Menopause at Work: How to Prevent Menopause from Stalling Your Senior Leadership Career

When I joined Lucy Gernon on her 360 LeadHERship podcast, we went straight into the high-stakes question that senior women ask me every day and its this:

How do I keep my career progression on track when menopause hits at the peak of my leadership success?

And here was my reply: menopause isn’t a full stop on your career. It’s a leadership evolution, and its a new time in your life. You need a new toolbox and if you've got one you'll be professionally equipped to handle it. Keep using the old tools and expect new results at a completely new time of transition in your leadership life and you'll be setting yourself up for failure.

Menopause and Performance Busting the Myth

One of the most damaging myths I see in business is that menopause inevitably slows women down. It doesn’t. What slows careers is the lack of tools, strategies, and organisational support to manage it.

As I shared with Lucy, I went through surgical menopause at 42, I was a CEO leading a high-growth company. I didn’t have the option to step back. What I learned, and what I now teach as a menopause coach and strategist, is that with the right framework and professional acceleration method, you don’t need to lose your leadership career momentum. But the stats are now staggering with 1 in 10 women expected to leave the workforce because of menopause at work.

Protecting Your Leadership Edge

Menopause symptoms can be invisible to others but powerful enough to disrupt decision speed, visibility, and confidence. That’s not just personal, it’s commercial and it has ripple effects on you and your company.

Work-Life Balance Isn’t a Wellness Issue

One of the key points Lucy and I discussed is why work-life balance during menopause isn’t a soft wellness issue, it’s a leadership imperative.

When senior women leaders burn out, step back, or scale down, organisations lose critical talent. The cost isn’t just personal; it’s measurable in retention, succession planning, and shareholder value.

Boards and executives must stop treating menopause as a personal hurdle and start treating it as a strategic risk to be managed.

Listen to the full episode here:

Strategies for Leaders and Organisations

Here’s what I shared with Lucy that every senior woman and every organisation needs to hear:

• Take corrective steps early. Don’t wait for a career crisis, equip yourself with the professional leadership tools you need before symptoms peak.

• Leaders must stay visible. Pulling back only reinforces stereotypes. Coaching can help women lead with strength while managing symptoms.

• Organisations must act. Build structured policies and benefits that move beyond token “awareness” to measurable retention strategies.

Here’s what to do next:

Take the NOPAUSE™ Scorecard — uncover where menopause may be quietly costing you progression, performance, or promotability.

Work with me directly, as The Menopause Career Coach™, I work with current executives and aspiring leaders to maintain pace, presence, and ambition through every stage of menopause.

Through my exclusive NOPAUSE™ executive coaching, I work with women to:

• Sustain executive presence, even under hormonal pressure.

• Keep visibility high, so promotability isn’t quietly eroded.

• Protect ambition, even when energy or resilience feels under threat.

Menopause is not the end of ambition. With the right tools, executive coaching, and organisational strategy, women don’t just survive menopause, they thrive through it.

Because senior leadership careers don’t have to stall. With the right strategies, they scale.

About The Author

Fiona McKay is the multi-award winning CEO of The Menopause Maze™ and is also known in the media as The Menopause Career Coach™. She has been awarded the coveted titles of Career Coach of The Year 2025, Business Advisor of The Year 2025, The Most Influential Women's Health and Career Support Business Women and Menopause Champion of The Year. She is the Menopause Career Coach C-suite women and workplaces go to when they want to achieve their biggest career and boldest business growth goals so they can lead limitlessly through all stages of menopause.

She is a featured strategic menopause career and business coach in The Guardian, The Independent, OK Magazine and as a menopause business and boardroom expert on live TV including BBC News and ITV News.

You can connect with Fiona at: fmckay@themenopausemaze.com.

Fiona is also available for keynote speaking, panel chairing and conference hosting at menopause awareness month events, women's leadership and business conferences and for fronting brand campaigns as a leading menopause influencer.