Women's Day: Women Leaders on Building Successful Careers

Hold Two Mirrors: Self-Reflection & Blind Spots

Emily Chang, Chief Commercial Officer, CHAGEE:

She brings 26 years’ global experience across QSR, retail, hospitality, tech, and FMCG, driving brand growth, digital innovation, and authentic leadership.

Guidance for Aspiring Women Leaders on Navigating Challenges & Overcoming Systemic Barriers in Their Career Journeys:

Hold two mirrors. 

The first mirror is self-reflection, which builds internal authority. If we aren’t deeply honest about our strengths, our gaps, and our patterns, we can’t lead with clarity or conviction. 

The second mirror is the one that reveals blind spots. When you leave the hairdresser, they hand you a mirror so you can see the back of your head because perspective is incomplete without it. Trusted colleagues and mentors serve as that second mirror. They reveal blind spots, expand our field of vision, and tell us the truth when the room won’t.

Those two mirrors together create leaders who are self-aware and strategically aware. A powerful combination.

Women’s Day Message for Emerging Women Leaders About Leading With Impact & Confidence:

Embrace the juxtaposition.

True confidence is rooted in humility. Confidence often looks like polish and bluster. But the leaders who endure are the ones who are secure enough to keep learning and generous enough to share power. 

Similarly, impact isn’t about how brightly you shine. It’s about how many others are inspired and motivated because you saw their potential and supported them.

So celebrate others and elevate others. Create opportunities others can step into. When the results come — and they will — the confidence you feel won’t be performative. It will be earned. And it will be shared.

That’s the kind of leadership that compounds.