Over the past three years, Pacific International, through interviews conducted by Margaret Jaouadi, has had the privilege of speaking with many senior-level and C-suite leaders from across industries. To continue these important dialogues, Pacific has launched Leadership Pulse, a monthly touchpoint with an exclusive group of executives from its global network who will contribute their voices to the topics dominating C-suite and leadership agendas. Through Leadership Pulse, Pacific aims to surface authentic insights into the real priorities and challenges senior leaders are facing right now.
This month’s question coincides with the International Women’s Day theme: Give To Gain: What role has leadership coaching, mentoring, or sponsorship played in your own career progression? In your view, what are the most effective initiatives organisations can implement to develop female leaders and create meaningful opportunities for them?
Chief Marketing Officer at a Fortune 500 Global Energy Transition Company, based in the United States:
Leadership coaching, mentoring, and sponsorship have each played a profoundly meaningful role in my career. At different moments, I’ve benefited from leaders who saw potential in me, sometimes before I fully saw it in myself.
Coaching helped me sharpen my leadership style, especially during transitions into broader, more complex roles. Mentors provided perspective and helped me navigate pivotal decisions with clarity and confidence. And sponsorship has been especially pivotal; having senior leaders actively advocate for me, open doors, and put my name forward for high-visibility opportunities fundamentally accelerated my career progression.
These experiences also shaped how I show up for others. I’m intentional about creating space for emerging talent, particularly women, to be heard, to grow, and to lead. From my perspective, the most effective initiatives organizations can implement to support the advancement of female leaders include:
Formal sponsorship programs focused on high-potential women.
Sponsorship, not just mentorship, creates meaningful opportunities by ensuring women are considered for critical assignments, succession plans, and strategic projects.
Leadership development tailored to the unique systemic barriers women face.
Programs that blend skill‑building with confidence‑building, peer networks, and access to senior leadership create a sustainable lift.
Transparent career pathways and equitable access to stretch roles.
Women often get feedback to “gain more experience,” but fewer opportunities to gain that experience. Clear criteria and fair allocation of growth assignments make an enormous difference.
Creating everyday behaviors that drive inclusion.
Small acts, amplifying voices in meetings, sharing credit, challenging biased assumptions, build the culture that makes formal programs successful.
Ultimately, developing female leaders is not a “program”. It’s a system of intentional practices that create visibility, opportunity, and trust. And when organizations get this right, they don’t just advance women; they also strengthen their leadership bench and culture.
Senior leader in the Health & Safety (EHS) space, based in Germany:
On coaching/mentoring in my career:
I had leaders who challenged me, not to make me comfortable, but to make me better. Sponsorship mattered most. Someone advocating for me when I wasn’t in the room opened doors I couldn’t open on my own.
On developing female leaders:
Stop designing programs. Start removing barriers. Give women equal access to challenging assignments, visibility, and sponsorship. Mentoring helps, but sponsorship moves careers. And listen to what women in your organisation already know is blocking them. The question is whether leadership will act on it.
Executive leader, member of multiple Supervisory Boards, and a published author, who helps organizations unlock sustainable performance, based in France:
Could you have become a leader on your own without support? The answer is obviously no.
Different mentors and sponsors have helped me become who I am today, and shaped the mentorship behaviour I now bring to my team and to more junior people.
Having practised judo and basketball from a young age, having a coach to help me progress felt entirely natural. In professional life, though, coaching needs to be well understood. I have engaged coaches at different critical moments in my leadership journey, without waiting until I was in crisis. That is the key: coaching should be seen as a sign of maturity, not weakness. And that applies to everyone, regardless of gender. All leaders should be trained and supported to use coaching as a tool for growth.
Chief Operating Officer at an airport operations company, based in New South Wales, Australia:
Leadership coaching, mentoring, and, critically, sponsorship have played a pivotal role in my career progression. Mentors helped me broaden my perspective, challenge my thinking, and navigate moments of self-doubt, particularly when stepping into unfamiliar or male-dominated environments. Sponsorship was equally influential—having leaders who actively advocated for me in rooms I wasn’t in created visibility and opened opportunities I may not have pursued on my own. These relationships gave me the confidence to take on roles before I felt “100% ready,” which proved essential to my growth.
To develop female leaders and create meaningful opportunities, organizations must move beyond good intent to deliberate action. The most effective initiatives include formal sponsorship programs, diverse and unbiased recruitment and promotion processes, and clear accountability through measurement and targets.
