While navigating hostile environments, it is important to equip yourself with the tools necessary to lead with confidence and clarity. Here are some key learnings from the Women Emerging podcast series: Navigating Hostile Environments, that can help leaders thrive in challenging spaces.
The relentless nature of hostile environments often leads to emotional exhaustion and burnout which in turn manifests in being reactive. Getting irritable and angry with team members is therefore common in high pressure environments. Leaders in fields such as human rights, politics, and journalism are particularly susceptible to this phenomenon due to the constant exposure to trauma and conflict.
Aaminah Qadir, Human Rights Lawyer from Pakistan acknowledges that in such environments, leaders often absorb the emotions and struggles of those around them, whether it’s colleagues, clients, or communities affected by injustice.
Therefore, Aaminah notes, “I try to keep the cup slightly less full, maybe half full so that I can take more from the people around me, which invariably you have to in an organisation”. By keeping her own emotional capacity intentionally open (i.e., not letting herself reach full emotional exhaustion), she ensures that she has the bandwidth to support others effectively. This strategy prevents burnout and allows her to lead with clarity and composure in a field where emotional resilience is just as critical as legal expertise.
Similarly, Autumn Phillips, who has spent 20 years in newsrooms as an editor highlights the importance of fostering psychological safety, where team members feel empowered to voice concerns and challenge decisions. In her newsroom, she encouraged debate, allowing reporters to push back on editorial choices, which sometimes led her to change her mind. She explains that journalists need to know it’s safe to argue, as this creates better journalism and a more engaged team. Even when she stood by her original decision, she found that clearly explaining her reasoning helped build trust. “They don’t mind that you make the decision, as long as you’ve listened,” she says.
Listening to junior team members is what Jill Heinerth, diving into the dangers of deep-sea caves, also advocates. She explains that newcomers often hesitate to speak up, fearing they lack the experience to contribute meaningfully. However, their fresh perspective can spot risks that seasoned professionals might overlook. To counteract this, she has implemented a Charter of Communication within her teams which is a structured approach to ensuring that every team member, regardless of experience, feels heard, recognised, and valued.
She illustrates this with a personal example from deep-sea diving: “I need to know that the person who just showed up today to be a safety support person is going to speak up if there’s some hose sticking out of the back of my gear that’s not connected that I can’t see.” Acknowledging that fear often prevents people from voicing concerns, Jill stresses that leaders must actively empower junior team members to take responsibility and speak up.
However, she makes an important distinction between responsibility and authority, arguing that giving someone a task isn’t enough, they must also have the authority to act on their observations. “There are many leaders that quiet everyone beneath them and say, ‘No, I got this, I’ve got the experience.’ But the truth is that we are only as good as the sum of everybody participating in a project. And those junior voices are incredibly important.”
To embed this mindset within her teams, Heinerth ensures that communication principles are made explicit through the Charter of Communication. “We actually write down these things, what’s important in communication? Being polite, being empathetic. We brainstorm and create a list of 10 critical communication principles.” This list acts as a reference point to hold the team accountable. If someone attempts to dismiss a junior member’s input, the group is encouraged to intervene: if a senior team member is dismissive and says – ‘Oh, you don’t know what you’re talking about’ then the entire group can say, ‘Hey, wait a minute, that’s not cool. We agreed to value each other’s opinions.”
This structured approach not only empowers junior team members but also enhances team safety and effectiveness, ensuring that critical concerns are addressed before they escalate into major risks. By fostering an environment where even the least experienced team member feels confident to speak up, Jill reinforces that true leadership is about listening, enabling, and acting on the collective wisdom of the team.
Jill also reframes fear as a friend. She argues fear is a natural human response to perceived threats and risks. In hostile environments, leaders must learn to acknowledge and manage fear constructively rather than suppressing it.
“No question fear is a friend…I want to dive with people that are also afraid because it means that we both have respect for the risks that we’re about to take,” explains Jill. Thus, leading requires reframing fear as a catalyst for preparation, risk assessment, and proactive problem-solving.
