HR Magazine – How to support women and LGBTQ+ leaders to fully be themselves

Women now occupy more than two in five seats on boards of the UK’s largest FT 350 companies; 10 years ago, the figure was just over one in five. Progress stalls, however, at CEO level: just 21 women (6%) head up FTSE 350 companies, up from 17 in the same timeframe.

Figures for LGBTQ+ representation show that in the US Fortune 500 listing of around 5,500 board seats there are only 50 openly LGBTQ+ board members. In the UK FTSE 100 there appears to be just two publicly out LGBTQ+ CEOs. But what have these figures got to do with authenticity?

Research conducted by Hult International Business School, including interviews with more than 50 senior women leaders and 24 LGBTQ+ leaders, has revealed persistent systemic, structural and cultural barriers to authentic leadership. The leadership styles that women can feel compelled to adopt contribute to the phenomenon known as the “leaky pipeline”, where women disproportionately exit leadership pathways.

LGBTQ+ leaders reported concerns over whether to disclose their sexual and/or gender identity. If disclosure is deemed too risky, the true numbers of LGBTQ+ leaders can be underreported.

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Define authenticity 

Authenticity is not about saying or doing whatever one feels; it’s also not about allowing bad-tempered behaviours, intolerance or narcissistic leadership. At its root, authenticity is about knowing oneself and applying this to professional settings.

We all code switch from time to time. But leadership is authentic when leaders don’t feel compelled to perform their role in a ‘disembodied’ way, detached from their intersectional identities, or to copy a leadership style incongruent with their values.

The assimilation challenge

Our research shows that when women and minorities (such as LGBTQ+ persons) occupy leadership roles, they often encounter leadership norms that are coded as masculine, alpha-male, competitive and individualistic. Many women in the C-suite describe organisational environments that reward constant availability, round-the-clock presence and styles of leadership that prioritise assertiveness over collaboration and ‘boss-domination’ over collective decision-making.

A senior leader in global technology described the leadership climate in her organisation where, after a big push, the company had recruited a lot of female leaders. “The main challenge was that the leadership behaviour demonstrated by the CEO and all the other women in leadership positions, including myself, had to be of the alpha-male variety,” she said.

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“It was very command. It was very control. It was very pushy. It was not collaborative and not democratic.” Such testimonies show that while organisations may succeed in getting women in, there is often a misalignment between diverse intakes and culture, structures and styles that remain unchanged. If leadership remains culturally defined in narrow terms, talented leaders who operate differently may feel they must either assimilate or exit (‘the leaky pipeline’).

Women in senior positions can also feel compelled to constantly prove they are ‘strong enough’ and ‘not weak’ in order to gain legitimacy. Many (but not all) women in our research describe wanting to lead with openness – acknowledging uncertainty, imperfection, and the realities of caregiving – but feeling constrained by organisational cultures that equate vulnerability with weakness.

The authenticity challenge

For LGBTQ+ persons, the challenge to be authentic takes on a unique aspect, often revolving around whether to disclose or hide their identity. While attitudes in the UK have changed dramatically in recent decades, there remain pockets of hostility.

Research by Dr Richard Dunston Brady with 24 senior and ‘out’ LGBTQ+ leaders in the UK found that decisions about ’coming out’ are not made lightly. This is especially because of the very public nature of leadership roles and the need to gain the respect and legitimacy of a range of stakeholders, such as clients, bosses and boards, some of whom may not have open-minded views about LGBTQ+ identities. International leadership poses particular challenges as some operate in global contexts where LGBTQ+ identities are illegal and criminalised.

The dilemma for an LGBTQ+ leader is real, but for participants in our UK study, withholding such a central aspect of their personhood felt inauthentic, because it withholds a key part of who they are. For many, the decision to come out and live openly was described as a transformative moment, personally and professionally.

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Participants spoke of how becoming an open and ‘out’ leader brought with it the dividend of authenticity that became a “vortex of leadership power”. One trans woman leader remarked: “There is a power in authenticity. There is a power in being yourself.”

In this case, her team reacted well to her authenticity, suggesting that visible, authentic LGBTQ+ leadership can have a positive effect on others. We also see ways in which authenticity supports professional thriving, engagement and performance in leadership roles.

Leaders reported feeling more confident, trusted and effective once they no longer concealed aspects of their identity. Some even traced their career acceleration directly to this shift, suggesting alignment between personal and professional selves became a source of power and respect. In the UK context, we found that the impact of a senior leader coming out can inspire others, including LGBTQ+ people at lower seniority levels.

Actions: How to enable authentic leadership

To reframe authenticity as a leadership capability, leaders can:

• Redefine leadership criteria to legitimise multiple leadership styles, not just the dominant norms.

• Embed awareness of authenticity into promotion and succession decisions. Explain exactly how authenticity bolsters innovation and inclusion.

• Hold senior leaders accountable for modelling difference without reputational penalty.

• Design performance-review processes that do not reward conformity.

• Actively sponsor women and LGBTQ+ leaders, making authenticity visible and valued.

The benefits to organisations are clear: they gain when LGBTQ+ leaders can be open and authentic at work. For the leaders, the ability to be open and authentic reduces the mental and emotional effort that they may have spent on hiding their true identity from colleagues, which in turn allows them to focus on leading people, performance and strategy. People work better when they can be themselves.

Aidan McKearney is professor in HR management and organisational behaviour at Hult International Business School.

Richard Dunston Brady is equality, diversity and inclusion manager for Harrogate and District NHS Foundation Trust.

This article was published in the January/February 2026 edition of HR magazine.

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