Poll Response: Representation Matters, But It’s Not the Only Path to Leadership
By Lynnecia S. Eley | The Confidence Doula™
When I posted a poll on LinkedIn asking how much women leaders influence your career goals, 70% of respondents said: Very important. And I get it.
There’s power in seeing someone who looks like you in the room where decisions are made. There’s reassurance in watching another woman rise and thinking, if she can, maybe I can too. Representation matters. The research backs it up:
McKinsey & Lean In (2023): Women leaders are more likely to mentor and champion others, especially women of color.
Catalyst (2022): Organizations with women in leadership report higher employee morale and more inclusive workplaces.
Harvard Business Review: Women consistently rank higher than men in key leadership competencies like resilience and developing others.
But here’s where I want to shift the conversation. Representation isn’t a prerequisite. It’s a reminder. Too often, we treat visibility as a requirement to step into leadership:
“I’ve never seen someone like me in that role, so maybe I’m not ready.”
“There’s no blueprint, so I’ll wait until someone else goes first.”
But what if your visibility is someone else’s hope? What if your boldness is the blueprint?
Let me be clear: You do not need a mirror to lead. You need a mission.
Representation is a gift, but leadership is born from belief, resilience, vision, and habits that sustain your confidence even when no one else is clapping. Some of the boldest women I know have led in rooms where no one looked like them, talked like them, or understood their full story. And they did it anyway. I’ve been that bold woman in a room, standing up to and sometimes for other leaders. Because leadership isn’t about replication. It’s about revelation. It’s about realizing that being “the only” isn’t a setback; it’s a sign that you’re building something brand new.
So here’s my reminder to you:
You don’t have to wait for a role model to show you the way.
You don’t have to follow in someone’s footsteps; you can make your own.
You don’t need permission; you need belief.
You are the representation.
You are the reason someone else will feel seen.