Just as fear can serve as a guiding force rather than a hindrance, leaders must also recognise another invisible challenge of isolation. While fear demands awareness of external risks, isolation in leadership presents an internal challenge, creating distance between decision-makers and those they serve.
Leaders, particularly women in male-dominated fields or those in high-ranking positions, may experience a sense of isolation. Katrien Van Den Broeck, drawing from her experience in European and Belgian politics in her book, Confronting the 10 Traps of Power, she explains that as leaders ascend to positions of power, isolation becomes both literal and figurative. She describes how security measures and bureaucratic structures often cut leaders off from public access, making it harder to receive direct feedback or remain connected to those they serve. “As soon as you get into high positions of power, the isolation becomes literal because you are cut off by security measures from any public access to you,” she notes. This physical and emotional distance can result in detachment from reality, where decision-making is shaped more by advisors and gatekeepers than by the broader community.
To counteract this, Katrien emphasises the importance of building strong support networks and actively seeking diverse perspectives. She warns that without external input, leaders risk becoming insulated within an echo chamber, making assumptions rather than understanding real concerns. She stresses the need to step outside traditional leadership circles, regularly engage with different voices, and foster open dialogue to stay informed and accountable.
However, while allies and networks are crucial, Susana Lopez, a private equity professional, cautions against over-relying on them. She challenges the assumption that allies will always be there to support a leader’s mission: “If they’re allies, they’re supposed to always be there for you… but I have found that at times you are better off pursuing your efforts on your own, because you cannot really rely on the fact that your allies are always going to be there to support you along the way”.
She highlights that in high-stakes environments, allies often have their own self-preservation instincts, and circumstances can force them to step back from offering support. “There may be times when they are actually themselves facing headwinds… everybody has to look after themselves, and they were not there ready for me,” she reflects.
As a result, she advises leaders to strategically build networks while maintaining self-reliance. She acknowledges the value of teamwork but warns that disappointment in people can be emotionally draining, leading her to develop a more independent approach to leadership.
Though it is not always necessary or productive to confront every instance of injustice or negativity. Leaders must develop the discernment to prioritise issues, focus their energy on what truly matters, and let go of minor grievances. Susana advises, “Don’t get tangled in every small battle. Make sure the hostile environment does not prevent you from seeing the bigger picture,” emphasising the importance of strategic focus.
However, resilience in leading is not just about who you rely on, it’s also about how you approach uncertainty. In unpredictable environments, leaders cannot afford to wait for perfect conditions before taking action. Nora Madjar, Associate Dean at the University of Connecticut School of Business, reinforces this by highlighting the power of experimentation, adaptability, and learning through failure.
Nora emphasises the importance of embracing failure as part of the learning process. She introduces the Marshmallow Challenge, a team-building exercise where participants must construct the tallest possible structure using marshmallows and spaghetti. The challenge reveals a critical leadership lesson: success does not come from rigid planning alone but from iteration and adaptability.
She explains that leaders often feel pressured to devise a perfect plan before taking action, but this can be a mistake. Instead, she encourages an approach where teams test, fail, and refine their strategies through real-time experimentation. “The teams that do best in this challenge are the ones who start building immediately, testing their ideas, adjusting their structures, and learning from what doesn’t work. The ones that plan everything before taking action tend to fail.”
This principle is directly applicable to leadership in hostile environments. In unpredictable and high-stakes settings, leaders must be flexible, willing to pivot, and unafraid of making mistakes. Rather than fearing failure, they should reframe it as a stepping stone to success.
Nora also warns against hierarchical decision-making that stifles innovation. She notes that teams with less rigid power structures tend to perform better in the challenge because they allow everyone to contribute ideas freely. She urges leaders to create environments where experimentation is encouraged rather than feared, ensuring that team members feel safe to take risks and innovate without worrying about punitive consequences.
