New Research on How Women in Leadership Navigated Menopause

"Women leaders often face an uphill battle to be taken seriously and rise to the top of their professions in a world characterized by male leadership. Once women enter midlife-often a time when both men and women begin taking on more serious leadership roles (think senior or executive-level positions)-that hill can feel even steeper if they find their work interrupted by sudden sweating, visible redness, or a struggle to find the right word in an important meeting."

"Mallory Decker is a former U.S. Navy helicopter pilot turned Ph.D. Candidate in Organizational Behavior at the University of Colorado, Boulder. With professional experience in organizations ranging from aircraft carriers, to U.S. Congress, to NATO, she now focuses on how social support and personal connection can help employees overcome leadership and workplace challenges. Alicia A. Grandey is a Distinguished Professor of Industrial-Organizational Psychology at The Pennsylvania State University."

Women leaders commonly encounter uphill battles to gain credibility and advance in male-dominated professional environments. Midlife often coincides with increased leadership opportunities but can introduce physiological or emotional interruptions—such as sudden sweating, visible redness, or difficulty finding words—that undermine performance during critical moments. Such disruptions can exacerbate perceptions of incompetence and hinder progression into senior roles. Mallory Decker combines military and governmental experience and studies how social support and personal connection enable employees to overcome leadership and workplace challenges. Alicia A. Grandey is a leading industrial-organizational psychologist whose research on emotional labor and diversity has high research impact and includes a forthcoming coauthored book.

Read at Harvard Business Review