At our most recent Women Leading Together breakfast, the discussion moved past the usual talk of parity and policy to ask something more fundamental: what truly drives women’s progress: the structures we work within, or the beliefs we hold about ourselves?
Our guest, Megan Dalla-Camina, author, researcher and one of the world’s leading voices on women’s leadership and wellbeing, brought a rare combination of evidence, empathy and lived experience to the discussion. After two decades in senior roles at IBM and PwC, Megan founded her own leadership company focused on helping women lead with purpose and clarity. Her book Women Rising examines not only the systemic barriers women face, but the internal narratives that quietly keep us from stepping forward.
Megan began with the stories we tell ourselves, the mental scripts that run beneath our achievements. “Every woman I coach has one,” she said. “A story about not being ready, not being enough, or not having time.” Her three-step process is deceptively simple: identify the story, ask is that true? and reframe it into something that creates possibility. It’s a framework that bridges insight and action – the point where awareness becomes agency.
The conversation then turned to vision. “Most women can tell you what their company’s purpose is,” Megan observed, “but not their own.” Without personal vision, she warned, we default to other people’s definitions of success. The invitation was clear: take the time to articulate what matters: to design a life around values, not velocity.
From an organisational perspective, Megan didn’t hold back. Citing a 2023 study, she noted that 76% of women will leave if their company fails to invest in their growth. The implication is stark: women don’t leave leadership, they leave environments that make leadership unsustainable. “If organisations want to retain women,” she said, “they need to invest in development that’s human, not performative.” And that includes male allies. “Real change requires partnership.”
What emerged most clearly is that women’s leadership is an economic and cultural necessity: organisations with more women in leadership outperform on innovation, engagement and decision-making. And yet, progress remains slow. “The structures haven’t yet caught up with the reality of women’s lives,” Megan said. The opportunity, and the responsibility, is to close that gap through how we work, lead and support each other every day.
Megan closed with a reminder that leadership begins with self-sustainability. Sleep, she said, is the ‘silver bullet’, Not an indulgence but infrastructure. Seven to nine hours of rest, along with a simple daily meditation practice, form the foundation for clarity and resilience. These are not wellness trends; they are the quiet disciplines of effective leadership.
By Alexandra Smart, Partner, ECI Partners
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