ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on gender diversity within the context of management and leadership in health systems. It describes an inclusive co-leadership model with distinct and overlapping roles, which inspires administrative and clinical leaders to collaborate and build resilience in healthcare leadership. An important pathway for shifting the gender pendulum is adopting an inclusive leadership model. When women perform leadership roles they are often perceived as having violated their stereotypically prescribed feminine roles. Co-leaders create synergistic work environments that promote trust and interprofessional collaboration with the mutual understanding of when to lead and when to step back and let others do so. Celebrating the success stories of women and men who share co-leadership roles and manage to balance multiple responsibilities in ways that are fulfilling and challenging amplifies their achievements, facilitates peer learning, and champions similar experiences across industries. To sustain gender parity, successful strategies for women leaders include sponsorship, mentoring, learning, coaching, visibility, confidence, and development.
