When Alignment Becomes the New Ambition for Women Leaders
Written by Natasha Bach
After more than 20 years as a senior marketing executive in entertainment, Paige Lewis was hospitalized with extreme burnout. Only then did she realize that her personal values were no longer aligned with her work.
“I didn’t take the time to realize that,” she said. “We don’t often do that.”
But among senior women leaders, something is beginning to shift.
In a recent survey of Chief Members, over 50% ranked strategic alignment and purpose as the most important factor in achieving their ambitions in 2026—surpassing resources, authority, and traditional upskilling. Alignment is increasingly seen as the foundation for clearer judgment, sustained influence, and leadership that compounds over time.
Lisa Steelman, who spent decades climbing the corporate ladder, puts it bluntly: “My generation was supposed to break the glass ceiling — that was supposed to give you purpose. But that’s a great lie.” Now, she says, there is permission to ask different questions: “If we find ourselves working forever, how do we want to spend our time?”
For many women, time has become the most valuable asset.
From External Validation to Internal Purpose
This shift does not happen in isolation. It often requires a breaking point—physical, emotional, or professional—before priorities begin to change.
Steelman recalls the fear of stepping outside the expected path. She secretly built a government affairs strategy AI tool and didn’t even tell her children until it was licensed. “It’s so ingrained in us that there’s a specific path you need to follow,” she said. “Many women are afraid to go after purpose because we’re afraid of failure.”
Even when women successfully climb that path, they often encounter a different realization.
“If you keep rising up the ranks or accumulating prestige or status, you think you’ll arrive at a place and the skies will part,” said Gena Chieco. “But a lot of times what happens is you arrive and you realize it was a mirage.”
Chieco experienced this herself while working in the Obama administration and later at a clean tech startup. Despite meaningful work, she continued chasing titles, promotions, and external validation.
Redefining Ambition and Success
The alternative, she argues, is an inward definition of success—one grounded in personal values rather than external expectations.
Paige Lewis, now a coach, advises clients to aim for at least 80% alignment between their values and their work. “You have to fall in love with the everyday-ness of your job,” she said.
This transition requires unlearning long-held assumptions about ambition. As Chieco explains, it involves “embracing your unique genius and pairing it with being of service—while shedding the limiting beliefs and ‘shoulds.’”
For many women, ambition is no longer a linear climb. Instead, it becomes a combination of paths: pauses, pivots, parallel projects, or portfolio careers.
“As Angulo Reid puts it, the pivot is rarely a sharp turn—it’s more of an ‘and this, and this.’ You never fully let go when you round the corner.”
Different Paths Toward Alignment
Some women remain in their roles but reshape them from within.
Financial advisor Ana Munro expanded her work beyond individual clients into nonprofit boards and financial literacy programs. Her purpose, she says, is “giving families back time so they can pursue their own purpose.”
For others, alignment requires building something entirely new.
Lisa Angulo Reid left advertising after two decades to found Dear Flor, a cannabis company rooted in her Filipino heritage. “Purpose is intrinsic at a personal level and bleeds into the company—not the other way around,” she said.
Emily Lewis-Pinnell, meanwhile, built a platform using AI to support caregivers like herself, after struggling with administrative burdens while caring for her child with disabilities. “I get to decide where to have impact,” she said.
A New Model of Career Growth
Despite different paths, a shared pattern emerges: integrating identity with work.
This shift is supported by experimentation and community. Women are encouraged to explore different perspectives, take small steps before major transitions, and openly communicate career openness. As Chieco notes, “It’s about baby steps. You don’t wake up tomorrow and your life is upside down.”
Peer networks also play a critical role. Nearly half of Chief members cite community support as essential to success.
Steelman credits such a network with enabling her entrepreneurial path, describing it as a space where asking for help is not a weakness, but a necessity.
Conclusion: Redefining Success
Women leaders today are not simply following predefined career paths. They are increasingly asking more fundamental questions: What actually fulfills me? Where does my expertise meet real need? How do I want to spend my finite time?
The answers vary widely—from expanding corporate roles into social impact, to launching purpose-driven startups, to building tools from lived experience.
What connects them is not a single model of success, but a shared willingness to redefine it—anchored not in external validation, but in alignment between who they are and what they do.
Source: Chief