According to McKinsey & Company’s 2024 Women in the Workplace Report (the largest study on the state of women in the workplace in America), women leaders are leaving their companies at the highest rate ever recorded, and at a higher rate than men in leadership – which could be because the prioritization of gender diversity is decreasing year on year, according to the same report.
Knowing how valuable and necessary women in leadership positions are in all sectors, how do we collectively pump the brakes on this worrying trend and create a landscape that is attractive for women in the work force?
One of the most important ways to help advance more women into leadership is to identify potential leaders early, and for young women, cultivate those skills early, according to leadership development expert Maggie Olson, founder of Nova Chief of Staff.
Early in her career, Maggie’s leadership potential was recognized when she was recruited into Nordstrom through an ultra-competitive program while still in school. This opportunity set the stage for her rapid promotions and leadership growth, and now, Maggie has a wealth of experience across industries. Maggie’s early experiences, from managing large teams at five-star resorts to her rapid promotions at Nordstrom, laid the foundation for her later success as a Chief of Staff at T-Mobile. These formative years were crucial in shaping her leadership style, which she now shares through Nova Chief of Staff to help others grow their careers with intention.
Nova Chief of Staff is the premier and first-of-its-kind destination for Chief of Staff education, certification, and development. Today’s business landscape requires knowledgeable individuals to fill crucial Chief of Staff (CoS) roles, yet there are few accessible resources to learn about and develop the position, let alone practice its responsibilities before the stakes are high. Building on her many years of corporate leadership experience, Maggie’s Chief of Staff course has attracted 500 students in 1 year across 20 countries from a range of companies including Amazon, Capital One, Microsoft, Cisco, Klaviyo, the Mayo Clinic, University of Chicago, Salesforce, and many more.
We had the opportunity to have a one-on-one consultation session (aka, an interview!) with Maggie to get the tea on what it takes to retain leadership positions. And her guidance is a refreshing insight into balancing ambition with self-care, as she understands how important pacing yourself is due to the very real cost of burnout among women.
Keep scrolling to get some insider insights on developing a pathway for leadership early in your career, and how to utilize social media platforms such as Linkedin to cultivate community engagement in your field beyond your immediate workspace, and why this is a vital tool for your career long-term.
We’d love to dive into your leadership experience first! Where did your career begin, and how did you rise to the leadership roles you achieved throughout the years?
I’ve been in leadership roles throughout my life actually, and recently remembered that I was 6th grade class president! My special project was ensuring every student at the elementary school had a “sit-upon” for assemblies and I worked all year to help each classroom hand-make theirs! I have been a leader on sports teams throughout my adolescence and then in my early twenties I led large food and beverage and retail teams, finally ending up in an office role around the age of 27.
When did you begin to focus on women in leadership, and recognize the importance of this in the workplace?
I was thrilled to finally hold an office position, and at Nordstrom Corporate Headquarters, in downtown Seattle, no less. I was at Nordstrom for nearly 6 years, and most of the time surrounded by female leaders. Each direction I looked, I could see someone that reminded me of myself, doing what I wanted to do in the future. It was empowering! I saw how these leaders carried themselves, how they handled feedback, how they gave critique, how they were approachable (or not) and ultimately exactly how I wanted to be, as a leader.
Were there moments of frustration or loneliness the more you learned about the barriers that women in leadership often face in the workforce? And have you personally experienced any of these barriers?
When I became a Buyer for Nordstrom in my mid-twenties, it was as if all my ‘The Devil Wears Prada’ dreams had finally come true. Often, you dedicate years of study, dream about the possibilities of a different life, and network like your life depends on it all without the promise of a role. And when that dream role comes true? You quite literally wake up to a completely different life – a brand new and exciting day-to-day – than you’ve ever had before.
It’s important not to get carried away in your dream role. It’s important not to dive in so deeply that you can’t pull yourself back out, not to people-please so much that you have no time for the core functions of your job, and not to make big changes to any of your work before you’ve adequately learned the business. Especially for women, it’s only easy for people to recognize that they’ve overextended themselves after they’ve actually overextended.
In the middle – when we’re saying yes to everything and taking on more than we can handle – there’s a rush. A rush of busyness, excitement, ownership and newness. And once we hit the realization that we’re over capacity, it’s usually too late. If you realize that your dream role isn’t all it’s cracked up to be that’s OK! You’re not alone here, it happens all the time. The best thing to do is start networking inside and outside of your company.
