Happy International Women’s Day.

Each year, I love seeing LinkedIn filled with stories celebrating the women who inspire us: our mentors, our colleagues, our friends, our families. These moments of visibility matter. They remind us how far we have come and how much work still remains.

This year, I have been thinking less about seats at the table and more about something adjacent to it.

Once you are in the room, who controls the narrative?

Because in leadership, narrative is power.

The Promotion Gap Is Also a Perception Gap

According to McKinsey and LeanIn’s most recent Women in the Workplace report, for every 100 men promoted to manager, only 93 women are promoted. For women of color, the gap is even wider, with only 74 women promoted for every 100 men. That disparity compounds at each level of leadership, which is one reason senior executive teams remain less diverse than entry-level pipelines would suggest.

Harvard Business Review has also found that women’s performance reviews are more likely to focus on personality traits, while men’s reviews are more likely to emphasize business outcomes and leadership potential.

These patterns are not only about performance. They are about perception.

And perception is shaped by story.

In executive environments, decisions are rarely made on raw data alone. They are made based on how that data is framed. Who connects the results to long-term strategy? Who articulates the implications for growth? Who positions their work within a larger vision?

Leadership is often less about the volume of work delivered and more about how that work is interpreted.

Results Do Not Speak for Themselves

Many high-achieving women were taught that if they worked hard enough, the results would speak for themselves. That belief is admirable. It is also incomplete.

Results require context. They require framing. They require interpretation.

In a boardroom, it is not enough to say, “We increased revenue by 18 percent.” A leader must articulate what that growth signals about the market, how it strengthens competitive positioning, and what it enables next.

When someone else frames your impact, they also shape how that impact is perceived.

This is why I believe storytelling is not just a marketing capability. It is a leadership discipline.

The same principles I apply when helping brands clarify their story apply to leadership positioning:

What do you stand for?
What strategic lens do you bring?
How does your work drive measurable outcomes?
Why does your perspective matter now?

Without clear answers to those questions, visibility becomes harder to earn and influence becomes harder to scale.

The Confidence Gap Is Also a Narrative Gap

There is long-standing research suggesting women are less likely to apply for roles unless they meet nearly all of the listed qualifications, while men apply when they meet far fewer. While the exact percentage varies across studies, the pattern has been widely observed.

This is often described as a confidence gap.

It is also a narrative gap.

If leadership advancement is framed as proving readiness, hesitation increases. If it is framed as demonstrating how your experience positions you to create impact, the conversation changes.

Story shapes identity, and identity shapes behavior.

Owning your narrative does not mean exaggerating your contributions. It means articulating them in a way that connects to business priorities. It means translating experience into strategic relevance.

Why This Matters for Organizations

This conversation is not only personal. It is organizational.

McKinsey’s research consistently shows that companies in the top quartile for gender diversity on executive teams are more likely to outperform on profitability. Diverse leadership teams bring broader perspectives, stronger decision-making, and greater resilience.

However, diversity alone does not drive performance. Integration does.

If diverse leaders are not empowered to frame strategy, articulate vision, and influence direction, the organization does not fully benefit from their perspective.

Narrative ownership scales influence. Influence shapes strategy. Strategy drives results.

From Seat at the Table to Voice in the Room

For generations, women fought for access. That work continues.

The next evolution of that conversation is authorship.

It is one thing to be invited into leadership spaces. It is another to shape how conversations unfold once you are there.

Storytelling, in its most practical sense, is the ability to connect ideas to outcomes, translate complexity into clarity, and align vision with commercial impact. These are not soft skills. They are executive skills.

As we celebrate International Women’s Day in 2026, I am reflecting on this question:

Who is writing the story of your impact?

If the answer is unclear, that may be the opportunity.

In modern business, clarity drives alignment, trust, and growth. The same is true for leadership. Storytelling is not about being louder. It is about being clearer about the value you create and the future you are helping to build.

Let’s continue to celebrate progress. Let’s continue to push for equity. And let’s also continue to own the narratives that shape our careers and our companies.

Happy International Women’s Day.

Check out my previous International Women’s Day blog posts:

• 5 Powerful Stats On International Women’s Day: https://jessicagioglio.com/5-powerful-stats-on-international-womens-day/
• Why Women Should Embrace The Power Of Storytelling: https://jessicagioglio.com/why-women-should-embrace-the-power-of-storytelling/

If you found this post helpful and want to buy me a coffee to say thanks, visit: buymeacoffee.com/jessicagioglio

Jessica Gioglio is the co-author of The Laws of Brand Storytelling and The Power of Visual Storytelling. Professionally, Jessica has led innovative marketing and public relations programs for Dunkin’, TripAdvisor, Sprinklr, and more. Today, Jessica is a keynote speaker (book her here) and founder of With Savvy Media & Marketing, a strategic branding, storytelling, and content strategy consultancy.