The Safety of Expertise

As I started to write a few nights ago, I found myself drowning in how to excel in addressing this new topic without sounding repetitive. I put a lot of effort into trying to distance it from my last blog; I wanted to be 100% on top of my game. Then, I fell into the exact same trap I am here to warn you against: the pursuit of excellence and flawlessness.

Why didn’t I simply start the flow and then edit a few times, focusing on the message instead of "fineness"? We definitely build our own prisons and live inside them.

In the last blog, we talked about dismantling imaginary obstacles and started with “The Ambition Paradox.” Today, we will address a new inhibition—an internalized and systemic hindrance rooted in our psyche: “The Perfectionist Prison.” This is not a psychology article; hence, I will not delve into scientific, cultural, or social analysis. Instead, we will address these self-imposed challenges in an attempt to better understand them.

When invited into meetings, board sessions, panels, summits, or even interviews, why do women feel the constant need to be over-prepared? Why do we do this? Is it a lack of self-confidence? Are we not qualified and competent? Do we dread dismissal? Are we brought up to be "picture perfect" because we are ladies? Is the professional ecosystem biased? Is it simply not friendly towards female professionals’ proficiencies?

The first issue I will address is the concern with technical mastery. Many women move from junior to mid-level positions with an alarming focus on occupational distinction. This concern leads to them staying in operational roles for too long, which delays their promotion and advancement into managerial roles. It is a self-imposed prison. We sit there steering tasks, processes, and procedures—solving problems from the conductor’s pit rather than from the station manager’s seat. Why? Because we feel compelled to master every detail before we move to the next phase. On the other hand, men are often pushed into broader leadership roles sooner, and they rarely say, "No, I’m not ready yet."

A Korn Ferry study, “A Potential Exodus of Working Women?”, shows that the percentage of newly appointed women directors has fallen since 2023, and only 17% of new CEOs of S&P 500 companies appointed in 2024 were women. Other data shows promotions being handed out disproportionately, at a rate of only 85 women for every 100 men. Which takes me to the second subject, “The Broken Rung”, it is considered as the biggest barrier to women’s career advancement -McKinsey April 2025. Does the return of “bro culture” to the corporate world add more pressure on women, causing them to become "late bloomers" in the managerial race? This broken rung occurs at the very first step up, stopping women from ever reaching that first manager role. Women are getting stuck on the corporate ladder, if they make it to the ladder to start with. What are the factors contributing to this? I find myself going back to the lack of mentorship and sponsorship; are we receiving the required and fair share of counseling and succession mapping men are offered? are there implicit biases in the hiring and promotion criteria? Do we have lower accumulation of "experience capital”?

The third matter in question—and a very important factor—is the experience gap and the career tracks women choose. We often gravitate toward "softer" roles like Human Resources and Marketing. These roles, for reasons that remain unclear to me, are often not perceived as primary paths to top leadership. While women make up the majority of the workforce in these professions, we must ask: Do we choose these paths? Are we a better fit for the competencies required to succeed in these positions? If yes, then why aren’t we racing to take the lead?

If not, are we pushed into these jobs because men do not see themselves doing tasks that require discipline, patience, and a focus on high competencies? Perhaps they cannot succeed and shine in these jobs (I am not saying they can't; I am simply investigating—no judgment). Or, are they eyeing the pilot’s seat early on, and therefore staying away from "soft" roles? Do women choose these positions because they often undertake a disproportionate share of household and caregiving responsibilities or are they socialized into them?

The more I dive into the details of this blog series, the harder it gets to understand the root of these challenges. Well, regardless of the root, I have decided to focus on the present and the future; there is no point in probing only into the past. Moving forward, I will continue to work on finding the right path for all of us to take on the roles we know we deserve and can outperform in. We will start with that word: “deserve.” There is a lot of work to be undone in this regard before we start seeing results.

The "Perfectionist Prison" only stays locked as long as we agree to live by its rules. If we want to fix the broken rung and bridge the experience gap, we must first dismantle the internal barriers that tell us we aren't "ready" or "technical" enough.

In my upcoming training, “Power, Presence & Purpose: Advancing Women into Senior Leadership,” we will address these internalized impediments head-on. We will unravel the systemic and psychological threads of the Perfectionist Prison and replace them with a roadmap for executive presence and strategic influence. The minute that level of growth is achieved, we will be one step closer to being the great leaders we already know we are.