How to Attract More Women to Leadership Roles

It has been proven time and again that organisations with diverse leadership teams perform better, innovate more, and have healthier cultures. Despite this, women are still significantly underrepresented in leadership roles across many industries.

Organisations that want to attract more women to their leadership team need to be proactive in creating an environment where women are encouraged and supported to thrive.   

Don’t treat all women as if they are the same 

There’s no doubt that gender equality has come a long way, but there is still a long way to go. Outdated stereotypes and unconscious bias can often hold women back.

There are still too many negative stereotypes in films and TV shows, giving the impression that women have to choose between motherhood or ambition or that there is something wrong with them if they prioritise one over another. This is just not true.

Plenty of women have no trouble managing a career as a leader and having a family. They are more than capable of having both.

In contrast, some women don’t want both. Not all women want to be leaders. Not all women want children. Not all women can have children.

Women are not all the same. They don’t all want the same thing. They have different goals, different priorities, different skills, different values, different leadership styles, different personality types.

The first step in attracting more women to leadership roles is letting go of limiting beliefs. Don’t let biases, stereotypes or assumptions influence your decisions about hiring or promoting women. Take each woman on her own merit, just as you would a man.

Review your existing culture

Attracting more women to leadership roles requires you to remove barriers, rethink outdated norms, and build an environment where everyone can succeed. Start by looking at your existing culture. Is it truly inclusive?

Speak to the female leaders already in your organisation. Do they feel supported and listened to or do they feel as though they are only there to tick a diversity box? Have you addressed any gender pay gaps or are men being paid more to do the same roles as their female counterparts?

Talk to the women who are not in leadership roles. Are they aware of routes for progression and promotion opportunities? Do they feel confident applying for promotions and leadership roles? If not, find out why they aren’t applying and address the underlying issues.

Encourage open conversations around gender, equity, flexible working arrangements, parental leave policies, development and workplace dynamics.

Look at all levels to see how women are valued and incorporated into formal and informal social and professional events. If women don’t feel welcome in the leadership team, they won’t apply.

Look for potential female leaders within your company

Research shows that women are less likely to ask for what they want than their male peers. Don’t let this happen. Be an advocate for high-potential female employees.

Ensure they have interesting project work and that their voices are heard in meetings. Recommend them for stretch projects and promotions and make sure they are fairly compensated for extra work. Support their ideas.

Ask colleagues to advocate on behalf of women too. Do they know any women (internally or externally) who would be the right fit for any vacant leadership roles?

Make sure progression routes are transparent, fair, and well-communicated. Regularly review promotion processes to remove potential bias and ensure qualified women aren’t being overlooked.

When women see other women succeed in leadership roles, it reinforces the idea that those paths are attainable. Highlight the stories and achievements of female leaders within your company. Encourage them to mentor and sponsor others.

Review your recruitment and hiring processes

If you want to attract women to leadership roles, make sure your entire recruitment process is inclusive.

Start with the job description. Use gender neutral language and avoid typically masculine words such as ‘aggressive’ or ‘competitive’. Make it clear that you encourage women to apply. If possible, convey flexibility around working hours that might conflict with other responsibilities.

Research has shown that women are less likely to apply for a role if they don’t meet 100% of the criteria whereas men are more likely to apply even if they don’t tick all the boxes. Combat this by only listing the absolutely essential qualifications.

Interview any qualified women who apply for a leadership role. If none apply, seek out qualified women in your wider network, ask for referrals from colleagues or associates, and look internally for suitable candidates.

If possible, make your interview panel diverse and assess every candidate based on suitability, not gender.

Create opportunities for development

Offer training programmes focused on leadership, communication, negotiation, and strategic thinking. These don’t have to be exclusively for women, but you should encourage women to put themselves forward for them.

You can also provide tailored leadership training to address the unique challenges women face in the workplace.

Consider introducing mentorship programmes. Mentoring can be a great way to develop your future managers or support new managers. They can learn from someone who already has a wealth of knowledge or experience. Mentors can be internal or external.

Coaching is another effective way to support and develop your future leaders or new managers. Coaches use a range of recognised coaching techniques to facilitate performance, improvement, learning, and development. 

As with mentors, coaches can come from inside or outside the organisation as long as they have the required coaching skills. A trained coach can help individuals achieve specific goals in a particular area.   

