Why Smart Women Still Do Not Achieve Their Biggest Goals!
The problem is rarely a lack of ambition or ability. More often, it comes down to a leadership skill we rarely discuss: accountability.
Over the past 25 years through the Network, I have seen a recurring pattern. Whether a woman is building a business, leading a team, returning to education or preparing for the next stage of her career, most already know what they need to do. They have attended workshops, downloaded guides, listened to podcasts and invested in their development.
Yet months later, many admit their most important goals remain untouched.
The common assumption is that motivation is the problem. However, research suggests otherwise. Dr Gail Matthews found that people who write down their goals, share them with others and provide regular progress updates are significantly more likely to achieve them than those who keep their ambitions to themselves.
The lesson is simple but powerful. Success is not determined by knowledge alone. It is shaped by the systems, habits and relationships that keep us moving forward when motivation fades.
Neuroscience helps explain why. Our brains are wired to favour familiar routines. The more often we repeat a behaviour, the stronger the neural pathways that support it become. Positive actions reinforced over time eventually become habits, making progress easier and more sustainable.
Leadership, therefore, is not built through occasional moments of inspiration. It is built through consistent action.
For many women in African, Caribbean and Asian communities, accountability is influenced by culture as well as psychology. Across generations, many of us have been taught to be the dependable one, organising, nurturing, problem-solving and carrying responsibilities for others.
These values strengthen families and communities, but they can also come at a cost.
We become highly accountable to everyone else while quietly deprioritising ourselves. Client meetings are attended. Family commitments are honoured. Community responsibilities are fulfilled. Yet the business plan waits, qualifications are delayed and wellbeing is postponed until a less busy day that never arrives.
Perhaps that is why so many capable women feel stuck. The challenge is rarely a lack of knowledge. It is often the deeply embedded habit of putting everyone else's priorities first.
What Next?
Leadership is not defined by the goals we set. It is defined by the person we become while pursuing them.
Join the NBWN 30-Day Leadership Challenge this September and invest in the one person whose future will influence every other life you touch, you!
For further information: info@nbwn.org
