CommsCredible

One thing people often notice when they walk into our CommsCredible office is that a large part of my team (>80%) is made up of women. What they don't see is how much working alongside them has shaped my own understanding of leadership. Over the years, I've watched women in my team transition from shadowing to leading client conversations, navigate crises, solve complex problems, and build teams of their own. It has made me question some of the traditional ideas we have about power, leadership, and success. Which brings me to a question I've been thinking about lately: What does real power in leadership actually look like today? For years, the conversation has centred around representation. More women in leadership roles. More women founders. More women on boards. More women owning P&Ls. All of these are important milestones, but I increasingly wonder whether representation is the destination or merely the starting point. Or is it about building workplaces where leadership itself becomes more collaborative and inclusive? Because the challenges remain real: 👉 Globally, women hold just 28.1% of senior leadership positions (World Economic Forum, Global Gender Gap Report 2025) 👉 Nearly 60% of respondents identified work-life integration as a key barrier preventing women from attaining and succeeding in leadership roles (Avtar) These numbers tell us that while doors may be opening, the journey inside the room is often far more complex. This was one of the themes we explored during the panel discussion, "She Builds, She Leads: The New Face of Entrepreneurship," at the exchange4media Women Achievers Awards in Delhi. I had the privilege of moderating a distinguished panel featuring Amandeep Singh Narang of Indraprastha Gas Limited, Deepa Dey, a seasoned communications and sustainability leader, and Vandana Chopra of KPMG India. While each brought a unique perspective, a common theme emerged throughout the discussion: leadership is becoming less individual and more collective. A few ideas that stayed with me: → Collective leadership beats individual heroics. Distributed leadership will increasingly become the norm. → As Naina Lal Kidwai highlighted in her keynote, networking remains one of the most underrated leadership skills for women. Genuine networks create opportunities. Careers are often shaped by mentors, relationships, and ecosystems more than resumes. → AI rewards adaptability. Leadership still requires empathy, judgement, and trust. → Titles create authority. Trust creates influence. Perhaps the biggest takeaway for me was this: the strongest organizations are rarely built around a handful of leaders at the top. They are built around ecosystems that enable leadership and ownership at every level. Because in the end, individuals build careers. Ecosystems build institutions. How are you enabling collective leadership in your teams?