Navigating Leadership Through Intersectionality: Elena’s Story

Elena’s Story: Navigating Intersectionality, Leadership, and Self-Doubt

Elena is a queer, culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD), and neurodivergent leader in the finance sector. Having recently returned from parental leave, she is eager to pick up where she left off in her career. Yet, she finds herself at a crossroads, filled with questions about her future in leadership.

Reading my article "The Glass Bamboo Ceiling" resonated deeply with her, reflecting experiences of being overlooked, misunderstood, and navigating systemic barriers that many with intersectional identities face. In her earlier career, Elena once declined a leadership opportunity due to personal reasons — a decision she now reflects on with mixed emotions. Today, she is ready to embrace leadership but carries the weight of her past challenges, wondering how they might affect her chances and capability.

Elena self-identifies as neurodivergent after years of personal reflection and research, although she has never received a formal diagnosis. She worries about her management style — particularly her tendency toward blunt communication, strong process-orientation, and perceived lack of "the human touch" — traits she fears could make her a poor manager.

But the reality is far more complex.

The Complexity of Leadership and Intersectionality

No single identity defines someone's capacity for leadership. It is the intersection of all of Elena’s identities — her queerness, her CALD background, her neurodivergence, her lived experience as a working parent — combined with her choices, behaviours, and influence that shapes who she is as a leader.

Leadership is rarely about fitting a mould. It's about how one leverages their strengths, builds relationships, and adapts authentically to empower others. Being process-focused and direct can actually be immense assets in leadership, especially when balanced with intentional listening, self-awareness, and adaptive communication.

People management is not a checklist — it’s a dynamic, evolving craft. It requires a deep understanding of yourself, emotional regulation, and the ability to read the needs of your team. Neurodivergence often brings unique strengths — strategic thinking, innovation, pattern recognition, operational excellence — but it also demands conscious energy management and self-compassion.

There is no "perfect" leadership profile. Instead, there are infinite variations. The key is to understand your own wiring deeply, recognize your natural advantages, acknowledge your blind spots, and find ways to lead from your authentic strengths while consciously evolving where needed.

Turning Intersectional Identities into Leadership Superpowers

For women — especially those with multiple, intersecting identities — aspiring to leadership roles can feel daunting. Systems are not always set up to see or value diverse leadership styles. Discrimination and bias, sadly, are realities. Yet, it’s crucial not to internalize those barriers.

Instead, Elena can view her lived experience as a superpower — an invaluable source of resilience, empathy, insight, and cultural intelligence that few others possess. Her experiences offer her a wider lens on privilege, exclusion, and opportunity. She can use this wisdom to not only drive her own success but to empower others, particularly those who are underrepresented or overlooked.

It's important that Elena builds and leans on a strong network of allies — mentors, sponsors, peers — who understand the value she brings and can amplify her voice in the rooms where decisions are made. Allies don't just open doors; they walk beside you to ensure you’re heard, seen, and valued.

Leadership isn’t about ignoring the systemic challenges — it's about finding ways to navigate, resist, and, ultimately, change the systems from within.

Empowering Intersectional Leaders: A Practical Framework

To support leaders like Elena — and anyone navigating intersectionality — here’s a practical framework:

1. Know Yourself

• Reflect deeply: Understand your identities, strengths, values, and how they influence your leadership style.
• Own your wiring: Whether formally diagnosed or self-identified, know how your neurodivergence, lived experiences, and background shape your perceptions and decision-making.
• Normalize imperfection: Leadership isn't about being perfect; it’s about being self-aware and intentional.

🔹 Questions to reflect on:

• What gives me energy?
• What drains me?
• How do my experiences shape my leadership lens?

2. Manage Yourself

• Self-regulate: Build tools to manage emotions, energy, and communication styles effectively, especially under pressure.
• Adapt without losing authenticity: It's not about "masking" who you are — it's about developing flexibility in how you show up depending on the situation.
• Set healthy boundaries: Especially important for leaders with marginalized identities navigating systems that may not always be inclusive.

🔹 Strategies:

• Develop a quick emotional reset routine.
• Practice conscious communication: "How will this be received?"
• Prioritize energy renewal, not just energy expenditure.

3. Leverage Your Strengths

• Center your unique value: Your process-focus, blunt honesty, resilience, strategic thinking — these are leadership gold when channeled intentionally.
• Balance with complementary skills: Where you feel less natural (e.g., emotional nuance), consider light development or partnership with team members who have those strengths.
• Tell your story with pride: Don’t downplay your lived experience — share it strategically to inspire and build trust.

🔹 Mindset shifts:

• "My way of thinking is an asset, not a defect."
• "I bring a perspective others cannot replicate."

4. Build Your Supporters

• Actively cultivate allies: Not just mentors, but sponsors — people who will advocate for you when you're not in the room.
• Lean into communities: Networks for women, CALD professionals, neurodivergent leaders, and queer leaders can be sources of wisdom, resources, and solidarity.
• Ask for what you need: Don’t expect others to guess how to best support you — be clear and confident.

🔹 Key actions:

• Identify 2–3 allies inside your organization.
• Join (or build) peer support groups aligned with your identities.
• Practice making specific asks ("I would appreciate your advocacy when leadership roles are discussed").

5. Empower Others

• Lead inclusively: Use your understanding of intersectionality to create psychological safety for others.
• Model authenticity: Your leadership will give silent permission for others to show up fully as themselves.
• Challenge inequity: Even small acts — calling out bias, advocating for underrepresented talent — ripple outward.

🔹 Leadership philosophy:

• "Leadership is about amplifying the collective, not just advancing individually."
• "I lift as I climb."

In Summary

Elena’s story reflects the broader truth that leadership potential is not defined by how well someone conforms to traditional expectations. It is shaped by self-knowledge, strategic influence, resilience, and authenticity.

Her intersectional identities present real challenges — but they also offer deep reservoirs of strength and wisdom that can redefine what leadership looks like. Elena doesn't need to become a different person to lead. She needs to embrace the full tapestry of who she is and lead because of it, not in spite of it.

Intersectionality is not just a barrier to overcome. It is a leadership superpower waiting to be unleashed.