I just finished reading “The Broken Rung,” and it literally had me texting screenshots to colleagues, collaborators, and friends, validating my professional experience (and theirs!). If you’ve ever felt that inexplicable career friction while watching male colleagues zoom past you into management, you’re about to have your “aha” moment.
Three McKinsey powerhouses—Kweilin Ellingrud, Lareina Yee, and Maria Del Mar Martinez—have nailed exactly why so many women hit career stagnation before they even reach mid-level.
⚠️ Spoiler alert: it’s not you, it’s the system.
Most people have heard of the “glass ceiling,” but a lesser-known reality is that the career ladder for women is broken at the very first step, which is often referred to as “the broken rung” by McKinsey and the book’s authors. Despite holding 59% of the college degrees, 🎓women are hired, paid, and promoted at lower rates than men from the start of their careers. For every 100 men promoted to manager, only 86 women are promoted to the same level. This first missed promotion creates a bottleneck that compounds throughout an entire career journey.
THIS is the foundational problem that organizations should be solving, which would lead to higher retention, higher engagement, and more diverse leadership pipelines. It’s the primary problem that motivated me to found Equipt Women, and that’s why we continue to help women grow their self-leadership skills to navigate workplace dynamics, despite the irrational backlash against DEI that has taken hold.
My 3 big takeaways from this book:
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- The Critical Promotion Point — The entry-level to manager transition is THE most crucial advancement point in your entire career trajectory. Miss this boat, and you’re playing catch-up forever. Even if you don’t want to “manage,” it’s vital to understand the path to promotion process and criteria from day one.
- The Visibility Formula — Women consistently report being held to higher performance standards yet receiving less recognition for equivalent work. The book offers tactical approaches for increasing your work visibility–seek out high-profile projects, speak up early in meetings, ask for specific feedback–without falling into the “self-promotion penalty” trap.
- The Network Effect — The authors quantify exactly how informal networks influence promotion decisions. They cite how women tend to be over-mentored and under-sponsored, and why women often lack access to these critical systems of influence.
So, how can you equip yourself to navigate these hurdles?
👉 Identify Your Sponsors. The data shows mentors advise, but sponsors advocate. Do you have someone positioned to champion your advancement when you’re not in the room? If not, that’s your priority assignment. It could be your manager, their manager, or another senior leader with internal influence.
👉 Document Your Wins. Create a “hype sheet” with quantifiable achievements and specific accolades from colleagues up, down, and across the organization to bring to your next performance review. Make updates at the end of each week; don’t wait until the end of the year to “remember.”
👉 Check in on the system. Determine if your company is aware of or tracking ”the broken rung” issue. This will help you understand your company’s approach and how/if you can impact it. In a curious, collaborative way (not confrontational), ask your HR director:
- “Are you aware of “The Broken Rung” book by three McKinsey leaders that was released in March 2025? (Bring an extra copy to share in case the answer is “no.”)
- “What specific metrics does our company track regarding first-level promotion rates?”
- “Can you share what criteria managers use when evaluating candidates for first-level promotions, and are these criteria standardized across departments?”
- “Does our company have any specific initiatives or training programs addressing the ‘broken rung’ phenomenon?”
If you receive unsatisfactory answers, perhaps you can be part of the solution–a new HR task force, an internal coalition discussing the book’s themes, or recommend a specific practice from the book that your company could adopt.
Meanwhile, to address this “broken rung” issue head-on, I’m working on my third book–this one in collaboration with my sister, Katy Mooney. 📕It’s a bold, actionable playbook for women who are ready to take charge of their careers. We’re wrapping up the manuscript now and look forward to sharing more details with you later this year!
You are equipt to navigate the broken rung,
Kelly Mooney
