Building Leadership Capital Through Women’s Leadership Development
By Dr Rob Sayers-Brown.
Women remain underrepresented in senior leadership positions across many sectors, despite years of organisational focus on diversity and inclusion. Research suggests this imbalance cannot be explained simply through differences in capability or ambition. Instead, women leaders often navigate organisational systems shaped by longstanding assumptions about gender and leadership.
Leadership continues to be associated with traditionally masculine characteristics and behaviours (Round et al., 2024). This can influence how leadership potential is recognised and evaluated, while also affecting access to influential networks, sponsorship, and developmental opportunities. Organisational structures and informal workplace patterns can unintentionally favour those already represented within leadership positions, making progression more difficult for women leaders (Castaño et al., 2019).
In response, many organisations have invested in women-only leadership development programmes designed to support progression into senior roles. Recent research exploring these programmes suggests that their value extends beyond technical leadership capability alone and into areas such as leadership identity, relationships, confidence, and self-awareness (Sayers-Brown et al., 2024).
More Than Capability-Building
Leadership development programmes are typically designed to strengthen leadership capability through a combination of personal growth, leadership knowledge, skills development, and feedback (Barends et al., 2023).
Many programmes focus on practical leadership skills such as communication, networking, conflict management, and career planning. Others incorporate coaching, mentoring, psychometric feedback, and reflective exercises to support individual learning and self-awareness. These approaches remain important; however, leadership development is not simply about acquiring technical skills or behaviours. Leadership also involves how individuals see themselves as leaders, how they build influence and relationships, and how they navigate organisational environments over time. Ely and colleagues describe this process as “identity work”, where individuals explore how they understand themselves as leaders and how this shapes the way they lead (Ely et al., 2011). This perspective positions leadership development as something broader than capability-building alone.
Building Leadership Capital
One useful way to understand this broader perspective is through the concepts of human capital and social capital (Day, 2000).
Human capital refers to the personal resources that support leadership development. This includes self-awareness, confidence, adaptability, leadership identity, and the ability to navigate organisational environments effectively.
Women-only leadership programmes often create space for reflection on leadership style, values, experiences, and career aspirations. Coaching, self-assessment, and reflective discussion can help participants develop greater clarity around how they lead and the type of leader they want to become. Leadership identity appears particularly important within this process. Leadership development is not only about learning new skills, but also about developing confidence in oneself as a leader and building alignment between leadership behaviour, values, and sense of self (Sayers-Brown et al., 2024)
Social capital focuses on relationships, networks, and access to support. Peer learning, mentoring, networking opportunities, and group discussion are all common aspects of women’s leadership development programmes. These relationships can play an important role in leadership progression by increasing access to information, visibility, sponsorship, and professional support (Kassotakis, 2024). They can also reduce feelings of isolation, particularly where women remain underrepresented at senior levels.
For women leaders, social capital can be especially important because access to informal networks and influential relationships is not always evenly distributed. Development programmes can therefore provide opportunities to strengthen professional connections and developmental relationships that may otherwise be difficult to access (Mousa et al., 2021).
Taken together, human and social capital highlight that leadership development is both personal and relational. Effective leadership development is not only about what individuals know or can do, but also about how they understand themselves, build relationships, and access support within organisations.
Why Strengths and Lived Experience Matter
Another important shift within women’s leadership development is the growing emphasis on strengths and lived experience.
Strengths-based approaches encourage individuals to recognise and build on the capabilities they already possess, rather than focusing primarily on perceived gaps or weaknesses. This changes the emphasis of leadership development from correcting deficiencies to helping individuals better understand and apply their existing strengths.
Lived experience also shapes leadership in important ways. Women’s experiences within organisations influence not only the barriers they may encounter, but also the perspectives, values, and relational approaches they bring into leadership roles. An intersectional perspective is particularly valuable here. Experiences linked to gender may interact with other aspects of identity and context, shaping how leadership is experienced and enacted in practice. Creating space for reflection on these experiences can help individuals better understand how they lead, how they are perceived, and how they navigate organisational environments more effectively.
What Organisations Should Consider
Women’s leadership development programmes appear to be most effective when they balance practical leadership capability with opportunities for reflection, coaching, networking, and relationship-building.
Organisations should also recognise the importance of social capital within leadership progression. Supporting women to build networks, sponsorship, and developmental relationships remains an important aspect of leadership development, particularly within environments where access to informal influence may be uneven.
Strengths-based approaches may also provide a more sustainable foundation for development than approaches focused primarily on perceived deficits or gaps.
Finally, leadership development programmes are most effective when supported by wider organisational commitment to inclusion, equitable progression opportunities, and leadership accountability.
Conclusion
Women’s leadership development programmes continue to evolve as organisations seek more effective ways to support leadership diversity and progression.
Current evidence suggests that leadership development is most valuable when it supports both human and social capital through reflection, connection, strengths-based development, and leadership identity exploration. As organisations continue investing in leadership development, understanding how women build confidence, relationships, leadership identity, and support within organisational systems will remain an important part of creating more inclusive leadership cultures.
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About the Author
Dr Rob Sayers-Brown is a Chartered Occupational Psychologist and Partner at Kiddy & Partners. He designs and delivers people-focused leadership and assessment solutions that help individuals, teams, and organisations thrive. Rob has extensive experience in leadership assessment and development, including senior leader selection, high-potential identification, onboarding, transition, and team effectiveness. He is also a subject-matter expert in psychometric assessment and has worked with senior leaders across global organisations to strengthen self-awareness, leadership capability, and team dynamics. His research interests focus on leadership development, identity, and inclusion, particularly the design and impact of leadership development programmes aimed at supporting underrepresented groups in senior leadership.
References
Barends, E., Rousseau, D., Janssen, B., Capezzio, A. and Velghe, C. (2023) Leadership development: An evidence review. Scientific summary. London: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.
Castaño AM, Fontanil Y, García-Izquierdo AL. "Why Can't I Become a Manager?"-A Systematic Review of Gender Stereotypes and Organizational Discrimination. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2019 May 22;16(10):1813. doi: 10.3390/ijerph16101813.
Day, D. V. (2000). Leadership development: A review in context. Leadership Quarterly, 11(4), 581–613. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1048-9843(00)00061-8
Ely, R. J., Ibarra, H., & Kolb, D. M. (2011). Taking gender into account: Theory and design for women’s leadership development programs. Academy of Management Learning & Education, 10(3), 474–493. https://doi.org/10.5465/amle.2010.0046
Kassotakis, M. E. (2024). "Chapter 25: Women-only leadership programs: a deeper look". In Handbook of Research on Gender and Leadership. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.
Mousa, M., Boyle, J., Skouteris, H., Mullins, A. K., Currie, G., Riach, K., & Teede, H. J. (2021). Advancing women in healthcare leadership: a systematic review and meta-synthesis of multi-sector evidence on organisational interventions. eClinicalMedicine, 39.
Round, H., Yamao, S., Shao, B., Klonek, F., Sekiguchi, T. & Newman, A., 2024, ‘Fostering psychological capital self-efficacy in emerging female leaders: Practical insights from an international leadership development program’, Organisational Dynamics 101085. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.orgdyn.2024.101085
Sayers-Brown, R., Beauregard, T. A., Lewis, R., & Yarker, J. (2025). Examining multi-sector women-only leadership development programmes: A scoping review of recruitment processes, design and instruction methods, content and outcomes. Diversity & Inclusion Research, 2, e70005. https://doi.org/10.1002/dvr2.70005