Why Are Organisations Losing Exceptional Women Leaders After They Reach the Top?

Every CEO knows the cost of losing a great leader.

Not because they lacked talent. Not because they lacked ambition. But because, somewhere along the way, staying became harder than leaving.

Every year, organisations lose exceptional women from senior leadership positions. These are leaders who have overcome barriers, delivered results, built influence and earned their place at the table.

When they leave, the impact extends far beyond a single resignation.

Teams lose a trusted leader. Future leaders lose a role model.

Organisations lose years of expertise, hard-won wisdom, institutional knowledge and leadership continuity. In many cases, they lose talent they have spent years developing.

Yet we have spent decades studying how women climb the leadership ladder.

Far less attention has been paid to what happens when they reach the top.

For organisations competing for leadership talent, the answer may be one of the most important leadership questions of our time.

Hi, I'm Jennifer

After more than 25 years working across business, education and consulting, I witnessed a pattern I could not ignore.

Again and again, I watched remarkable women achieve what many aspire to, only to leave senior leadership sooner than expected. Intelligent, capable and accomplished leaders whose careers should have continued to flourish.

For many women, reaching the summit of leadership is only part of the challenge. Remaining there, thriving there and leading authentically can be an entirely different journey.

Each departure left me wondering:

What happened?

What did the organisation lose?

What could have been done differently?

Those questions became the foundation of my Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) research at Case Western Reserve University's Weatherhead School of Management.

I call this research The Leaking Summit.

My goal is simple: to uncover evidence-based insights that help organisations retain exceptional women leaders, strengthen leadership cultures, and stop the loss of talent they cannot afford to waste.

Why This Research Matters

This research is not about helping women get into leadership.

It is about understanding what helps them stay there.

The findings aim to help organisations:

✅ Retain exceptional leadership talent

✅ Strengthen succession pipelines and leadership continuity

✅ Reduce the loss of valuable expertise and institutional knowledge

✅ Build healthier, more sustainable leadership cultures

✅ Improve long-term organisational performance

And help women leaders:

✅ Build more sustainable leadership careers

✅ Thrive at the highest levels of organisations

✅ Create stronger pathways for future generations

✅ Inform meaningful organisational change

This is not simply a women's issue.

It is a leadership, talent and business performance issue.

If this research helps even a small number of organisations retain exceptional leaders for longer, the return on that knowledge could far exceed the cost of conducting the research itself.

Why I'm Asking for Support

This research is only possible because people who care about the future of leadership choose to invest in understanding it.

To complete this research and bring its findings to organisations that can benefit from them, I am seeking to raise £30,000 to support doctoral residencies at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, and the associated costs of conducting and completing the research.

These residencies provide access to world-class faculty, researchers and doctoral colleagues who help challenge, strengthen and shape the quality of the work.

Your support will help transform an important leadership challenge into practical knowledge that organisations can use to create environments where talented leaders can thrive, contribute and stay.

How You Can Help

✅ Make a donation

✅ Share this campaign with your network

✅ Introduce me to leaders or organisations interested in the research

✅ Join the Founding Research Circle

Every contribution helps move this research forward.

A Final Thought

Most organisations focus on how to attract great leaders.

The most effective organisations also understand how to keep them.

If you have ever watched a talented woman leave a senior leadership role and wondered,

“What could we have done differently?”

then you already understand why this research matters.

Together, we can explore one of leadership's most important unanswered questions and generate insights that help organisations retain exceptional talent, strengthen leadership cultures and create better opportunities for future generations of women leaders.

The organisations that succeed tomorrow will be those that not only attract outstanding leaders, but create the conditions for them to stay, grow and flourish.

Thank you for believing in this work and for being part of this journey.

Jennifer Francis

Founder, Consultant & DBA Candidate

Transparency and Commitment

I am committed to ensuring that all funds raised are used responsibly and exclusively to support the completion of this research.

Supporters are contributing to the development of knowledge that may help organisations retain exceptional leadership talent and create more sustainable pathways for women in leadership. Updates and findings will be shared throughout the research journey.

Any future consultancy, speaking, advisory or commercial work connected to the research will be managed separately from this fundraising campaign.