What Does Female Leadership Look Like?

By Eva Jahn, LPC
CERI Co-Founder & Executive Director

In a world that often rewards speed, certainty, and control, many of us are hungry for a different kind of leadership—one that feels more human, more connected, more whole. But what does female leadership really look like?

It doesn’t mean simply placing women in roles of power and continuing with the same models that have brought us here. Instead, it might require a whole reimagining of power itself—shifting from dominance to relationship, from hierarchy to stewardship, from control to care.

Female leadership can look like listening deeply before acting. It can look like holding space for uncertainty, tending to complexity, and leading from intuition as much as analysis. It means valuing collaboration over competition, and making room for many voices—not just the loudest. It’s not about softness without strength. As Vandana Shiva (in Staying Alive) reminds us, women have long led movements to protect land, life, and culture—planting seeds, defending forests, and building alternatives from the ground up. This kind of leadership is both fierce and nurturing. It resists harm and creates possibility.

And I want to be clear that we are not talking about prioritizing one gender over another - which has been the root cause of so much harm already. It’s about rebalancing the values that have shaped our systems for too long. As the Athena Doctrine research shows, qualities often seen as “feminine”—empathy, flexibility, transparency—are now recognized globally as essential leadership traits. These are human capacities, not gendered ones. We all hold them. And we’re all responsible for bringing them forward.

One beautiful example of this kind of leadership comes from the animal world: the elephant matriarch.

Elephant Matriarch leading her herd.

In elephant herds, leadership isn’t based on dominance or rank, but on wisdom, memory, and deep care. The matriarch—usually the oldest female—leads not because she demands authority, but because her lived experience guides the way. She remembers where the water holes are during droughts, knows the safest paths through uncertain terrain, and senses danger before it arrives. Her leadership is relational—rooted in attentiveness and trust rather than control.

When a young elephant is distressed, she is the one who approaches calmly. When the herd faces challenge or confusion, she doesn't rush or react—she pauses, listens, and then moves with a quiet authority. Scientists have found that the survival of the herd often depends on her emotional intelligence, her ability to remember, and her steady, grounding presence.

What if our own models of leadership looked more like this? Not the loudest voice in the room, not the most dominant figure in the hierarchy—but the one who holds the well-being of the whole. The one who remembers what sustains life. The one who leads with care and courage, side by side with others.

Ultimately, female leadership is not about fitting into outdated molds. It’s about reshaping the mold entirely—leading with heart, rooted in presence and purpose. And maybe the real question isn’t just “What does female leadership look like?” but:

What kind of leadership does the world need now—and how do we answer that call from the wholeness of who we are?