An accomplished international HR and Talent Strategy and L&D Leader, based in Norway:
I have never had any formal coaching or mentoring, but informally, I have learned from others and benefited from watching other leaders and what they do well, trying to integrate that into my own leadership style and approach. I think organisations should steer away from Women-only leadership programs and continue supporting women through other leadership coaching offered to both men and women.
Former Chief Operations Officer at a Global Healthcare and Medical Devices manufacturing company, based in the United States:
Throughout my career, I have been fortunate to be part of organizations that genuinely valued the development of high-potential employees. That said, my perspective on what actually works for female leaders may be a little controversial, so bear with me.
Organizations and leaders begin to fail the moment they start factoring in gender or other attributes when developing, coaching, or promoting people. We are who we are, and I do not believe in treating people as statistics to be tracked and moved up or down. As colleagues, friends, and leaders, we need to see the human behind the person and, without question, value their contribution to the overall mission — however small it may seem.
I fully recognize this is not as simple as it sounds. But for as long as the focus remains on driving quotas, we will always be disappointed. Yes, a select few will move forward — your “25 high-potentials” — but the rest will linger and be neglected. What organizations truly need is an effective assessment and development programme that is simple, meaningful, and reaches every member of the organization. One they own, and one they stick with.
Executive-level HR professional currently running her own HR consultancy, based in New Jersey, USA
I have been so privileged to have had amazing leaders throughout my career, people who led with the future in mind and who coached, mentored, and sponsored me at every level. It was mentorship, above all, that propelled any real hope of a full career.
You see, I was the “brown girl” who didn’t fit the corporate world of management. It was also a time when, as a woman, you had to fight hard for any seat, never mind at the boardroom table. Early on, a leader spotted my potential and truly believed in me at a moment when I was barely believing in myself. That kind of investment leaves a lasting impression that goes far beyond titles and pay.
I see these practices as a requirement for anyone striving to grow. After many years in HR and organizational development, I believe that effective organizations must, at the very least, implement mentoring programs for their female leaders. It strengthens inclusion, drives engagement, and is a vital contributor to retention. Coaching, mentoring, and sponsorship each approach development differently, but all three are important leadership competencies that require emotional intelligence, which remains one of the most critical factors in business today.
Sponsorship is particularly powerful, but it must be authentically constructed so it does not become a reward for work already done. When done well, it breaks barriers for high-potential employees in ways that coaching and mentoring alone cannot, especially in building diverse talent into leadership roles.
All three are excellent tools for transferring knowledge, advancing careers, and dismantling barriers. Great leaders know how and when to use each one.
Seasoned HR professional with broad experience in M&A, based in the United States:
My career really began to take shape in 2002 when I was an administrative assistant supporting HR, Sales, and Marketing. I was surrounded by leaders who genuinely invested in me. For about 3 years, I supported all 3 functions, and I remember feeling torn. I wanted to grow but wasn’t sure which direction to take. Nick Shackley and Eric Neuffer gave me the chance to step into a Marketing Specialist role to explore that path. When I realized it wasn’t the right fit, I transitioned into HR, and that’s where I’ve stayed ever since.
Cambrex gave me the space to figure out what I wanted to be, and I had leaders who trusted me enough to let me try, learn, and pivot. Jay Barrett and Joyce Quinlan opened the door to HR by giving me stretch assignments, bringing me into executive meetings, and helping me understand the business. Jay, especially, acted as a true sponsor by advocating for me and ensuring I had visibility with senior leadership.
Today I’m still benefiting from that kind of support. Our CHRO meets with me twice a week in conversations that blend coaching, scenario planning, and honest thought partnership. That level of access and trust has been a major accelerator in my growth.
My own experience shaped my point of view: women grow fastest when given real opportunities, real visibility, and real support, not just encouragement. That means making sponsorship intentional, not leaving it to luck. It means giving women meaningful stretch opportunities and exposing them to cross-functional work and early executive conversations. It means creating safe spaces for honest dialogue, normalizing women using their voice, and making career paths and talent decisions transparent.
When organizations do these things consistently, women don’t just advance, they thrive.
Chief Technology Officer at a global Renewable Energy company, based in the United States:
I have attended focused “Women’s Leadership Training” hosted by my employer, as well as 1:1 coaching and mentoring at various points in my career. While these were good opportunities to learn skills and receive feedback, they did not lead to promotions or significant career advancement. My observation is that employer-organized classes and mentoring are for the employer’s benefit, not necessarily to advance female talent. One-on-one coaching by someone outside the organization or employer is more honest. A professional, outside viewpoint can help Women identify what they need to do to advance, not what they want to hear.
For a confidential chat about how Pacific International can assist you with your Leadership Skills Assessment and Diversity challenges, please contact Manuel Preg.