My mission to empower women in 2026

Image credit: Hinda Ibrahim, MSD UK

This has to be the paradox of our time: our collective feeling of "we should be further along or better placed by now" that is permeating almost every aspect of our lives, and often in our careers.

Even though we live in a time of unprecedented opportunity, a fraction of which was not available even a generation ago.

We are waking up to systems and structures that are day by day failing to meet our needs.

And this feels like a turning point when we need a different kind of leadership to emerge if we are to reverse this trend or stem its spread.

Some of you are the very leaders the world needs today: empathetic, diligent, dedicated, honest, considerate of the greater good of all and not only the few.

Your goal for 2026 might be winning that elusive promotion into leadership.

Which fits perfectly with my own mission to 'plant' women leaders like you in positions of power to bring alive more of the above qualities in the world. 

Here's a caveat: this doesn't mean that you need to take up arms to change the world.

You just have to keep doing what you do. Keep bringing your best self and doing your best work each day. 

Transform the small world that you inhabit within your industry, and in your own small way.

That's all that's the world needs from you. 

As a coach I would also add that you should go about this in a smarter, more strategic way.

Of course, I am only the facilitator here because you are the ones who will ultimately bring your strengths, gifts and brilliance to the table. 

But I am also here to help you to hone your strategy and to remove the (internal) obstacles that stand in the way of your (external) success.

So that you finally get to where you want to be in your career in 2026.

Starting this month I am launching three coaching programmes to support you in that ambition:

Leadership Lab: Enrolment opens this week for Cohort 2 of my group coaching programme for women under 33 who are stepping into their first leadership role. The programme also goes beyond this by preparing you with the leadership acumen and mindset for the long-term, so that you can bypass some of the obstacles that hinder today's women leaders.

Power Pose: My 1-1 coaching programme for mid and senior level leaders (Aspire & Ascend) will now be a group programme launching in March. This is for you if you are done with struggling long-term with confidence issues and a sense of powerlessness that arise when your career gets capped for whatever reason. Whether you might or might not have your eyes set on an immediate promotion because of caregiving or other responsibilities, you are ready to prepare yourself for that next step in your career.

Director's Cut: A yearlong 1-1 thinking partnership for high-performing senior leaders and executives who want to build a legacy in their profession through creating impact and changing the status quo of their industry.

A little over 10 years ago I signed up for my first ever coaching programme and today I am nothing like the person I was back when I started my journey.

Looking back, I recognise that it has been the cumulative effect of getting long-term support from my own coaches that has been responsible for helping me become who I am today:

because I could approach them whenever I had a challenge, and they kept gently pushing me to put one foot in front of the other to achieve my goals, while also keeping me in check whenever I strayed onto the wrong path.

And now I want to bring that same opportunity for long-term, sustained and exponential growth to all of you. 

Because the leaders who disappoint us today are the ones who seem to have forgotten that growth doesn't stop when you earn a title or step into a position.

The responsibilities that come with positions of power demand that we meet them with humility and an unceasing devotion to keep improving ourselves.

I also want to add another responsibility to your plate: to make sure that you take every opportunity to improve your own chances of success in 2026, because the world sure seems to depend on it.

It would be my honour to serve you if and when you do.