We humans love to judge, and there are two different biases we hold: descriptive and prescriptive. In this episode we’ll be looking at prescriptive bias and how women are expected to behave as leaders (good lord do people have opinions!). When women don’t act according to their prescribed role—kind, warm, gentle, caring, submissive—they can be punished. And it’s not just men who carry this bias, women do too. Being a decisive or direct female leader shouldn’t be a bad thing, but these biases can feel like being trapped in a box.

So how do you combat them? First by knowing they exist, and second by catching your own. Notice when you make comments about other women not “acting” properly. And when you hear that internal voice saying you should’ve been kinder or less aggressive, realize that’s probably your inner bias talking. We can’t change how other people think and behave, but we can act in alignment with who we are, instead of who society tells us to be.