Originally Posted on The Coaching Tools Company as International Women's Day 2025: How will you help #AccelerateAction? | by Emma-Louise
International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global celebration of women, an acknowledgement of historical—and more recent—achievements, as well as an ongoing movement to ensure that women are seen and treated as equals.
What’s going on in the world right now
As I was researching this year’s IWD 2025 theme1, #AccelerateAction, I paused to think about the challenging times we live in. We are nearing the end of the first quarter of the 21st century, yet we seem to be heading backwards. Women’s freedoms and rights are being rolled back all over the world (just read this frightening photo essay/article about the silencing of women in Afghanistan or this one about how gender equality is stalling or going backwards for 1 billion women around the world).
If you want some stats, The World Economic Forum created the Global Gender Gap Index in 2006 to study and benchmark progress towards gender parity across four dimensions:
- Economic Opportunities
- Education
- Health (and Survival)
- Political Leadership and Empowerment
The WEF has been studying 102 countries continuously, and in 2024 they released a report that said it would take another 131 years to reach gender parity across those 4 important measures. Watch the short 1 minute video here >>
In the 102 countries studied, women hold 46% of entry level jobs, which drops to just 25% when it comes to C-Suite roles. And of particular note, women’s advancement into leadership roles grew over the 8 years leading up to 2022, but then started falling in 2022 and this continued into 2023. I cannot imagine it has improved in 2024…
What we can do as coaches
As coaches we have an opportunity to help women take up and be more effective in their leadership roles—and also to help the women we coach to take a leadership role in their lives.
But it’s not just coaching women that counts.
While having women in leadership roles has been proven to boost the profitability of organizations, it is men, and male leaders especially, who have a huge influence in helping women get there.
Jump straight to the 10 International Women’s Day Questions to Ponder here >>
So this year, #Accelerate Action urges us all to tackle the systemic barriers and biases that women encounter in both the personal and professional realms. And we also need to remember that women of colour, people with disabilities, trans and non-cis-gendered people face additional challenges.
From our 2021 IWD article by Delaney ToshIt seems particularly relevant to remind ourselves of the huge benefits that women bring to the table, so I’m re-sharing the below: 3 Huge Benefits Women Bring to the TableResearch speaks loud and clear on the many advantages of having women at the table—in teams, organizational and political leadership, education, research and more. Because what’s been undeniably shown to be true is that when girls and women have access to the same opportunities as boys and men, unhampered by implicit biases and discrimination, companies and communities do better. 2 And here are just a few of the benefits: 1) Better problem solving and greater innovationResearch shows that having more women in leadership positions brings a wider variety of perspectives and approaches, which results in better problem solving and innovation. For example, in the biography 3 of the Widow Clicquot (of Veuve Clicquot champagne), which offers an interesting historical example: In the early 1800s, Barbe-Nicole Clicquot convinced her in-laws to let her take over the failing family wine business when her husband died at an early age. The Champagne industry was forever changed for the better by Madame Clicquot’s innovation called remuage, today known as riddling. Her innovation effectively removed the yeast deposits that made the wine cloudy, creating a clear and far more appealing Champagne. She also forged ahead to search out new markets that others in the industry were ignoring during a period of war and economic turmoil. She transformed a failing business into an empire and took Champagne from a not-very-appealing novelty product with limited markets to the international renown it enjoys today. 2) Increased profitabilitySeveral studies over the past decade 4, and recently the Peterson Institute for International Economics survey 5 of 22,000 public companies, have all found that the presence of female leaders in top positions of corporate management correlates with increased profitability. According to a leading global consultancy firm, McKinsey & Company: “In the UK, greater gender diversity on the senior executive team corresponded to the highest performance uplift in our data set: for every 10% increase in gender diversity, earnings before interest and taxes rose by 3.5%.” 6 3) Outstanding leadershipFemale leaders rate higher than men on collaboration, establishing stretch goals, taking initiative, driving for results and displaying integrity and honesty. A Harvard Business Review analysis 7 of a survey of 7,280 leaders in “successful and progressive organizations…both public and private, government and commercial, domestic and international” found that women are “rated higher in 12 of the 16 competencies that go into outstanding leadership.” Overall, the skills women rate higher in are those that contribute to improved problem solving and innovation, leadership, and skills that support teams characterized by enhanced trust and productivity. |
Wrap-up
As coaches, we really do have the opportunity to make a difference in our world. Women provide an opportunity to radically shift how our organizations work and invite a more evolved and balanced way of leading and coaching organizations that supports individual, team and organizational resilience. And in our role as coaches we can both encourage women to step up, as well as encourage both men and women in leadership to support women—helping them be seen, appreciated and rewarded.
Finally, here are 10 questions to ask yourself this International Women’s Day:
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If you liked this IWD 2025 article, you may also like:
- 8 Hurdles Women Leaders Face and How to Coach Them Effectively also by Delaney Tosh
- DEIB in Coaching: Introduction plus 7 Ideas to Help by Abena Baiden & Emma-Louise
- Graphics: 4 Supportive Quotes for International Women’s Day (Graphics)
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