What people and roles are you drawn to? Take people out to a coffee or have a virtual hello, approach conversations with curiosity, and be confident that even though the dream job may not have been quite right, you still learned a ton. It can be even more important sometimes to learn what you don’t want to do.
McKinsey’s latest report on Women in the Workplace reveals women leaders are leaving the work force at higher rates than men. Why do you think this is happening?
The workforce is not set up for women. It was set up for men, decades ago, who had someone in the home helping them stay organized, fed, and on top of all the things. Well, now women are also in the workforce and still responsible for all of these things, often keeping the whole family fed, organized, and on top of all the things. Often something’s got to give in this scenario… and most women are going to choose their family over working in an environment that wasn’t made for them – if they have the privilege to do so.
How does the gender wage gap, male-designed systems and institutions, lack of federal paid leave protections, and motherhood impact some of the disparities regarding women leaders leaving companies?
There were a lot of hidden benefits to the way life changed with Covid, and one of them was adapting to a new – hybrid – way of working. This has enabled businesses and leaders to see that success at work doesn’t just look one way. And women feel confident in leading and working in new and different ways. Take a meeting while walking? Great. Leave for a midday doctor appt? Totally fine. Login later so you can do school drop off? Sure. Let’s prioritize what’s most important for the whole person. Work will benefit from this!
One of the key solutions to addressing the gender leadership gap is to identify women leaders early in their careers. But that can feel like a catch 22 – we need more women leaders at the top in order to identify early career leaders, in the same way men “see their younger selves” in early career male leaders. What can executives do to ensure they are widening their scope to include women in their pool of potentials?
We should be doing all the things. Here are a few:
- Encouraging women to build personal brands. I have had a public personal brand on LinkedIn for about a year now, and post daily thought leadership. My reach is growing, near 24k now. People reach out to me consistently to share that they can relate, they’re inspired, or they have learned something. This is why we need more women publicly sharing their professional lives in social spaces.
- Strategically place women leaders with younger generations who can see their future self, in the example in front of them. This could look like high school mentorship, athletic & professional coaching, peer groups, and so many other places people gather.
- Support media and entertainment with strong female leads. Women must see themselves in someone else to relate, to reach, to strive, and to realize what’s out there. We must vote with our dollars here.
- Encourage each other. Historically, there’s only been “one female” in the room in professional environments. This has bred unhealthy, in-group competition where often women are the first to tear each other down, or gossip behind each other’s back. Add in the element of societal beauty standards and the world we live in where women are to look pretty and be observed, we’ve been in unfair competition with each other from the start. The awareness here is key. Intentionally lift each other up, intentionally speak highly of another woman when she’s not in the room, intentionally invite more women to the table.
How is Nova Chief of Staff, the company you founded, working to help more companies and executives change the culture of leadership across the workforce?
In the 18 months since we launched, we’ve taught or spoken to nearly 10k people in person or virtually and our social media presence has over 6M impressions in the last year. Our message is simple: you CAN do it. Our acclaimed Chief of Staff Certification course gives students hands-on practice in strategic c-suite support, akin to a Chief of Staff. Over and over again, students leave our course telling us that they’ve gained immensely greater confidence and validation that they CAN do the job.
For those who say, we shouldn’t just choose women leaders, we should only choose the most qualified, how do you push back on this point, as if women aren’t often the most qualified in the first place!
For me, it’s about the candidate pool. Find the most diverse, well-rounded candidate pool you can and dedicate resources to achieving this. From here, hire the most qualified person, but with this caveat: we may not know what “most qualified” looks like if we’ve never seen it before. We’ve seen the white male before, we know he can do it. But challenge yourself: what can’t we see? Make decisions from this perspective.
Climbing the leadership ladder can be brutal but also exhausting. Burnout is a real issue, especially among women in the corporate sector. What is your advice to balance ambition with mental health and wellbeing in a healthy way?
I spent years getting here, but now it’s very simple: find what brings you joy (outside of work) and aim to build a life where you can do that every single day.
Who are some of the female leaders that have inspired you personally and professionally throughout your career?
There are so many, but I will keep it in the family: my grandmother was one of the first female physicians in the country. She passed away last year at 98 years old. She taught me I could be whatever I wanted. My mom has always been a high-achiever and loved her work; we’re very similar in that way.
Get plugged into the Nova Chief of Staff community by checking out their website, and following them on Instagram, TikTok, Linkedin, Twitter(X) and Facebook. Follow Maggie Olson on Instagram and Linkedin.
