How Women Are Negotiating Hybrid Leadership Roles

When offices began reopening after the pandemic, some organizations demanded a full return, while others slowly adopted hybrid setups. However, leadership expectations seemed to return to past behavior, which was that being physically present in the office was the only way to prove professional imprint.

According to Forbes, hybrid working has become a dominant part of everyday work-life. Women leaders are now showing leadership is not determined just by your physical presence, but by intentional connection and strategic outcomes to have a new defined framework for modern leadership.

Amber Darrisaw, an Account Manager at Soliant, marking two years in a leadership role put it plainly: “hybrid schedules provide flexibility and increases productivity for a leader.”

“It also encourages the team to be autonomous in problem solving and [helps] develop trust with each other,” she said.

Amber’s experience shows that flexibility doesn’t weaken authority but sharpens it. Her hybrid schedule allows her to prioritize deep work, conserve bandwidth, and model to her team that balance is possible.

Still, the question of leadership presence lingers. Women know all too well how quickly absence from the office can be misinterpreted as lack of ambition, focus, responsibility and initiative. So many leaders are careful about how and when they show up for themselves and their team. They may plan in-office days around key meetings and business agendas, use platforms such as Slack and Zoom for touchpoints with team members, and digital tools for accessibility.

A Gartner study conducted with their business leaders revealed that, 64% believe onsite workers are higher performers, and 76% say onsite workers are more likely to get promoted. Many companies reward the people who are often seen the most. And it sometimes feels like women leaders’ insistence on hybrid leadership to organizations will be the complete solution. But we know challenges will still be present in some situations. The Harvard Business Review says the five common challenges are “communication, coordination, connection, creativity, and culture.”

Hybrid work is opening the door for a new framework many may not have realized is a benefit for the workplace. In an article with Psychology Today, thought leader and researcher Cornelia C. Walther, Ph.D. shares how men’s brains are wired to “focused, coordinated action” and women mix “analytical and intuitive thinking” across territories. This allows for women’s strengths in leadership roles to be beyond traditional workplace norms and include empathy, social understanding, and collaboration. 

Strong results and healthy boundaries can coexist. Author Laysha Ward shares in her book, Lead Like You Mean It: Lessons on Integrity and Purpose from the C-Suite, that she believes in a holistic approach that “requires that you make intentional choices about your life and your career.”

Women leaders can block out time to throw clothes in the laundry, family commitments, save time and gas with a lessened commute to the office. Some may see this as only personal benefits, however it shows as a structural benefit too. According to IWG’s 2024 Advancing Equality: Women in the Hybrid Workplace report, 89 percent of women say working hybrid has helped “facilitate a better balance between work responsibilities and family commitments.” This conclusion challenges traditional work practices about self sacrificing and reframes the term to balance, which allows women leaders to set a healthier pace.

The negotiation for hybrid leadership roles isn’t just about a hybrid schedule. It’s about reworking the standards of leadership itself. Mindset and performance expert, Kathleen Black says in her blog, “[Women are] not new to leadership; they’ve simply outgrown the version they were taught to follow”. Hybrid leadership roles present an opportunity for women to redefine the framework and rethink promotions, presence, balance and more instead of adapting to traditional systems.