Deborah Grayson Riegel: How to bounce forward from failure

What if failure hits differently depending on your gender?

In this episode I speak with Deborah Grayson Riegel, an executive coach and author whose research across 1,100 women in 60 countries reveals why women experience setbacks more intensely than men, and what to do about it.

We dig into why women tend to ruminate longer, and see failure as identity rather than event, and where those patterns come from. We explore the practical tools that can shift all of that: how to reframe failure, ask for better feedback, tackle invisible work, and build the kind of support network that helps you aim higher and recover faster.

If you are a woman navigating setbacks, this episode will change how you think about failure and what becomes possible on the other side. And if you lead or work alongside women, it will make you a better teammate and leader.

You’ll hear about:

• What failure really means and why it’s broader
• Why women personalise and ruminate more after setbacks
• The five types of failure and which hit hardest
• How failure patterns start from age five
• The confidence gap versus the consequence gap
• Shifting from ‘What if?’ to ‘Even if I fail’
• How to ask for better, more specific feedback
• Navigating non-promotable and invisible work
• The Ground, Gather and Go framework

More about Deborah

Deborah Grayson Riegel is a keynote speaker and consultant who teaches leadership communication for Wharton Business School, Duke Business School, and Columbia Business School.

She is a regular contributor for Harvard Business Review, Inc., Psychology Today, Forbes, and Fast Company. Deb consults and speaks for clients including Amazon, BlackRock, Bloomberg, Johnson & Johnson, PepsiCo, and The United States Army. Her work has been featured in worldwide media, including Bloomberg Businessweek, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. She is the co-author of the new book Aim High and Bounce Back: A Successful Woman’s Guide to Rethinking and Rising Up from Failure.

• Deborah’s website
• YouTube
• The book