Special Address: She Doesn’t Lead Like Them, She Leads What’s Next

At the 6th edition of the exchange4media PR & Corp Comm Women Achievers Summit 2025, Dr Kiran Khanna, CEO & Founder, AIDA Story Pvt Ltd delivered a special address on the theme,“She Doesn’t Lead Like Them, She Leads What’s Next.” Her session highlights the challenges and achievements of women in leadership, framed by historical context, statistical insights, and personal experiences. She emphasizes the complexity of women’s leadership journeys, the persistent gender disparities, and the importance of collective support for emerging women leaders. 

Dr Khanna began her address with hard-hitting numbers that immediately set the tone for the conversation. “India has 28 states, eight UTs, one woman chief minister, one woman governor, and a population of 1.4 billion,” she said, highlighting the sharp contrast between representation and reality. Drawing from her 20-year journey in academia, she pointed out that while educational institutions have nearly “80% women teachers,” only “10 to 11% vice chancellors” are women. She further shared that only “5% of India’s listed companies have a female managing director or CEO,” while women hold just “13.6% seats in Lok Sabha.” She also highlighted India’s “131st rank out of 146 countries” on the gender parity index.

Emphasising on how leadership barriers for women have evolved over decades, Dr Khanna revisited former US President Richard Nixon’s infamous 1971 recorded remark where he said women were “erratic and emotional” and should not hold government jobs. She then moved to the concept of the “glass ceiling,” coined in a 1986 study by Carol Hymowitz and Timothy Schellhardt, before explaining how later researchers reframed it as a “labyrinth” rather than a single invisible barrier.

“The route exists, but it is full of twists and turns,” she said, explaining that women do not simply hit one ceiling; they navigate a maze designed to exhaust them before reaching the centre. “We didn’t hit the ceiling. We entered a maze that was designed to exhaust us before we reached the center,” she expressed.

Despite the challenges, Dr Khanna celebrated women leaders who carved their own path without following predefined templates. She cited leaders such as Mamata Banerjee, Nirmala Sitharaman and Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw as examples of women who navigated complex systems on their own terms.

She also spoke candidly about the subtle biases women leaders face in workplaces. “If you lead assertively, you are called aggressive. If you lead collaboratively, you are seen as warm but not strategic,” she said, explaining how women are constantly judged through a “male lens.” According to her, leadership expectations for women often shift depending on who is evaluating them.

One of the strongest themes of her address was that women should not feel pressured to imitate male leadership styles. “Lead like the men who built this space” was advice she said many women have heard throughout their careers. However, she emphasized that women leaders today are building a different future altogether. “She doesn’t lead like them because the world she is leading into doesn’t look like the world they built,” she said.

Dr Khanna stressed that qualities like empathy, trust, authenticity, and psychological safety are not weaknesses, but defining strengths of women leadership. Speaking about the current trust deficit in organisations and consumer spaces, she said authenticity from leaders matters more than ever, especially during crises.

Another key highlight of her address was her emphasis on sponsorship over mentorship. Referring to a Harvard Business Review study of nearly 4,000 professionals, she pointed out that women often have mentors, but lack sponsors — senior leaders who advocate for them in rooms they are absent from. “Women reported that they have more mentors than men, but men get 15% more promotions because women have mentors, not sponsors,” she mentioned.

Towards the end of her address, Dr Khanna spoke emotionally about her entrepreneurial journey with AIDA Story Pvt Ltd and how she discovered immense untapped talent among women from tier-two and tier-three towns. She shared how many talented young women are unable to relocate due to family responsibilities, ailing parents, or younger siblings, and stressed the importance of creating opportunities and support systems for them.

“The most powerful thing a woman who has made it through the labyrinth can do is go back, not to stay there, but to show someone else the route,” she said.

Ending her session, Dr Khanna urged women leaders to continue holding the ladder for others instead of removing it after reaching the top. “Celebrate the women who made it. Be honest about how many didn’t. Hold hands with the ones who are still inside the labyrinth and keep building rooms big enough for all of us,” she concluded.