Beyond the Marshmallow Challenge, Nora highlights the importance of listening to every voice within a team. She reflects, “Sometimes we have expertise and experiences that we may not tap into. If someone feels like the leader and starts giving commands too quickly, they might miss the best ideas in the room.” She stresses that effective leaders must step back, create space for others to contribute, and recognise that great ideas often come from unexpected places.
Jamie Mittelman, founder and media entrepreneur, expands on this by addressing the scarcity mindset that often exists in competitive fields, particularly for women. She explains that women in sports and sports media have historically had to fight for a limited share of visibility, sponsorships, and leadership roles, creating an environment where success is seen as a zero-sum game. “What we need is a network of women lifting each other up, not tearing each other down,” she says, advocating for a shift toward collaboration over competition. She notes that younger generations of female athletes are embracing this shift, realising that “we all rise together.”
Jamie also warns that hostile environments can derail leaders by pulling them into unnecessary battles. She points to the example of Caster Semenya, whose career was overshadowed by fights over her eligibility rather than her talent. “She has had her name, her image, her sexuality, her gender completely dragged through the dirt,” Jamie says, urging leaders to choose their battles wisely and avoid being forced into conflicts that distract from their true goals.
Another key takeaway from Jamie’s experience is the importance of staying true to one’s leadership style despite external pressures. She shares the story of Becky Sauerbrunn, former captain of the U.S. Women’s National Soccer Team, who led not by being the loudest voice but by being a steady and trusted force. “If you choose not to mirror that hostility but instead lead in a way that is true to yourself, you can probably get an awful long way ahead of everybody else,” she says.
Ultimately, Jamie reinforces that leaders should not let a hostile environment dictate how they lead. “Turn the hostility to your benefit. Don’t join the crowd. Do it your way, and the complete absence of hostility in how you’re leading will attract people, particularly the most talented ones, to your direction.
“Don’t let the hostility take the humanity out of you.” This is the core message from Dr. Mounia Amrani, who has spent years working as a doctor in war zones, facing extreme conflict, suffering, and devastation. She warns that hostile environments can strip leaders of their emotional connection and empathy, turning them into robotic decision-makers who follow procedures without considering the human element.
Early in her career, Mounia admits she relied heavily on protocols and rule books to guide her actions. When faced with the overwhelming reality of war being violence, malnutrition, and suffering, it was obvious that sticking to rigid procedures was the only way to maintain control. “You want to be efficient, so you focus on your mission, on the rule book. You tell yourself, ‘I have to do that, that, that, that, that,’ and in the beginning, that’s helpful.” However, over time, she realised that this strict adherence to protocol created an emotional disconnect, one that made it harder to process the reality of what she was witnessing.
Mounia recalls a turning point in her career when she returned home from a mission and struggled to adjust to everyday life. “I found myself having panic attacks in normal social settings. I had been doing my job well, following the objectives, but something felt missing.” She realised that she had been suppressing her emotional engagement with the people she was helping, focusing only on efficiency rather than connection.
The Power of Small Ge
Navigating hostile environments demands a multifaceted approach that encompasses resilience, self-awareness, strategic thinking, and a commitment to human connection. By understanding the psychological impact of hostility, addressing gender dynamics, employing effective leadership strategies, and drawing upon lessons from extreme environments, leaders can not only overcome challenges but also foster positive change, build stronger teams, and create a more equitable and supportive future.
Over time, she made a conscious decision to lead differently to balance professional detachment with emotional engagement. She learned that small acts of kindness, empathy, and connection could have a profound impact on resilience, morale, and well-being.
She gives an example of a malnourished baby in critical condition, where local nurses were reluctant to administer morphine, fearing it would hasten the child’s death. Initially, her instinct was frustration
“We have a protocol. Why are we even debating this?” but instead of forcing a decision, she chose to engage in dialogue. She asked a nurse, “What does it mean for you to give the morphine?” and realised that their resistance was rooted in deep cultural and ethical beliefs. Through listening and discussion, she was able to reach a decision that respected both medical guidelines and the emotions of those involved. This experience reinforced that effective leadership isn’t about enforcing rules, it’s about understanding people and guiding them through difficult moments.
