Info-Tech’s annual live conferences bring together IT leaders, analysts, and experts from around the world to explore the capabilities, challenges, and opportunities that define the future of enterprise technology. The event also featured keynote speakers, breakout sessions, and peer networking opportunities. The 2025 conference was centered on connecting big-picture trends with actionable strategies and proven frameworks with the theme “Transform IT. Transform Everything.”

The Empowering Women in Leadership panel featured Francis and 2 other women in executive roles. A highlight of this year’s conference, the panel focused on creating an environment in the technology industry where women can thrive, make their own choices, and have equal opportunities in all aspects of life. Attendees walked away with an understanding that empowerment is not just about giving women a voice, but about ensuring that their voices are heard, respected, and acted upon.

Francis’ participation in the panel reinforces CCL’s legacy of trailblazing women’s leadership development since 1987 — conducting some of the earliest research on breaking the glass ceiling and pioneering leadership training for women.

“Our panel on Empowering Women in Leadership fostered a vital conversation, deeply exploring how to dismantle barriers, and cultivate truly impactful leadership styles,” said Francis. “It was particularly rewarding to enrich the discussion with CCL’s outstanding research, drawing on insights from our glass ceiling studies, and the transformative ‘standing at the crossroads’ framework, which provide a powerful roadmap for creating an environment where women truly thrive.”

Learn more about Info-Tech LIVE 2025.

The post CCL’s Chief Information Officer Featured as Women’s Empowerment Panelist at 2025 Info-Tech Live Conference appeared first on CCL.

All leaders must advocate for themselves if they want to move their careers forward. But women leaders in particular face leadership challenges that are embedded within larger systems. As a historically marginalized group, women often face additional barriers based on their intersecting social identities, including gender, race, class, age, religion, sexual orientation, caregiver status, etc.

To succeed, women can’t go it alone. They need to build a network of champions — including mentors and sponsors.

And organizations must help. To offset the pandemic’s recent hit to women’s progress in the workforce — when the gains made over 3 decades were erased virtually overnight — organizations must provide women leaders with the resources they need and address the systemic imbalances they face.

A key step organizations can take towards supporting women leaders is to prioritize sponsorship and mentorship for women — particularly by influential leaders, who are often men.

As noted in our book, Kick Some Glass: 10 Ways Women Succeed at Work on Their Own Terms, the people around an individual have the ability to either support or hinder their growth toward becoming the best leader they can be. Access to influential leaders and supportive work relationships is critical to career advancement — especially for women.

Both mentors and sponsors are important for gaining the perspective and connections required to take on larger roles.

What’s the Difference Between a Mentor & a Sponsor?

By the time they reach mid-career, most leaders can name a handful of advisers — bosses, coaches, colleagues, and friends — who’ve helped them build confidence and develop needed skills.

These advisers may be mentors or sponsors. Leaders need both for professional development. They just need them for different things at different times.

Mentorship vs. Sponsorship in the Workplace

Mentors provide guidance and support, whether around a specific need or for ongoing development, while sponsors are advocates who actively work to advance the career of their “sponsoree.”

Here’s a summary of the differences between the roles of mentor and sponsor:

Mentors listen and give constructive, direct, and honest feedback, and their “mentee” benefits from this guidance and support in several ways. Our research has found that people who are mentored:

• Are better prepared for promotions and have higher success rates;
• Stay with their organizations longer;
• Feel more satisfied with their jobs and careers; and
• Rate higher on performance measures.

We also found that “mentees” have greater impact in their organizations, are perceived as being more innovative and creative, show higher resilience to setbacks, and have stronger networks.

A mentor may also be a sponsor — but not necessarily. A sponsor is a specific type of mentor who goes above and beyond giving advice.

Sponsors work to advance the career of their “sponsoree” by touting their accomplishments and potential, connecting them to others in their network, and recommending them for bigger roles. A sponsor pushes their “sponsoree” to take on challenging assignments and actively advances their career progression — including in off-the-record or closed-door meetings with other leaders.

Since the people who can advocate and create opportunities for others have some level of authority in an organization, they are likely upper-level leaders — people in power. And, in most organizations, that pool of influencers continues to skew male.

Women continue to be underrepresented in senior management roles, even though they outnumber men at almost every educational level and make up about half the workforce in most countries. For women of color, the gap is even wider.

And while more women are now advancing to the top tiers of their organizations than ever before, with women comprising 29% of C-suite roles in 2024, according to Lean In, that still means that over 70% of executives are men.

