Rethinking equity in a system that forgot half the room
Over the past decade, leadership development has undergone a necessary and overdue shift. Programs focused on women’s advancement have rightly received attention, funding, and strategic energy. These initiatives aim to correct historical inequities and open doors previously closed by outdated systems.
However, alongside this momentum, a strange silence has emerged. As we pour resources into women’s leadership pipelines (a move I support fully), we must ask a difficult question: “Why are there no visible leadership programs for men?
The false equivalence
At first glance, it might seem like a non-issue. Men have long occupied positions of power in boardrooms and executive suites. The logic goes: they do not need more support; they already have it.
That belief, however, no longer holds. It may never have.
The unintended consequence of a necessary corrective is that many men are now developmentally stranded. The narrative seems to imply that if a man needs help — especially with emotional agility, psychological well-being, or personal leadership — he must be weak, fragile, or unfit for the modern workplace.
The only formal structures that exist for men today are remedial (anger management, addiction recovery) or invisible. There is no culturally sanctioned, future-oriented space for men to evolve as leaders without shame or defensiveness.
Support is not weakness. It is an investment. If we design leadership tracks for women because we believe in their latent potential, why would we assume men’s growth requires no cultivation?
The silent cost of neglect
The data is unambiguous:
- Men are almost four times more likely to die by suicide than women (WHO, 2021).
- Men are less likely to seek mental health support, and when they do, they exit earlier (Seidler et al., 2016).
- Men are more likely to internalise stress and continue performing despite deep emotional suppression.
- In organisations, men in midlife and middle management show rising levels of burnout, disengagement, and identity confusion (APA, 2020).
The absence of programs tailored for men does not just reflect a gap. It reflects an assumption: that men will cope by toughing it out. That they do not need to be seen, supported, or offered ways to recalibrate. The assumption is false. And it is costing us competent, conscious leaders.
Design bias
Most “general” leadership programs today are still coded as masculine in tone — but paradoxically, they no longer support men. Emotional intelligence, empathy, and inclusion are rightly foregrounded. Yet these skills often clash with the way many men were socialised. They are told to adapt or be left behind, but are rarely given safe tools or spaces to make the shift.
If women’s development deserves affirmation, visibility, and investment, surely men’s development deserves more than the vague assumption that they will be fine.
What men need now
We do not need to return to outdated models that prioritise dominance or control. But neither should leadership development be feminised in ways that quietly shame masculine-coded behaviours. We need a third path:
- Embodied leadership that honours presence, responsibility, and clarity without bypassing emotion.
- Decompression spaces for high-performing men to offload, reset, and return with integrity.
- Midlife renewal programs that equip men for transition instead of waiting until crisis.
- Leadership tracks rooted in fatherhood, purpose, and responsibility, not just performance.
These are not optional extras. They are necessary counterbalances to a system that has become lopsided in its inclusivity.
The new equity
Equity does not mean everyone gets the same thing. It means everyone gets what they need to succeed.
We are long overdue for leadership programs that support men — not because they are broken, but because they are human. Men navigating complexity, pressure, and silent expectations no one talks about.
Let us stop pretending men do not need help. Let us stop equating support with weakness. Let us design leadership frameworks that not only include men but transform them.
Because strong, grounded, emotionally intelligent men are not a threat to progress. They are a requirement for it.