Honestly, if you look at the boardrooms or the community centers or even the way families operate these days, something has shifted. It isn’t just about "representation" in that hollow, corporate way we used to talk about it. It's about something much more nuanced. We are finally seeing the power of women variety—the idea that female leadership isn't a monolith, but a chaotic, beautiful, and highly effective spectrum of different styles, backgrounds, and temperaments.
Think about it.
For decades, women were told that to succeed, they had to pick a "type." You were either the "Iron Lady" who out-manned the men, or you were the "Soft Nurturer" who handled the HR vibes. That’s dead. It’s gone. Today, the most successful organizations are those that lean into the fact that one woman might lead with high-octane data analysis while another leads with radical empathy, and a third leads by breaking things and putting them back together. This variety is a literal superpower for any group trying to survive a volatile economy.
The Myth of the Monolithic Woman
People used to talk about "The Female Perspective" like it was a single item on a menu. Like you could just order one and be done with your diversity quota.
That’s nonsense.
The real power of women variety lies in the friction between different lived experiences. A Gen Z woman starting a tech firm in Austin has a completely different worldview than a boomer woman who fought her way up through a legacy law firm in New York. When you put them in a room together, you don't just get "women's voices." You get a clash of eras, a mix of digital-native intuition and hard-won institutional knowledge.
Research from the Harvard Business Review and various McKinsey "Women in the Workplace" reports have consistently shown that diverse teams—especially those with a high variety of female leaders—outperform their peers. But the "why" is often buried. It’s because variety kills groupthink. When everyone thinks the same, the ship hits the iceberg. When you have a variety of women—neurodivergent women, women from different ethnic backgrounds, women with different family structures—they spot the icebergs from ten different angles.
How Cognitive Diversity Drives the Power of Women Variety
It's kinda funny how we focus so much on what people look like and forget how they actually process information.
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Cognitive diversity is the secret sauce here. In the context of the power of women variety, this means moving past the surface. For example, consider the difference between a "risk-aware" leader and a "risk-taker." Traditionally, women were stereotyped as risk-averse. But real-world data, including studies from the Journal of Business Ethics, suggests that women aren't necessarily "risk-averse"; they are "risk-perceptive." They see the downside more clearly.
Now, imagine a team where you have a woman who is a bold, "fail fast" entrepreneur working alongside a woman who is a methodical, cautious strategist. That’s the variety. They balance each other out.
I’ve seen this in the tech world. A female CTO might be obsessing over the technical debt and the long-term stability of the stack, while the female Head of Product is pushing for a radical new UI that might break things but will capture the market. Because they both occupy a space where they feel empowered to lead differently, the company thrives. It’s not about being "womanly." It’s about being different together.
The Intersectionality Factor
We can't talk about variety without talking about intersectionality. It’s a bit of a buzzword, I know, but it matters. Kimberlé Crenshaw coined the term for a reason.
When we talk about the power of women variety, we are talking about the intersection of race, class, disability, and sexuality. A Black woman’s experience in the American corporate system is fundamentally different from a white woman’s. Her "variety" of leadership often includes a highly developed "double consciousness"—the ability to navigate multiple cultural worlds simultaneously. That is an elite skill. It’s basically a superpower in global business.
If your version of "women's power" only includes one type of woman, you’re missing out on about 90% of the actual value. You're getting a filtered, watered-down version of reality.
Real-World Impact: Beyond the C-Suite
Let's look at some actual examples. Look at the way New Zealand handled the early 2020s under Jacinda Ardern compared to other styles. Then look at someone like Mia Mottley, the Prime Minister of Barbados. Both are powerful women. But their styles? Totally different. Ardern was famous for "empathy as a policy," while Mottley is a powerhouse of climate finance reform and blunt, direct global advocacy.
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That is the power of women variety on the world stage.
It’s not just politics, though. Look at the culinary world. You have Dominique Crenn, with her poetic, high-art approach to French cuisine, and then you have someone like Ina Garten, who built an empire on the idea that things should be simple, accessible, and "store-bought is fine." Both are titans. Both are incredibly powerful. But they represent different ends of the spectrum. If the world only had one or the other, our culture would be significantly poorer.
The "Broken Rung" and Why Variety Stalls
Despite all this, there's a problem. The McKinsey "Women in the Workplace" 2023 report highlighted the "broken rung"—the fact that women, especially women of color, get stuck at the first step up to manager.
This kills variety before it even starts.
When you lose women early in the pipeline, you lose the different flavors of leadership that would have matured five years down the line. You end up with a "survival of the most conforming." The women who make it to the top are often the ones who were best at mimicking the existing (usually male-dominated) culture.
That’s not variety. That’s just a different person wearing the same old uniform.
To actually tap into the power of women variety, organizations have to protect the "weird" ones. The outliers. The women who don't "act like leaders" in the traditional sense. Maybe they're quiet. Maybe they're loud. Maybe they wear hoodies instead of blazers. If you force them all into the same mold, you've destroyed the very thing that makes them valuable.
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Actionable Steps to Harness Variety
If you’re a leader—or just someone who wants to see this happen in your own life—you can't just wait for it to happen. You have to be deliberate. Variety doesn't just "show up." It has to be invited and protected.
Stop looking for "Culture Fit." This is the biggest killer of variety. When you hire for "fit," you’re just hiring people you want to have a beer with. That’s how you get a room full of clones. Instead, hire for "Culture Add." Ask: "What is this woman bringing that we currently lack?" If your team is all "thinkers," hire a "doer." If they’re all "direct," hire someone who understands nuance.
Audit your mentorship. Most people mentor people who remind them of themselves. If you’re a woman in power, look at who you’re pulling up. Are they mini-me versions of you? If so, stop. Find a woman whose style makes you a little uncomfortable. Mentor her. That’s where the real growth happens.
Redefine "Executive Presence." We need to stop thinking that "looking like a leader" means sounding like a 1950s news anchor. Variety means accepting different dialects, different ways of dressing, and different ways of communicating. If a woman is delivering results, her "presence" is exactly what it needs to be.
Create "Safety for Dissent." The power of women variety only works if people feel safe to disagree. If you have a diverse group of women but they’re all afraid to speak up, you have zero variety in practice. You just have a diverse-looking photo op.
Focus on the "Why" of the Work. Different women will approach a problem from different angles. One might focus on the human cost, another on the financial ROI, another on the brand legacy. Instead of forcing them to agree on the how, align them on the why. Let the variety of "hows" be the engine that gets you there.
Honestly, we are just scratching the surface of what happens when we let women be as varied as they actually are. It’s not about giving a group of people a "chance." It’s about realizing that without this variety, we’re all operating at half-capacity. The world is too messy and complicated for "one-size-fits-all" leadership. We need the whole spectrum.
To really lean into this, start by looking at your own circle. Who are you listening to? If every woman in your feed or your office thinks just like you, you’re missing the point. Seek out the ones who challenge your assumptions. Seek out the variety. That’s where the power actually lives.