Given this, it’s critical that male sponsors speak up for talented women leaders at their organizations. Without sponsors who take that next step to advocate on their behalf, women are at a disadvantage.

Yet men are more likely than women to have sponsors.

Why Women Are Less Likely to Have Sponsorship in the Workplace

Research points to several reasons why this occurs.

1. Like attracts like.

Since people naturally tend to gravitate to other people who are like them, male leaders may be unconsciously more inclined to mentor and champion other men.

Similarly, women may not feel comfortable asking somebody several levels up in the organizational hierarchy — especially someone who doesn’t look like them — for advice or sponsorship. So even with no other factors at play, more men than women are sponsored, and leadership power structures remain largely unchanged.

2. The double-bind also plays a role.

Historically, images and ideals of leadership have been associated with stereotypically masculine, not feminine, qualities, and so women are less likely to be perceived as “leadership material,” as compared to men.

Research shows that women face a double-bind of being seen as either competent or likable — but not both.

Studies have also found that women receive fewer stretch assignments and more vague, personal, and unhelpful feedback than men — preventing them from getting clear information about their performance that would push them to learn, grow, and improve.

3. Assumptions are problematic.

Often, women have the right qualifications and personal readiness, but attribute their successes to “luck”, or struggle with overcoming impostor syndrome, and allow these assumptions to hold themselves back.

In addition, well-intentioned senior leaders may make assumptions about women’s capabilities and interests and make decisions for them, so that they aren’t considered for promotions or critical assignments. Without asking her to confirm, they may think:

• She’s too nice; she wouldn’t want this job …
• She has young children; the travel schedule will be too demanding …
• She won’t want this promotion; she’d have to relocate her family …
• She hasn’t done this before; she won’t feel up for the challenge …

These assumptions may not be conscious or spoken, but they cause women to be overlooked for roles they would be great at.

4. “Queen Bee Syndrome” contributes, too.

The few women who have broken through the glass ceiling often still find themselves feeling stuck because of gender bias that exists within the larger systems at play. While many women do sponsor, promote, or support the career advancement of other women, those who don’t are sometimes called “queen bees” and are considered unsupportive of other women.

But our research has found that when women executives do advocate for diversity and promote other women, they receive lower competency and performance ratings. So it’s understandable that senior women may hesitate to promote or advocate on behalf of more junior women — it may feel as if it comes at too great a personal cost.

Men who sponsor or promote women aren’t similarly penalized — and may even be rewarded for their support of diversity.

To mitigate this, both men and women in positions of power should mentor and sponsor talent — regardless of gender.

Why Men Are Critical Allies & Benefits They Gain From Mentoring & Sponsoring Women

Can men provide impactful sponsoring and mentoring for women? Absolutely, yes!

Gender parity in the workplace should not be pegged as merely a “women’s issue” and be left to women to address. Men in leadership roles are ideally positioned to strengthen the leadership pipeline in their organizations by helping to retain and advance talented women.

Serving as a mentor or sponsor offers benefits to both parties. Our research has also found that individuals who engage in mentorship and sponsorship in the workplace can build and enhance their own networks, more quickly access job-related and organizational news, and become better leaders themselves. We found that those who mentor and advocate for others have:

• A stronger commitment to their organization;
• An enhanced perception of their leadership by others; and
• A greater sense of wellbeing, including increased job and personal satisfaction.

Some men think they wouldn’t be good at mentoring someone who’s different from them. Others may be wary of perceptions or misinterpretation of their work relationships with women.

Organizations should help combat this hesitation by encouraging all leaders — including men — to explore our resources on sponsoring & mentoring women, which includes a section with specific tips for male executives when supporting talented women colleagues.

In addition, men can learn more about social identity to understand the power and privilege they have, as well as what allyship is.

Advice for Women Leaders

Women leaders often view the responsibility to advance their careers or succeed in a new role as strictly their own. In our custom women’s leadership development programs, we often hear things such as:

• “If I do a good job, people will notice. If I do just a little more, work a little harder, it will happen. I don’t need a mentor or sponsor.”
• “I want to earn that promotion myself; it feels like cheating or pulling rank if I have a senior decision-maker on my side.”
• “The timing isn’t right, right now; I’ll go for the next opportunity.”

Many women wrestle with these concerns and feel uncomfortable about self-promotion at work.

