In the rapidly evolving tech industry, women continue to face significant challenges in reaching top leadership positions. Reports from McKinsey & Company highlight the persistent hurdles women encounter throughout their corporate careers, from recruitment to retention to advancement.
Today, these challenges are even more complex as companies navigate rapid digital transformation, skills shortages, and the growing demand for leaders who can manage technological change such as AI integration into daily business operations. Even women with strong technical backgrounds may experience uncertainty or fear as they adapt to emerging tools, shifting expectations, and fast-paced environments.
Yet despite these pressures, the tides are shifting. More women are entering the tech space, pursuing leadership roles, and working to leave a legacy for their families, communities, and organisations. They aspire not only to excel individually but also to influence strategic decision-making, shape company culture, foster innovation, and champion diversity, equity, and inclusion. Women envision themselves as change agents who challenge outdated norms, break barriers, and redefine what leadership looks like in the modern workplace.
However, this journey is far from easy. Women often encounter internal blocks, self-doubt, perfectionism, fear of visibility, and external obstacles such as unconscious bias, discrimination, limited access to sponsorship, being overlooked for promotions or spoken over in meetings. These challenges can slow career progression and diminish confidence in women as they feel less than others.
One powerful yet frequently undervalued tool in overcoming these obstacles is the development and use of soft skills. While technical expertise gets women into the industry, soft skills often determine how far they rise within it. These include curiosity, emotional intelligence, communication, problem-solving, resilience, and cultural awareness – all essential for leading diverse, global teams with confidence and clarity.
Importantly, soft skills do not signal weakness. Empathy, adaptability, and understanding are strengths that enable leaders to navigate complexity, build trust, manage conflict, and guide teams through uncertainty. Women who cultivate both hard and soft skills position themselves for greater resilience, more strategic decision-making, and stronger leadership presence.
By leveraging these strengths, women can set meaningful goals, unlock promotion opportunities, and chart a career path aligned with their vision and values. They can also embrace new technologies, expand their capabilities, and step into leadership roles with confidence as they become fearless and bold.
Imagine being part of the Fourth Industrial Revolution – a world where opportunities are limitless and innovation is constant.
Imagine unlocking your full leadership potential without doubting your abilities. Soft skills can help make that vision a reality.
Below are seven essential soft skills, along with new insights and practical applications to help women strengthen leadership impact, drive team performance, and accelerate career growth.
1. A Curious Mindset
Curiosity is the engine of innovation. In a rapidly digitalising world, staying informed about emerging trends, such as AI, cybersecurity, cloud computing, and automation, is crucial. A growth mindset opens doors to continual learning and helps women stay competitive in a fast-changing industry.
Setting a learning plan aligned with your values and career goals can sharpen your expertise and deepen your strategic thinking. Curiosity also inspires creativity, enabling women to approach challenges differently and bring fresh ideas to their teams.
2. Cultural Intelligence
With organisations increasingly hiring multi-generational and multicultural teams, cultural intelligence is a powerful leadership asset. Understanding different communication styles, behaviours, traditions, and work habits helps create more inclusive and harmonious teams.
Active listening, empathy, and respect for varied perspectives support collaboration and reduce misunderstandings. Teams that feel included and valued are more engaged, more innovative, and more productive.
3. Emotional Intelligence (EQ)
Emotional intelligence is foundational for leadership. It enables women to regulate their emotions, manage stress, and respond thoughtfully to challenges. High EQ supports conflict resolution, effective communication, and mentorship, which are all essential for leading diverse teams.
When people feel understood, valued, and psychologically safe, they are more motivated and invested in their work. Women who demonstrate EQ cultivate deeper relationships and stronger team culture.
4. Adaptability
Technology evolves daily. Women who adapt quickly to new tools and methodologies show agility and resilience, all qualities essential in modern tech roles. Adaptability enhances problem-solving, encourages continuous improvement, and helps women navigate complexity with confidence.
It also positions them as forward-thinking leaders who are prepared for the unexpected. Embracing change rather than resisting it is one of the most powerful ways to stay relevant.