One of Mounia’s most powerful reflections is on the role of physical connection in leadership. She shares how a colleague from Costa Rica transformed her understanding of the simple but profound power of a hug. This colleague would greet everyone with genuine enthusiasm and warmth, offering long, sincere hugs. “She had this ability to lift your energy instantly. Even if she saw you just the day before, she would be so happy, and that sincerity was infectious.”
Coming from North Africa and Belgium, Mounia admits that physical affection wasn’t part of her leadership style. She hesitated to express warmth so openly, fearing it would feel awkward. “I started practicing on trees first. Trees don’t reject you,” she jokes. Over time, she built up the courage to ask people if they wanted a hug, and to her surprise, the response was overwhelmingly positive. She realised that in high-stress, high-trauma environments, physical connection could serve as a powerful grounding force—a way to remind people that they were not alone in their struggles.
“Sometimes, you see it in someone’s eyes, they need that connection. And when I ask, ‘Can I hug you?’ the response is almost always ‘Oh, yes!’ It’s a moment of relief, of shared humanity. And in the midst of hostility, that can make all the difference.”
Mounia’s leadership evolution teaches a vital lesson: In environments that push people toward emotional detachment, leaders must deliberately put humanity back in. Small moments of acknowledgment, kindness, and human connection are not distractions from leadership, they are essential to it.
From strategic patience to fostering open communication, from reframing fear to embracing adaptability, the lessons from the Women Emerging podcast series – Navigating Hostile Environments provide practical tools for leaders facing adversity. These insights collectively highlight that effective leadership in hostile spaces is not just about endurance, but about shaping environments where resilience, collaboration, and adaptability thrive. In challenging spaces, resilience, clarity, and emotional intelligence are not just advantages, they are necessities.
Key Takeaways for Navigating Hostile Environments:
Emotional Resilience and Self-Management:
- Acknowledge and Manage Burnout: Hostile environments breed emotional exhaustion; leaders must recognise and address this.
- Maintain Emotional Capacity: “Keep the cup half full” to support others without depleting personal resources.
- Reframing Fear: Acknowledge fear as a natural response and use it as a catalyst for preparation and risk assessment.
- Combat Isolation: Actively build support networks and seek diverse perspectives to avoid becoming detached.
- Self-Reliance: Build networks strategically, but don’t over-rely on allies; maintain self-sufficiency.
- Strategic Prioritisation: Don’t get bogged down in every small battle; focus on the bigger picture.
- Human Connection: In high-stress environments, prioritise empathy, kindness, and physical connection.
Leadership Strategies and Team Dynamics:
- Foster Psychological Safety: Create environments where team members can voice concerns and challenge decisions.
- Value Junior Voices: Implement structures like “Charters of Communication” to ensure all team members feel heard.
- Distinguish Responsibility and Authority: Give team members both the task and the power to act.
- Embrace Experimentation and Adaptability: Encourage testing, failure, and real-time adjustments.
- Promote Collaborative Decision-Making: Avoid hierarchical structures that stifle innovation.
- Combat Scarcity Mindset: Foster collaboration over competition, especially in traditionally competitive fields.
- Stay True to Your Leadership Style: Don’t let hostility force you to abandon your authentic leadership approach.
Practical Application and Learnings:
- Listen Actively: Effective leadership involves understanding and responding to the needs of others.
- Communicate Clearly: Explain decisions and reasoning to build trust and understanding.
- Learn from Failure: View mistakes as opportunities for growth and refinement.
- Prioritise Humanity: Maintain emotional connection and empathy, even in extreme environments.
- Build Strong Networks: Cultivate diverse relationships for support and perspective.
- Choose Battles Wisely: Focus energy on significant issues and avoid unnecessary conflicts.
- The Power of Small Gestures: Small acts of kindness and connection can have a profound impact.
- Resilience and Adaptability are Crucial: Navigate uncertainty by remaining flexible and responsive.
