In honor of Women’s Health Month, I wanted to illuminate the ongoing challenges for women in the workplace and leadership. And I realize we stand on the shoulders of many incredible advocates, men and women, who historically and today speak up and hire and pay and acknowledge the issues I outline here. While conversations often focus on physical health, we know that workplace wellness and the day-to-day experiences for many women include negative impact of work on mental, emotional, and physical well-being.

And the issue is not simply “stress.” It is the cumulative weight of carrying so much extra – mentally, emotionally, relationally, and professionally – for so long. And with limited recognition or acknowledgement.

Women are often the people keeping things running at work and at home. We saw this front and center in the 2021 pandemic when women dropped out of the labor force at four times the rate of men. In the office, those non-promotable tasks, as research confirms, are largely done by women. They coordinate details, anticipate needs, solve problems before they happen, support others emotionally, mentor coworkers, manage communication, remember deadlines, fill gaps, and quietly carry responsibilities that never officially belong to them – but somehow still become theirs.

Much of this work is essential. And many are eager to do it.

But much of the work is also invisible.

The Meta Lens: Women Carry a Higher Mental and Emotional Load

Research increasingly shows that women often carry a disproportionate share of what researchers call the “cognitive load” or “mental load” – the invisible planning, tracking, organizing, anticipating needs, and remembering the details and connections that keeps life and work life functioning.

In many workplaces, women become the emotional infrastructure of the team. In leadership situations, these often unconscious and unspoken organizational expectations boosted by social cultural norms translate to more hours of non promotable tasks and over the long term an erosion of women’s confidence, perceived value, and internal recognition of her capacity to take on more responsibility and oversight.

The incredible strengths of women who are Dependable. Helpful. Reliable. can also hold them back. And over time, many women begin to experience identity strain: the growing disconnect between who they are, what’s important to them, what they carry, and how visible or valued that contribution feels.

Research has clearly confirmed that the persistent burnout discrepancy between men and women is not exclusively a product of individual challenge, but must also be considered from the lens of “gendered stress load” built into our social and cultural fabric.

Women navigate a complex meta-environment where professional achievement is often high-stakes yet shadowed by personality-based feedback bias. For example, Textio (2024) found that high-performing women are 7.3 times more likely than high-performing men to receive feedback on their personality rather than their work output. The same study also documents that women are 7 times more likely to be called “emotional” and frequently receive labels like “abrasive” or “opinionated,” while men are more likely to be called “confident” or “ambitious”.

I have heard similar stories from the many high-performing professional women I support via executive coaching and consulting.

The Health Impact Is Real

As Van Der Kolk (2015) comprehensively portrayed, the body keeps score of chronic stress. Research from organizations including the CDC, APA, WHO, and the U.S. Surgeon General has connected chronic workplace stress with:

Anxiety
Poor sleep
Burnout
Fatigue
Depression
Emotional exhaustion
Disengagement
Reduced overall well-being and flourishing

The issue is sustained overload without enough recognition, support, recovery, or shared responsibility. Over time, women may begin to feel:

Unseen
Resentful
Disconnected from themselves
Uncertain whether what they contribute truly matters

The imposter and inner critic morph the lack of validation, feedback bias, and discrepancy of “office housework” into harmful narratives that demean confidence and translate to women playing small.

Have the Conversation

Many women – especially in communities that value humility, service, dependability, and hard work – have been taught not to draw attention to themselves. There is tremendous validation in quiet faithfulness and serving others well. We also don’t want to swing the pendulum too far and lose sight of the value that humble leadership and behind-the-scenes support bring to leading, working, and teaming effectively.

But many workplaces only measure what is visible. That means women often need to learn how to communicate the value of their contributions clearly and comfortably – as a means to maintain consideration for her next role and to bring clarity to workload and real impact that may not show up on a dashboard.

Making your work visible is accuracy. And it’s helpful for you to see the real impact that those non promotable tasks dial up- and for your team, colleagues, and leaders to see the connection too. For example:

Instead of:
“I just helped out our new teammate settle in.”

Use an impact statement:
“I helped coordinate communication and introductions with our new colleague so the project stays on schedule.”

Or:
“I spent time helping Joe and Sylvia meet in the middle so the team can move forward.”

Instead of:
“I just handled it.”

Women should not have to become louder versions of themselves to be valued. But many do need permission (often starting with yourself!) to stop disappearing inside your own contributions.

How Healthy Workplaces Protect High-Performers, Including Women

Healthy workplaces do more than improve performance. They protect people.

Research consistently shows workplaces improve mental and physical well-being when leaders:

• Recognize contributions clearly
• Create fair expectations
• Reduce chronic overload
• Clarify roles
• Support psychological safety and environments of respect
• Share responsibilities and decision-making equitably
• Encourage healthy boundaries
• Make advancement pathways transparent

Supportive leadership is not simply a management issue. It is a health issue.

At the heart of my work is this belief:

Women are not burning out because they are incapable. Many are burning out because their strengths, capacity, and sense of responsibility have been overused for too long without enough support, recognition, or shared accountability.

Identity-First Leadership asks a different question than most workplace models:

Not:
“How do we get more from people?”

But:
“How do people stay connected to themselves while contributing meaningfully, sustainably, and collectively?”

Because sustainable leadership is not built through self-erasure. It is built through alignment: between personal identity, team identity, organizational values, mission, contribution, and well-being.

When identity is healthy and aligned:

• Women do not have to disappear to be dependable
• Teams do not have to exploit strengths to succeed
• Organizations stop mistaking burnout for commitment
• And people can contribute from wholeness rather than chronic depletion

Women’s health at work is about

• Dignity.
• Visibility.
• Support.
• Recognition.
• Belonging.
• Sustainability.

And creating workplaces where women can contribute fully without losing themselves in the process.

If you’re looking for a fresh set of people-centered, research-backed, time-tested strategies to dial this up on your team or in your organization, let’s connect.

.References cited

Textio. Language Bias in Performance Feedback 2024. Textio, 29 July 2024, textio.com/feedback-bias-2024.

Van der Kolk, Bessel A. The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma. Penguin Books, 2015