5. Negotiation
Negotiation is crucial in every stage of a tech career, from securing a fair salary to advocating for resources, promotions, or strategic opportunities. Strong negotiation skills help women communicate their values, set boundaries, and make intentional career decisions.
Critical thinking enhances negotiation by helping women anticipate objections, plan effectively, and influence outcomes. Effective negotiation strengthens a woman’s reputation as a strategic, confident leader.
6. Advocacy for other Women
Leadership is not only about personal achievement, it’s also about lifting others. Advocacy helps dismantle traditional beliefs held about women, amplify women’s voices, and increase representation in tech leadership.
Visibility, networking, and sponsorship are essential tools for building influence. When women support other women, they create a culture of collaboration, solidarity and shared opportunity. This collective empowerment shapes organisational dynamics and paves the way for the next generation.
7. Time Management
Women often juggle demanding careers, family responsibilities, household duties, and caregiving roles. Without boundaries and prioritisation, burnout is almost inevitable.
Time management skills, such as creating realistic schedules, setting limits, and leveraging automation tools, help women protect their energy and ensure consistent progress towards personal and professional goals. Strong time management leads to healthier work-life integration and greater long-term success.
Barriers women face in developing or showcasing soft skills
Even with strong soft skills, women often face systemic challenges:
- Assertiveness may be misinterpreted as aggression
- Empathy may be undervalued as “emotional labour”
- Women may be excluded from informal networks where opportunities arise
- Performance reviews may focus on personality rather than results
Recognising these barriers helps women navigate them strategically – and also highlights the role employers must play in creating equitable environments.
Why are soft skills increasingly valued in tech?
The future of work demands leaders who can:
- Collaborate across disciplines
- Manage hybrid and global teams
- Navigate uncertainty
- Integrate human-centred leadership with technology
As automation handles more technical tasks, human skills such as creativity, empathy and communication, become even more essential. Soft skills are no longer “nice to have”; they are now key to driving innovation, inclusion and scalability.
How can employers support women in building soft skills?
Organisations play a critical role by:
- Offering leadership development programmes
- Providing mentorship and sponsorship opportunities
- Creating psychologically safe workplaces for all
- Recognising and rewarding soft skills in performance reviews
- Encouraging flexible work arrangements
- Addressing bias through training and transparent processes
When companies invest in women, everyone benefits – team performance improves, retention increases, and innovation thrives.
Future Trends: The evolving role of soft skills in tech
Looking ahead, soft skills will become even more important.
- AI integration will make emotional intelligence and human judgement highly valuable.
- Remote work will rely on clear communication and trust-building.
- Cross-functional teams will require collaboration and adaptability.
- Leadership roles will demand strategic thinking and people-centred decision-making.
Women who cultivate these skills now will be well-positioned to lead the future of tech.
Conclusion: The Power of Soft Skills
Leveraging soft skills enables women to lead with confidence, elevate their visibility, and accelerate their professional growth. Soft skills help women challenge societal beliefs, advocate for others, build inclusive teams, and advance more quickly in their careers.
By adopting a growth mindset, embracing diversity, cultivating emotional intelligence, and setting strong boundaries, women in tech can unlock new opportunities and shape a more innovative, equitable future.
The combination of hard skills and soft skills is a powerful force – one which allows women not only to succeed, but to lead, influence, and inspire.
Meet the author, Nazlee Mayhew, Founder of Global Mindset Solutions. She is also a certified Life Coach with the Academy of Modern Psychology, Scotland and a certified Business and Mindset Coach, Money Mindset Coach, NLP Practitioner and Self Love Coach with She Leads Academy, United Kingdom.
She partners with emerging and mid-senior level leaders to help them define their leadership style, identify their strengths and leverage the power of soft skills. She also empowers them to unlock their full potential, develop a success mindset to become effective leaders and build high performing and inclusive teams.
If you’re interested to learn more about her leadership coaching programmes, book a free 30-minute coaching clarity call here: www.calendly.com/nazmayhew or email her at [email protected] to learn more and see if you’re a great fit to work together.