Diversity of thought is powerful. In design, leadership, and innovation, your perspective 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝘀 𝘂𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗼𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁𝘂𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗰𝗵 𝘂𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀. Stay fresh! These lessons shaped how I 𝗹𝗲𝗮𝗱, 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗲, 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱. They’re also what I wish I knew when I first transitioned into tech. 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗰𝗸 𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗼𝗱𝗰𝗮𝘀𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗹𝗹 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻! 🎧 🔗 Link in comments 💬 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗲 𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗮𝘁’𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽𝗲𝗱 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗯𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝗯𝗮𝗿𝗿𝗶𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿? #WomenInTech #Leadership #Innovation #CareerGrowth #Sustainability #CircularEconomy #8M #Internationalwomensday #TheMartechGirl #iwd

🧗The higher you climb, the more perfectionism stops looking like rigor and starts looking like hesitation. Vanessa was a senior VP in a global tech company. Her launches were pristine, no bugs, no escalations, market share climbing. She believed rigor would earn trust: "If I double-check the numbers, if I present the airtight case, the board will know I’m ready for CEO." The board said it differently: “She’s cautious.” “She doesn’t move until everything is locked down.” “In this seat, we need someone who makes the call with 70% of the facts. Waiting costs us more than a wrong bet.” Her male peer, who had already made two high-profile missteps, was still described as “decisive” and “willing to take the heat.” When Vanessa heard the feedback, her gut reaction was brutal: "So all these years I spent being perfect counted for nothing?!?!" 🧠 Because women like Vanessa were raised to believe mistakes prove you’re unworthy. Boys were told, “Go try, you’ll figure it out.” We were told, “Be careful, don’t get it wrong.” That muscle memory doesn’t disappear, and at the C-suite, it works against you. 🚨 At senior levels, you’re no longer evaluated on output. You’re evaluated on your relationship to risk. A man who makes a bad call is “bold.” A woman who delays making a call is “not ready.” So how do you unlearn the habit? • 𝗕𝗿𝗲𝗮𝗸 𝘁𝗵𝗲 “𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗹𝗮𝘂𝘀𝗲 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗽.”   Notice when you’re stalling because you want validation. Instead of polishing the slide deck, ask: What’s the decision I’m avoiding by perfecting this deck? Force the decision first, polish later.    • 𝗦𝘁𝗼𝗽 𝗿𝗲𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗰𝗲𝗿𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝘆. 𝗦𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗵𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿𝘆.   You don’t build credibility by being right. You build it by showing how fast you adjust when you’re wrong.    • 𝗦𝗵𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗮𝗹 𝗮𝘂𝗱𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲.   At the top, only 5–7 people shape your trajectory. Know who they are. Stop performing for everyone else.    • 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗿𝗶𝘀𝗸 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗿𝗱.    Keep a private log of your calls, mistakes, and recoveries. Proof that the world doesn’t collapse when you move before you’re ready.    ⚖️ Perfectionism isn’t harmless. It’s a survival habit taught young, get it right or you don’t belong, that becomes dangerous when leadership shifts from doing things right to deciding which things matter. 🚀 Our 2025 From Hidden Talent to Visible Leaders cohort is sold out - only 5 VIP 1 on 1 seats remain, DM me if you’d like to explore whether it’s a fit for you. 👊 Because these conversations at the C-level don’t resolve with “tips.” They require dialogue, someone who can hear the hesitation in your voice, challenge the stories you’ve inherited, and sit with you as you decide faster, bolder, with conviction.

We rank 129th out of 146 countries on gender pay gap. While equal pay ensures that men and women earn the same for identical tasks, the wage gap captures the broader disparities in earnings across sectors, roles, and lifetimes. So a physician is likely to earn more than a interior decorator, all other things being equal - if you have 20 years of experience you will earn more than someone with half of that… on average... Here are some contributing factors and solutions we can all champion: 1️⃣ Occupational Choices: A quick Google search for "best careers for women in India" surfaces predictable and lower-paying options like teaching, nursing and social media management. Compare that to men’s results—data science, investment banking, engineers, architects, and pilots. These results appear beacuse these careers are getting searched and I worry as women we often "satisfice," balancing societal and familial expectations, while men "optimize" for the highest-paying roles on day 1. It’s time for authentic conversations about these choices. Let’s guide young women to evaluate career paths based on averages, not outliers, and encourage them to aim higher. 2️⃣ Subject Selection in School: Math is often dropped too soon. Many girls give it up because they "don’t like it," but this limits access to high-paying fields like architecture and product design. Schools and parents must help students understand how early subject choices shape long-term opportunities - and that grades will only matter so much. 3️⃣ Continuous Employment: Caregiving responsibilities often push women out of the workforce. Staying employed—whether through flexible roles or reduced hours—builds future earning potential. Women, let’s have honest conversations with our managers about what we need to stay in the game. 4️⃣ Workplace Biases: Even when salaries start equally, biases creep in, slowing women’s growth over time. Transparency in pay and promotions is crucial, but so is equipping women with negotiation skills to fight for what they deserve. Role play with colleagues before your annual appraisal chats, read 'how to be effective' at these, find your path but find it. Some argue that women’s "choices" are their agency and many choose the lower paying tracks to lead fulfilling lives. But if those choices perpetuate disparities, they’re shaped by structural inequities, not freedom. The truth is simple: money is power. If we continue earning less, we’ll keep holding less power—socially and economically. We owe it to ourselves and the next generation to change this narrative. What are your thoughts? How can we address the gender wage gap in your industry? Let’s start a conversation. 💬 #futureofwork #genderequality #equalpay #wagegap

