Leading Differently: How Women in Leadership Are Redefining Work, Culture, and Creativity

✍️ Opinions

Varun Bhardwaj

08 Mar 2025 — 4 min read

The New Face of Leadership: How Women Are Redefining Success

This article has been contributed by Apoorva Deep, Co-Founder, itch.

"I used to think leadership meant having all the answers. Until I realized that asking the right questions is where real leadership begins."

The Unseen Strength: Why Women Lead Differently

When I stepped into my first leadership role, I wasn’t the most experienced person in the room. I wasn’t the loudest, either. But I was given the responsibility because of something less tangible, my emotional intelligence. At first, I wondered if that was just a polite way of saying I lacked the hard skills. But I soon realized that leadership isn’t just about knowing, it’s about learning, adapting, and having the courage to step up even when you don’t have all the answers.

I am glad I was trusted to lead because of whatever my mentors saw in me back then, and my takeaway is, “One shouldn’t wait until they feel ‘fully ready’ to lead. I’ve seen women step into uncertainty and figure things out, and we bring an acute awareness of people, dynamics, and growth. That ability to navigate the unknown? That’s power.

The Unspoken Reality: Power, Negotiation, and Gender

I’ve sat in enough meetings to know this: negotiation shifts when you’re a woman at the table. Money discussions carry a different weight. Sometimes it’s a subtle shift in tone, sometimes it’s a joke that shouldn’t be a joke at all, one that implies you should tread carefully, not push too hard.

But here’s the truth: Women don’t just negotiate for themselves; we negotiate for change. And that requires strength. It requires knowing when to push back, when to call out bias, and when to let your work speak so loudly that no one dares to question your place at the table.

I’ve learned to respond in ways that don’t just deflect but shift the power dynamics, sometimes with a sharp joke, sometimes with an unapologetic statement. Because leadership isn’t just about strategy; it’s about resilience.

Fear Is the Death of Potential: A Different Way to Lead

Many leadership models thrive on control, on dictating outcomes, on ensuring predictability. But I believe in a different approach. One that values trust over micromanagement, and autonomy over rigid oversight.

I don’t believe in workplaces that breed fear. Fear suffocates creativity, kills initiative, and makes people shrink. I’ve seen how people thrive when they’re given trust, when they’re made to feel accountable rather than policed. My leadership isn’t about enforcing perfection, it’s about pushing for progress.

Excellence, for me, isn’t about being flawless. It’s about being fearless. It’s about striving for originality, for impact, for something that leaves the room changed when you walk out.

The Founder’s Paradox: There Is No Balance, Only Choice.

No one warns you about what it actually means to run your own business. No one tells you how deeply it will demand you, not just your time, but your energy, your mental bandwidth, your capacity to stretch beyond what you thought was possible.

The first few months (I think it is going to be years) of building something from scratch feel like a free fall. You don’t realize how much it will consume you until you’re already in too deep. Work needs you constantly, but life outside of work doesn’t stop either. And some days, navigating both feels impossible.

The biggest lesson? Balance is a myth. The real skill is knowing what to prioritize and when. It’s understanding that leadership isn’t just about keeping everything afloat; it’s about making hard choices, about being kind to yourself when you can’t do it all, and about letting go of the unrealistic expectations of having it ‘all figured out.’

The Women Who Lead Differently

Some women make leadership look effortless. My business partner, Surbhi, is one of them. She listens with intent, leads with quiet strength, and finds clarity in chaos. She doesn’t dominate a room, she anchors it. And that’s the kind of leadership that stays with people long after the meeting ends.

Another woman who has shaped my thinking is Africa Brooke. I first heard her on a podcast, and I’ve been hooked ever since. Her perspectives on authenticity, leadership, and balancing EQ with IQ resonate deeply. Women like her remind me that leadership isn’t about fitting into a mold; it’s about defining your own space and owning it fully.

Leading Differently Is Leading Powerfully

Women don’t lead differently because we have to. We lead differently because we bring something rare to the table…perspective. We see what others don’t, we sense what’s unspoken, and we lead with a depth that balances intuition and intellect.

The future of leadership isn’t about gender, it’s about impact. But until the world stops seeing leadership through a narrow lens, women will continue to redefine success on our own terms.

So, if you’re a woman stepping into leadership, here’s my message to you: Own your voice. Set the tone. Build the workplace you wish existed. Lead in a way that feels undeniably yours. Because the best leaders aren’t the ones who conform…they’re the ones who create.