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Insight

The experience of black women in leadership roles

10 June 2025

Leadership development
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By Dr Ruth Pombi Chiraga

Introduction

Imagine a leadership team where every individual regardless of gender, race, sexuality, or any characteristic that deviates from the traditional white male leader stereotype feels fully empowered to lead. Envision a workplace where leaders are authorised from above, supported from below, and able to step confidently and authentically into their roles. In such an environment, individuals would show up as their whole selves, and organisations would benefit from the full breadth of talent, insight, and innovation that true diversity brings.

Unfortunately, for many, this vision remains far from reality.

Ruth Pombi Chiraga’s doctoral study (2025)1, which explores the lived experiences of Black women in senior leadership roles, paints a starkly different picture. The research revealed that systemic racism expressed through microaggressions, biased evaluations, and negative projections frequently undermines the authority of Black women. Caught in the double jeopardy of race and gender (Rosette & Livingston, 2012)2, Black women are often perceived as deviating from the conventional leadership prototype. As a result, they often face significant barriers to recognition and acceptance as legitimate leaders.

Authority and projections

Obholzer (2019)3 identifies three forms of authority in organisations:

When team members unconsciously withhold informal authority because a leader does not align with their internalised prototype, it severely limits that leader’s effectiveness. This dynamic is particularly impactful for Black women, who frequently find themselves in positions of leadership without being fully “authorised” by those they lead.

Yukl (2009)4 defines leadership as an interpersonal process built on influence, power, and authority to align others around shared goals. Without group authorisation, even the most competent and visionary Black women may struggle to lead effectively.

From a psychoanalytic perspective, the cumulative impact of these experiences can be understood through projective identification, a process Halton (2019)5 describes as “an unconscious interpersonal interaction in which the recipients of projections react to it in such a way that their own feelings are affected.” When Black women are repeatedly subjected to projections of incompetence or deviance from normative leadership, they may begin to internalise these messages leading to shame, self-doubt, and identity conflict.

Kets de Vries and Cheak (2014) 6describe leadership as occupying roles imbued with authority, power, and influence. However, for Black women, the courage to be bold and original in decision-making often comes with heightened risk. They fear harsher judgment not because of the failure itself, but because of how their race and gender influence perceptions of failure (Sy et al., 2017)7.

The Idea of playing it safe

One research participant expressed the emotional toll of this dynamic:

I knew it was not safe for me as a Black leader in that organisation. I realised that everything I did and everything my team did was heavily scrutinised. That made it very difficult for me… because I found it hard to speak up. I always anticipated that whatever I said would be used against me, it would count as a mark against me

This fear led her to be extremely guarded in meetings, often choosing silence.

The fear of speaking up or acting contributes to a strategy of playing it safe, constraining ideas and actions to what feels acceptable, or what one thinks they can “get away with” without attracting negative attention.

As another participant shared:

We might play it a lot safer than we ordinarily would, because you don’t want to do anything that brings more attention, rocks the boat, or raises your head too high. You want to hold onto your job

Reflecting on identity and limitation, one participant added:

Just play your role. You cannot change who you are… You have to do what you have to do, knowing your limitations as a Black person. So, I think it’s about showing up and doing a good job. There’s something about letting your work speak for itself, because I can’t fight the fact that people see me as Black, judge me and I can’t do anything about that.

Another shared a perspective shaped by early life values:

Growing up, my parents used to say this prayer: ‘Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference

And another noted:

I’m not going to say it’s like doing the bare minimum, because people still do their work really well but maybe being less critical of how things are done. You just want to survive, get your money, go home, and continue the work

The study found that these challenges often go unrecognised or worse, are ignored due to ignorance or a deeper, more entrenched resistance to change. As a result, Black women frequently develop coping strategies, such as playing it safe, to survive in role. When these strategies no longer suffice, some resign. Others remain, silently enduring toxic environments at great personal cost. The impact on their health, performance, and that of their teams can be significant ultimately affecting organisational effectiveness and success.

Recommendations

These hidden dynamics may help explain why some leadership teams struggle with cohesion, progress, or engagement, despite their stated commitment to inclusion. What Black women in the study consistently articulated was the lack of a psychologically safe environment one where they could be understood and act without fear of being stereotyped as the “angry Black woman.”

Among the study’s recommendations was the importance of providing safe spaces for Black women to reflect on their experiences and navigate their roles with greater clarity and support. One effective approach is to engage consultants and coaches who understand the unconscious dynamics at play in organisational life and are equipped to work with the difficult emotions that may arise. These professionals can help create holding environments (Winnicott, 1963)8 and provide containment (Bion, 1962)9, enabling Black women to process their experiences in a supported way.

How We Help

At Tavistock Consulting, we specialise in addressing the full complexity of organisational life. We work not only on surface-level challenges but also on the deeper, often unspoken assumptions, emotional dynamics, and systemic patterns that obstruct progress.

Through consulting with leadership teams and offering individual and team coaching, we help leaders to:

If you’re committed to building high-performing teams where diversity is recognised as an asset, not a hindrance, we’d love to speak with you.

References

  1. Pombi Chiraga, Ruth (2025) Walking a tightrope without a safety net: A systems and psychodynamic exploration into the experiences of Black women in senior leadership roles in the UK. Doctoral thesis, University of Essex & Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust. DOI https://doi.org/10.5526/ERR-00040931 ↩︎
  2. Rosette, A.S. and Livingston, R. (2012). Failure is not an option for Black women: Effects of organizational performance on leaders with single versus dual-subordinate identities. Journal of Experiential Social Psychology. 48(5), pp. 1162-1167. ↩︎
  3. Obholzer, A. (2019). Authority, Power and Leadership. Contributions from group relations training. In The Unconscious at Work: A Tavistock Approach to Making Sense of Organizational Life. London: Routledge. ↩︎
  4. Yukl, G. (2009). Leading Organizational Learning Reflections on Theory and Research. The Leadership Quarterly, 20, 49-53. ↩︎
  5. Halton, W. (2019). Some unconscious aspects of organizational life: contributions form psychoanalysis. In The Unconscious at Work: A Tavistock Approach to Making Sense of Organizational Life. London: Routledge. ↩︎
  6. Kets de Vries, M. F. R. and Cheak, A. (2014). Psychodynamic approach. SSRN. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2456594 (Accessed: 21 June 2022). ↩︎
  7. Sy, T., Tram-Quon, S. and Leung, A. (2017). Developing minority leaders: Key success factors of Asian Americans. Asian American Journal of Psychology, 8(2), pp. 142-155. ↩︎
  8. Winnicott, D. W. (1963). Psychiatric Disorder in terms of Infantile Maturational Processes. In: The Maturational Processes and the Facilitating Environment: Studies in the Theory of Emotional Development. In: The International Psycho-Analytical Library. 1965. v.64, London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis. ↩︎
  9. Bion, W.R. (1962). Learning from Experience. London: Heinemann. ↩︎