While networking tips for women can help, they’re just the beginning. Without direct access to the people who can set women leaders up for the experiences they need — and the support to help them through inevitable challenges — their career progress is likely to stall, leading to short-term frustration and long-term consequences.

How Organizations Can Provide Sponsorship & Mentorship for Women

Help your women leaders establish a network of champions, wherever they are in their careers. Doing so will ensure they’re surrounded by people who can help them shift the way they think and act and lift them up to higher levels of influence within the organization.

Providing formal organizational support for Employee Resource Groups, inviting emerging leaders to senior leadership meetings, and investing in formalized leadership development opportunities for women are all great ways to help your women leaders start to build strong networks.

Ideally, women would have the mentors they need to help them navigate their careers, and senior leaders would see their skills and potential and enthusiastically sponsor them. But, since this isn’t happening by default in most organizations, there’s a leaky pipeline of talent.

Change is complex. Organizations that want to support women need to start by looking at the larger systems in which they operate to find the root causes of women leaving or not being promoted.

Encouraging sponsoring and mentoring for women is a great place to start. Communicate to everyone in your organization that this is a priority, and provide the resources and space to put plans into action. Don’t leave it up to individual women to establish mentorship or sponsorship arrangements. Learn more about why we recommend implementing mentoring at work, and how to get started.

Together, we can help create a network of champions for talented women, because when more women lead, individuals thrive — and organizations are better able to embrace the challenges of the future.

Ready to Take the Next Step?

Are you looking to drive sponsorship and mentorship for women in your organization? We invite you to download our complimentary resources on sponsoring & mentoring women. Or, commit to establishing a workplace environment that supports your talented women leaders with a customized women’s leadership development program.

The post Women Need a Network of Champions appeared first on CCL.

There is a significant lack of women, particularly women of color, in management positions. For every 100 men promoted to manager, only 81 women achieve the same, and this disparity is even greater for Black women, with only 54 promoted for every 100 men, according to the Women in the Workplace report by LeanIn.org and McKinsey & Company.

Women face the “broken rung” phenomenon, where men at entry-level are promoted to managerial roles at much higher rates than women.

This early career setback puts women at a lasting disadvantage. Rachel Thomas, co-founder and CEO of LeanIn.org, emphasizes that this “broken rung” restricts women’s career progress. Despite some progress at higher levels, these advancements often come with caveats.

The Sandberg Goldberg Bernthal Family Foundation (SGB) is a nonprofit dedicated to promoting equality and resilience through 4 initiatives: LeanIn.org, Lean In Girls, OptionB.org, and the Dave Goldberg Scholarship Program. Launched in 2013, LeanIn.org supports Lean In Circles, small groups of women who meet regularly to empower each other personally and professionally. These Circles help women build confidence, develop leadership skills, and achieve their goals. Over 100,000 women in 183 countries have started Circles, with 85% of members reporting positive changes within 6 months of joining.

To enhance the leadership skills of regional Lean In Network Leaders, SGB partnered with the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL). “We chose CCL for their exceptional reputation and expertise in leadership development,” said Nikki Pawsey, Director of the Global Network Leader Program. “Their global reach and commitment to co-creating a tailored leadership course for women aligned perfectly with our vision of empowering more women leaders in the workplace.”

Solution

CCL and SGB collaborated to create the Network Leadership Development Program (NLDP). This program is designed for mid-career women leaders, focusing on immediate and practical application to build confidence and navigate strategic leadership challenges. According to Pawsey, “Our primary goal was to offer our global network of volunteers the opportunity to develop their leadership skills in a way that would empower them both personally and professionally. We wanted to raise their level of self-awareness and provide tools for them to strengthen their ability to lead, inspire, and make a difference in their communities worldwide.”

The NLDP is a 3-month, multi-modal learning experience that includes:

• Asynchronous preparatory learning in a custom online course
• Offline peer discussions managed by participants
• Live online sessions every other week to engage on topics
• Pre-work including the WorkPlace Big Five Profile, a senior leader interview, and defining a Key Leadership Challenge

Featured Solutions

Foundations & Philanthropic Leadership

Learn more about how we're partnering with foundations for philanthropic leadership to drive change by offering professional development to build leadership capacity.

Women’s Leadership Development

We've helped pioneer women's leadership development for nearly 50 years. Explore our research-based leadership training programs for women.

