March 2026
Editor's Note:
The State of Women in Business
Let’s be honest.
If you only looked at the headlines, you could be forgiven for thinking that we had already cracked it. These days we have record numbers of women graduating, over 40% of FTSE 350 board seats held by women, and a historic high of women running Fortune 500 companies.
Progress? Absolutely.
Victory lap? Not quite.
The unfortunate reality is that when you move from celebrating on the surface to looking at the roles of real power - the P&L roles, the strategic decision-making seats, the CEO succession pipeline - numbers thin out fast. Representation rises at the edges and stalls at the core. Sponsorship gaps remain. Stretch roles are still unevenly distributed. Leadership continues to have a “look,” and it isn’t neutral.
And then there’s the small matter of exhaustion.
Senior women consistently report higher burnout than their male peers. Not because we’re less resilient - spare me - but because we are still carrying visible responsibility and invisible labour. Caregiving. Culture-shaping. Over-proving. For women of colour, that tax is higher still.
Ambition hasn’t insulated women from depletion. In many cases, it has accelerated it.
That said, the landscape is shifting. Flexible work has disrupted old power models. Menopause is finally being discussed without whispers. More women are founding businesses, raising capital, and defining success beyond corner offices and performative hustle.
But here’s the tension: belief in true parity has wobbled. The pipeline exists. The talent exists. The competence is unquestionable.
The real question is this - are systems evolving fast enough to meet the calibre of women moving through them?
In this special edition of She Means Business, we’re not celebrating for the sake of it. We’re taking stock. Honestly.
Because progress deserves applause.
But parity demands pressure.
Lynnx
This month’s highlights
Ask Lynn
Any questions you have, career-led, life choices or situations you need help navigating - I will answer. This month I talk through questions such as:
I worked hard to get into leadership and recently got promoted, but now I’m expected to perform and take on mentorship. My emotional load has increased tenfold. How do I keep my peace?
I’m 29 and I just started investing for the first time. I feel massively behind. Any advice
I’ve got a two-year-old daughter as a single mum and I feel scared about the way the world is moving. How do I prepare her?
How do I balance everything? I feel like I’m spinning 100 plates. Does it get easier?
Episode IX: She Means Business Special Edition
In this special edition of She Means Business, we go beyond the headlines and into lived experience. We don’t just ask where we stand, but where we are going, and what it will truly take to get there.
I invited a diverse cross-section of women - across industries, across generations, from those just stepping into their careers to those at the height of influence - to answer five candid questions about carving a path to the top in the world as it is today.
Not the polished conference version. The real version.
Because progress isn’t linear. And power isn’t evenly distributed.
But women are still rising strategically, intelligently, and unapologetically.
Power Play Picks
We love.
Women’s Rights Are Democratic Rights.
In this sharp Foreign Affairs piece, Hillary Clinton makes a sobering argument: the rollback of women’s rights around the world is not random - it’s a political strategy.
History shows that when democracies begin to weaken, the first freedoms to be tested are often those of women. Our rights become the proving ground for how far power can reach.
Clinton reframes the issue clearly: women’s rights are not a “women’s issue.” They are a barometer of the health of democracy itself. Essential reading for anyone paying attention to where the world is headed.
I can say from personal experience that Vladimir Putin is threatened by strong women.
As I argue in a new piece in Foreign Affairs, Putin and his fellow autocrats have reason to fear women.
It's because defending women's rights and combating the global tide of authoritarianism is the same fight.
Read the full article here.