Women, Want to Network Like a CEO? Start by Rethinking the “Old Boys’ Club” Playbook Research from Kellogg shows that women gain the most in networking when they don’t just copy traditional male-dominated strategies. Instead, the best results come when women focus on strategic alliances with other women — but with a twist. This study is more than a “fix the women” story; it highlights systemic gaps in career networking that women can actively navigate and reshape. Here's the playbook for women that I recommend: 🔹 Go Beyond “Visibility”: Central networks matter for everyone, but women benefit most from building connections that share private insights essential for navigating biased structures. These insights, often from trusted women colleagues, can make all the difference in understanding workplace nuances, including the politics and protocols that are frequently unsaid. 🔹 Diversify Close Connections: Avoid echo chambers by connecting with well-networked women who bring unique perspectives from other workplaces, industries and sectors. This diversity amplifies exposure to insights outside of a narrow view, enabling women to approach career challenges with a broader, more strategic lens. 🔹 Invest in a Balanced Network: Successful businesswomen cultivate visibility and depth in their networks — relationships that provide access and specific, actionable guidance. Women can follow this approach by building wide-ranging connections and trusted relationships, offering invaluable, gender-specific career advice. 🔑 Leadership Call to Action 1. Support strategic networks that give women access to public and private information. 2. Host events that encourage diverse, meaningful, strategic mentorships and sponsorships. 3. Coach women to prioritise networking as a core career-building activity—strategically and persistently—because effective networks don’t just happen; they are cultivated with purpose. 4. Provide women with training on building and leveraging a strategic network, in person and online. Further Resources in first comment👇 #Networking #Mentorship #Diversity

Please stop telling your recruitment partners that "it'd be great if you could find a woman for the team". ❌ Instead, start doing the following... ✅ Evaluate your sales culture. If it's feels like a "boys club", it is. Fix it. ✅ Analyse the language you are using. Gendered wording of job advertisements signals who belongs and who does not. "Masculine- worded ads reduced perceived belongingness [among women], which in turn lead to less job appeal, regardless of one’s perception of their personal skill to perform that job." - Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, January 2011 - (🔗 Link in comments.) ✅ Provide workplace flexibility A 2023 study conducted by the University of Oxford’s Well-being Research Centre found that when it comes to fostering a positive working environment, reducing stress, and boosting employee resilience, flexibility is one of the most effective elements required to create a healthy work-life balance. The findings correlate with a separate study which found that post-pandemic, 72% of women are prioritising purpose and balance at work, and are looking for the flexibility that facilitates this. (🔗 Link in comments.) ✅ Build an infrastructure and culture of coaching and support. The opportunity to be coached by other women (both internal and external) goes a long way in not only developing existing staff members, but also in attracting new talent. (Bonus point: ensure your interview processes are as gender diverse as possible. You can't be what you can't see.) ✅ Implement gender-neutral and diversity-inclusive policies. Offer gender-neutral parental leave policies to prevent issues like absence visibility, project loss, and early return pressure. In my experience, the Nordics lead the way in gender-equitable parental leave policies, for example. ✅ Address any existing gender pay gaps. It's 2024... This shouldn't even have to be a point. I'm a recruitment & search professional. I'm not a DE&I specialist. But I really hope one day the conversation changes from "it'd be great if you could find us a woman" to "we have awesome diversity in our team because...". Women in sales & those of you in gender diverse businesses - what else would you add? LP ✌️ Pack GTM | SaaS Sales Recruitment in Germany #sales #hiring #careers #startups #recruitment 

Women are often judged for their experience, while men are judged by their potential As I think about appraisals, performance reviews and promotions, during “that time of the year”, This statement by a seasoned leader from a global development organisation left me deeply introspective and reflective on the gender bias that research points to is the reason why we have a gender gap at the workplace. When it comes to career advancement, there's a stark reality: women are often judged for their experience, while men are judged by their potential. This discrepancy not only stifles women's growth but also holds back the potential of diverse leadership. Consider these startling facts: - **Performance vs. Potential:** A study by McKinsey found that women are 24% less likely to be promoted than men, despite similar qualifications. - **Performance Reviews:** Research by Harvard Business Review reveals that women receive more critical feedback on their personality traits rather than their performance, compared to men. - **Leadership Aspirations:** According to LeanIn.org, women are less likely to be encouraged to take on leadership roles, despite demonstrating equal or greater competence than their male counterparts. These disparities highlight a systemic issue that goes beyond individual biases. When women are evaluated solely on past performance while men's potential is celebrated, we miss out on a wealth of talent and innovation that diverse leadership brings to the table. The proof of work and future potential is seen as a basis for career advancement but why are the metrics so different for men vs women? I often think about the impact if we shifted our focus to genuinely recognizing and nurturing potential across all genders. - How might our workplaces evolve? - What new heights could our industries reach with truly equitable support? What are your thoughts on this subject? How can we create an environment where both women's experience and men's potential are equally valued and fostered? What steps can we take today to ensure that gender disparities in career advancement become a thing of the past?