I asked ChatGPT to show me an image of a leader – someone standing tall, confidently addressing a crowd. You won’t be surprised that it produced a white man.
You could dismiss this as AI bias, but these tools reflect how society depicts leadership. Anytime I’m asked, “What leader inspires me most?”, I’ve struggled with the answer because I see what ChatGPT sees – a white person.
For those of us who don’t fit the traditional image of a leader, climbing to the top often means being the only one in the room who looks, thinks, or leads like us. It’s isolating and exhausting, with unspoken pressure to prove we belong. Once we get there, we’re often the blueprint for how those who look like us should lead after us.
Leadership used to be an aspirational milestone but what if no one wants to lead? 52% of Gen Z professionals say they don’t want to be middle managers. Can we blame them?
Leadership has been sold as something you earn when you climb the ranks. It’s a sacrifice that demands more but gives little in return. But that’s not the whole truth. Leadership exists at every stage of your career; how you lead simply evolves over time.
Maybe the question isn’t why don’t they want to lead but why haven’t we built leadership structures worth aspiring to? If leadership means burnout, bureaucracy, and working twice as hard to be taken seriously, no wonder the next generation might opt out.
Rethinking leadership for a new generation
As a Zillennial, I know what it’s like to be caught between generational differences. We started our careers pre-pandemic, used desk phones before Slack, and wore headsets for client calls, only to quickly adapt to remote work. Now we’re navigating a world where leadership is being redefined as global events dismantle legacy structures.
Being in the middle, we’ve learned to bridge two different paths forward for leadership. We bring adaptability and perspective. We’ve seen the flaws of traditional leadership and know those systems need change. We expect transparency, accountability, and work-life balance. These are not buzzwords, but the bare minimum.
Yet even with these skills I’ve hesitated at the idea of leadership. Why? Because we see workplaces claim leadership is evolving but still operate under outdated systems. So why step into something we know is broken?
Leading on new terms
As PR professionals, we learn to challenge the brief, digging deeper to find the story. Yet, we’ve failed to challenge the leadership structures handed down to us. What if, instead of following the same old path, we rewrote the narrative?
From books to peers telling you how to lead, there’s little space to decide how you want to lead. To me, leadership isn’t about being one thing at the expense of another, but about striking a balance. It’s about asking the right questions, not having all the answers. It’s about failing and succeeding in public because we’re all human. It’s about leading without constant apology and ensuring everyone is heard, because that’s true inclusion.
By always questioning the ‘why’ behind how I lead, I’m forging a style that’s authentic to me, because if we have to change who we are to lead, that’s not real leadership.
As PR professionals, isn’t disrupting the status quo what we do best?
Connect with Amira Williams on LinkedIn.
Amira was awarded a place on The Xec. leadership scheme for UK-based Black, Asian, Mixed Race and Ethnic Minority PR and comms pros. She is being mentored by powerhouse Veronica Patton-Cemm, Consulting Director, Data and Insights, Blurred.
