Why the glass cliff isn’t leadership it’s liability

What the glass cliff gets wrong and how we help women rise for real

I recently coached a woman promoted into a high-stakes leadership role in a traditional, male-dominated industry.

The organisation had been under fire for how it treated women. The leadership team needed to signal change. So, they promoted her. She was smart, strategic, and highly capable, and the role looked like progress on paper. But behind the scenes? She was set up to fail.

She didn’t have a trade background. Her team, almost entirely male, dismissed her expertise. They interrupted her, questioned her decisions, and labelled her “too emotional” when she stood her ground.

The company offered surface-level training to “support” the transition, but it was performative. Nothing addressed the deeper dynamics at play gendered bias, cultural resistance, and the psychological load of being one of the only women in the room.

She spiralled into self-doubt. Her confidence took hit after hit. The organisation didn’t offer meaningful support, so she had to find it herself. She paid for coaching out of her own pocket because she knew that without the right tools to navigate what was happening, she wouldn’t last.

This wasn’t just a challenging promotion. This was a textbook example of what’s now known as the glass cliff.

What is the Glass Cliff?

The term glass cliff was coined in 2005 by researchers Michelle Ryan and Alex Haslam. 

It describes a pattern: Women (and other underrepresented groups) are more likely to be appointed to leadership roles when things are already going wrong. The latest research backs this up. A major meta-analysis in 2020 by Morgenroth, Kirby, Ryan and Sudkämper found that women are more likely to be appointed to leadership roles:

• During times of crisis
• When the risk of failure is higher
• When there is less organisational support

This is not an isolated trend. It is more pronounced in male-dominated industries and in countries with greater gender inequality. Let’s call it what it is. Women are handed the wheel after the car starts skidding, then blamed when it crashes.

Think crisis. Think female.

The research points to a subtle but dangerous phenomenon.

In times of stability, organisations tend to favour male leaders who are seen as assertive, strong, and in control.

But when crisis hits, the criteria shift. Suddenly, empathy, emotional intelligence, and a human style are prioritised.

Women are seen as the right fit not because they are the strongest candidate, but because they symbolise change.

It may look like progress, but it is not. It is risk containment, disguised as diversity.

The human cost

This dynamic doesn’t just hold women back it pushes them to burnout.

I’ve coached many women in leadership who walked into roles like this:

• No mentorship, coaching or support 
• No psychological safety 
• No room to fail without career limiting consequences

They second-guess themselves constantly. They carry the emotional labour. They feel they need to prove their worth every single day.

One of my clients put it plainly:

“I was trying to lead and not cry at the same time.”

And that is the cost. Confidence erodes. Decision-making suffers. Burnout follows. Then the organisation turns around and says, “We tried. She just wasn’t ready.” But the truth is, she was ready. The system wasn’t.

What real support looks like

If organisations are serious about elevating women into leadership, not just for appearances but for long-term impact, they need to rethink what real support looks like.

It’s not about one-off leadership courses or tick-the-box mentoring programs. Real support goes deeper. It addresses capability and culture. It tackles both individual confidence and structural bias.

From my work with high-achieving women, meaningful support often includes:

• Presence: Building a grounded leadership identity so women can show up with authority and authenticity, even in environments that question their legitimacy.
• Power: Equipping them to lead with confidence and clarity, especially when facing resistance or bias. This includes communication skills, emotional regulation, and the ability to hold space under pressure.
• Performance: Creating the systems, structures, and psychological safety that allow women to lead well, not just harder. This is about more than resilience. It requires leadership environments that support growth instead of punishing imperfection.

 When these elements are in place, women do not just rise. They stay. They influence. They reshape the system from the inside

Leadership shouldn’t be a punishment for visibility

Too often, we applaud the visibility of women in leadership roles without questioning the conditions they’ve been placed in.

It’s not enough to promote women into crisis roles and call it progress. Visibility without support is a trap not a triumph. It leaves women carrying the weight of broken systems, outdated leadership models, and unrealistic expectations.

The reality is many women step into leadership already navigating a double bind:

• Expected to fix what's broken but not given the tools or authority to do it.
• Celebrated for being there but scrutinised for how they lead.
• Encouraged to be authentic, but penalised when their style doesn’t mirror the dominant norm.

You can’t claim progress while ignoring the conditions. If organisations want women to succeed in leadership, they need to do more than promote them. They need to back them with the right support and the right system.

Because when women are supported, the entire system benefits: Teams become more engaged. Culture shifts. Performance improves.

The glass cliff isn’t a phenomenon we have to accept. It’s one we have the power and responsibility to dismantle.

It’s time to do it differently

We’ve tried surface-level solutions. We’ve tried optics. We’ve tried promoting women into crisis roles and hoping they swim.

It’s not working.

If we want a different outcome, we need to solve both sides of the coin.

We need to support women with development that prepares them to step into the big roles they’re given. But we also need to do the systemic work so the environment they step into supports them to perform and feel at their best.

My Women Who Lead program plays a vital role in the shift that’s needed.

It’s a leadership program built for women in the real world.

Not fluffy. Not generic. Focused on what actually moves the dial.

Because women don’t need fixing.

They need space, support, and strategy to lead in a way that’s powerful, sustainable, and true to who they are.

If you’re ready to build that kind of capability in your organisation follow the link below to read more about the program.

👉 Explore Women Who Lead