For many women in leadership, the road has been long, exacting, and often lonely. We’ve learned how to build, how to protect, how to persist.
We’ve become fluent in over-functioning—proving our worth, holding it all together, offering more than we ever asked for in return.
But here’s what I’m learning now, in a different season of life (45😀) and leadership:
👉 Strength also means knowing when to receive. Support. Kindness. Recognition. Help. Even rest.
This is not weakness. It is nervous system wisdom.
🧠 Studies in organizational psychology and neurobiology show that:
• Women leaders tend to undervalue external support, believing success must come from personal grit (Harvard Business Review, 2021).
• Yet those who embrace reciprocal collaboration, mentoring, and emotional openness are more resilient and trusted—especially in uncertain environments.
• The parasympathetic nervous system (rest/receive mode) enhances creativity, empathy, and long-term decision-making—capacities often under-activated in high-performance roles.
So perhaps the next frontier for us, self-made women is not to push harder, but to let in more grace, recognition and shared power!
(The wonderful photo is a stage set, from FITS, Sibiu, 2025)