Developing your leaders with Alternative Partnership

Alternative Partnership offers a range of support for leaders of any gender and any level of experience.

As well as delivering leadership coaching ourselves, we also deliver ILM accredited Coaching and Mentoring training programmes. Not only do learners improve their skills and knowledge, they also gain a nationally recognised, formal qualification.

Having qualified coaches and mentors within your organisation will help you develop future leaders and attract better candidates to leadership roles.

As well as Coaching and Mentoring qualifications, we also offer ILM-accredited Leadership and Management training programmes.

Find out more about our current ILM courses here or get in touch to discuss how our services could benefit you.

Have you read...

Confidence Gap: How Imposter Syndrome Holds Women Back at Work

26/09/2025

The Hidden Cost of Stereotyping Women in the Workplace

15/09/2025

Gender Bias in Leadership Recruitment: Understanding and Addressing the Invisible Barriers

15/08/2025

Our Clients

Array

I wanted to have the pleasure of working with Alternative Partnership and Tina again. Tina discussed my training needs and recommended an ILM Higher Leadership and Management qualification. I thought this might be impossible for me, but yet again, Tina’s great way of communicating to develop my understanding by putting things across, in a way that simplified the information was really helpful to me and supported what it was I needed to do to achieve success. The ILM Higher Leadership and Management Diploma Level 4 course were for 18 months and Alternative Partnership, especially Tina, ensures all students achieved great results. To that end, I successfully completed the course three months before the originally planned time. Anyone wanting to build their professional knowledge, gain confidence in the work they do and experience a great journey, I would highly recommend looking at working with Alternative Partnership and I personally look forward to making my next journey.

Richard Daniels, Morrison Utility Services

Working with Tina over the last few months has been extremely inspiring. Her passion and enthusiasm for business is infectious and you can tell immediately that she genuinely wants you to be a success. Tina pushed me into writing and publishing my first book. After a conversation with Tina,  I was able to build on some existing content and turn it into a useful resource for business owners. The book, A-Z of Blogging,  has had fantastic feedback and I am so proud of what I have achieved with it, none of which would have happened without Tina’s support and encouragement. I can’t recommend Tina and The Alternative Partnership highly enough to anyone wanting to move their business to the next stage.

Lisa Slater, Make Your Copy Count

I am a Store Manager for a busy Retail Outlet and I decided to undertake my ILM Higher Management qualification.  I found the qualification excellent for developing my knowledge and understanding of higher management in business, especially when, part way through the course, I was promoted to a larger store and the ILM qualification was invaluable to my learning and management experience. Tina worked with me focusing on the training and development that I needed to succeed, which helped me to achieve the qualification, as well as, make business improvements to the running of my store.

I have worked with Alternative Partnership for many years now and I have achieved a number of qualifications with Tina’s help along my whole journey. She is always there for help and advice and I would definitely recommend Alternative Partnership to anyone who is wanting to complete a qualification to better their professional skills with full support and great mentoring by Tina.

Laura Baker, The Works

I would like to thank Tina for her exceptional support and guidance whilst completing the ILM Higher Diploma in Leadership and Management Level 4. The knowledge and skills I have gained both from Tina and the course content is invaluable and has and will continue to improve my professional and personal progression. Tina was a constant support, including times when I was uncertain on how to tackle a particularly difficult unit. I couldn’t thank Tina enough and would highly recommend her to anyone who wants to improve their own knowledge and skills in the leadership and management profession.

Lisa Vickers, Total Fitness

Dear Tina, Thank you for the Business Coaching and guidance I have received from Alternative Partnership, especially in helping me to structure myself and Key West Pest Control. This has helped to make my business run more professionally, more structured and implementing policies and procedures whilst helping me acquire my ILM Higher Strategic Leadership and Management qualification. I would have no hesitation in recommending you or your company. A big thank you.

Sean Mclean, Key West Pest Control Ltd

Through their excellent service and commitment, we were able to show a remarkable improvement in the quality of service we offer to all our customers. The initial training provided to all our 66 staff who was involved in the Customer Service qualification has been of great benefit to the company, in the way they interact with our customers and deal with their enquiries. Of the 66 people 8 of those progressed to a higher Customer Service qualification with Alternative Partnership.

Julie Asbury, La Redoute
Email Address