The program elements designed to boost engagement and learning include:

• Amplifying the collective power of broad, diverse networks
• Strengthening and leveraging authenticity and credibility to gain trust
• Developing leadership skills and preparing for career acceleration
• Leveraging peer support to work through critical leadership challenges
• Driving conversations and practices promoting belonging
• Building a network of ambassadors to retain and advance women in organizations

CCL has completed 10 successful cohorts globally with more than 250 participants from diverse backgrounds and locations finding common ground in their volunteer leadership role with Lean In.

Results

Following the NLDP, participants have committed to applying their new insights and skills. They plan to:

• Share knowledge with their teams
• Foster resilient work cultures
• Engage in networking and mentoring
• Support other women in their professional journeys

By the Numbers

The program has inspired participants to enhance their leadership skills, promote inclusivity, and focus on personal and professional growth. They are also eager to expand their professional networks and become more active in the Lean In community.

Participants have reported:

• Increased assertiveness
• Improved decision-making
• Enhanced leadership presence
• Greater focus on creating inclusive and diverse environments
• Efforts toward equality

Many participants plan to use their new skills to advance their careers, start businesses, or take on new roles. Pawsey emphasized, “The impact of this partnership has been profound. Through CCL’s programs, our volunteers have not only grown as leaders but also built stronger connections within the network, fostering a sense of shared purpose and collaboration. We’ve seen enhanced confidence, creativity, and problem-solving skills amongst our community. Many of our leaders would not have the opportunity in their country to access such high-quality training.”

Participants Say

The post Advancing Women’s Leadership With Lean In & The Sandberg Goldberg Bernthal Foundation appeared first on CCL.

As women attempt to advance from mid-career leaders into senior and executive positions, plenty of roadblocks stand in their path — but one of those barriers may come as a surprise: other women.

This “queen bee syndrome,” a term first coined in 1973, is often referenced during our women’s leadership development programs, where mid-level women mention feeling a lack of support from more senior women.

Rather than blaming senior-level women, our researchers wondered if there was another possible factor at play: Could it be that senior-level women are somehow penalized for supporting other women leaders?

Why Women Don’t Support Other Women: Gender Bias Matters

Building on our earlier research about the gendered use of the term “bossy,” and to better understand the reasons why women don’t support other women, we wanted to see how peers viewed both male and female leaders when they openly valued greater gender diversity in the workplace.

We looked at the results of 360-degree assessment data collected from leaders who attended our leadership development programs, and here’s what we found:

• Female leaders who show that they value diversity in the workplace receive much lower competency ratings than male leaders who show that they value diversity in the workplace.
• Men’s performance ratings actually increase when they show that they value diversity in the workplace, while women’s performance ratings decrease when they show that they value diversity in the workplace.

Next, our team examined what happens when women actually promote other women.

Researchers asked 2 groups of working adults to evaluate the competency of a hiring manager who interviewed candidates for a vacant senior vice president position.

One group was told that the hiring manager chose a white male candidate because he “had the highest scores.” The other group was told that the hiring manager chose a woman because she “had the highest scores and increases the racial and gender balance of our leadership team.”

As noted in our white paper, the second part of the study found that:

• When the hiring manager was a male, his competency ratings weren’t affected by his decision — the group of working adults gave him the same rating whether or not he was motivated by increasing his leadership team’s racial and gender balance, but
• When the hiring manager advocating for diversity was a female, her competency rating dropped dramatically. There seemed to be a perception that when a woman advocated for another woman, she was somehow showing favoritism.

Our conclusion: This could be the real reason that women don’t promote other women.

And there may be another factor at play as well. In a work environment where men are in the majority, particularly at the top, women must work harder to break in. It’s also possible that once they do, they may feel threatened by other women who could replace them.

Women Need to Support Women — and Men Need to Join the Conversation

Of course, to grow the ranks of women leaders, more women need to support women.

But women aren’t solely responsible. In fact, as our study showed, men stand to gain by advocating for diversity. Strengthening women’s leadership is not about excluding men, and women cannot succeed without men’s support.

But overcoming barriers to women’s leadership will take a multi-pronged effort by the entire community — including governments, the media, businesses, and organizations — plus men and women themselves, to make gender parity in the workplace a reality.

The truth is, everyone has a role to play to foster a more equitable workplace.

Ready to Take the Next Step?

Create a workplace environment where your team doesn’t need to worry about why women don’t support other women, and leaders of all genders support one another. Partner with us for customized women’s leadership development that meets your organization’s unique needs.

The post Women Pay a Price for Promoting Other Women appeared first on CCL.