Give to Gain: International Women’s Day 2026
‘Give to Gain’ isn’t just the theme for this year’s International Women’s Day
It’s a spotlight on the leadership behaviours that quietly determine whether people and organisations move forward or stay stuck
People and organisations don’t get stuck simply because processes are wrong. They get stuck because the human dynamics around the processes aren’t being addressed
When attention, clarity, and perspective are missing that impact shows up everywhere: in delivery risk, in political friction, and most visibly in the customer experience
In the spirit of ‘Give to Gain,’ I’m sharing two things today ahead of International Women’s Day this Sunday 8 March 2026
These two things sit at the heart of how I help leaders shift systems that are stuck
Give attention, gain influence
Attention is political capital. Leaders who listen well shape outcomes. Especially where power is informal, distributed, or contested
The latest article in my LinkedIn Newsletter ‘People. Politics. Performance’ explores why listening is one of the most underestimated skills in product and transformation
👉 Read the article here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/politics-listening-gaining-influence-giving-attention-lai-ling-su-us3cc
👉 Sign up to the newsletter here: https://www.linkedin.com/newsletters/people-politics-performance-7353217831351500801/
Give perspective, gain clarity
Perspective is often the missing ingredient in complex environments and it’s usually gained the hard way
I recently sat down with Vasco Duarte and recorded five episodes for his podcast series
In the first episode I shared a failure story that reshaped how I think about customer experience. On the surface, it looked like a process breakdown. Underneath, it was a leadership perspective gap. The kind that blinds people and organisations to what customers are actually experiencing until the damage is already done
That moment taught me something I’ve seen repeated across industries: when leaders don’t seek and give perspective, their people can’t see the real problem and their customers feel it first
Across the series we unpack the hidden dynamics that derail delivery: an ‘us vs them’ mentality that fractures trust and drives unhelpful behaviour, leadership dynamics where alignment is assumed but never created, unclear decision rights that breed dysfunction and frustration, and the absence of smart, strategic, and commercial decision making
We also explored what success looks like, what good product ownership really requires, and how to have the deeply uncomfortable but necessary conversations that move work forward
👉 Listen to the podcast episodes here: https://scrum-master-toolbox.org/tag/lai-ling-su
Why this matters for leaders
International Women’s Day isn’t just a once a year event. It’s a challenge to lead differently. To:
Give clarity to gain alignment
Give attention to gain influence
Give perspective to gain better decisions
Give opportunity to gain equity
Give capability to gain sustainable performance
This is the work I do with executive teams as an interim executive, consultant, capability builder, and executive coach. I fix the human systems that underpin every transformation
If your organisation is navigating complexity, stalled delivery, or leadership friction, this is the moment to invest in the capabilities that create real-world momentum
👉 Explore what this looks like here: https://www.helloagility.com.au/services