In the evolving landscape of workplace diversity and leadership, Bhavna Toor stands at the forefront of change. As the Founder and CEO of Singapore-headquartered Shenomics, a mindful leadership platform designed for aspiring women leaders, Toor has made it her mission to bridge the gap between professional success and the inner confidence required to sustain it. Her impact is evident — having trained, mentored, and coached over 10,000 women, she works with some of the world’s leading organisations, including Fortune 500 giants like Google, LinkedIn, and Target.
With an impressive career spanning finance, social entrepreneurship, and leadership development, Toor brings a global perspective, having lived and worked in eight countries, including the US, UK, India, and Singapore. Her accolades, such as LinkedIn Top Voice for Gender Equity and the Global Women of Influence Award 2024, underscore her influence in the field of gender-equitable leadership.
Collective for Equality recently sat down with Bhavna Toor to discuss her journey, the role of mindful leadership in fostering gender-equitable workplaces, and the tangible actions organisations can take to drive meaningful change.
The Genesis of Shenomics
Toor’s career began in the high-intensity world of finance in New York, where she thrived as a Client Portfolio Manager. Yet, despite her external success, she felt a sense of misalignment. “I saw so many brilliant women around me—hardworking, ambitious—yet they often struggled with self-doubt, systemic barriers, and a lack of support,” she shares.
A turning point came when she discovered mindfulness, a practice that transformed how she led and navigated her professional life. This epiphany laid the foundation for Shenomics, an initiative aimed at bridging the professional and personal realms of leadership. Over the years, its mission has expanded beyond empowering individual women to reshaping entire workplace ecosystems. “Today, our focus is not just on helping women rise but on reshaping workplaces so they expect women to lead,” Toor affirms.
Mindfulness as a Catalyst
Shenomics places a strong emphasis on mindful leadership — a skill that Toor believes is crucial for fostering gender-equitable workplaces. “Mindfulness is a leadership superpower — especially for women navigating workplaces not always designed for them,” she explains.
By cultivating self-awareness, women can recognise and challenge internalised biases, strengthen resilience, and lead with intention. But the impact of mindfulness extends beyond individuals. “For organisations, mindful leadership is the antidote to unconscious bias. When leaders slow down, reflect, and listen deeply, they make better, fairer decisions about hiring, promotions, and culture-building,” she adds.
Through her work with thousands of women, Toor has identified biases that persist in leadership progression. One of the most overlooked yet impactful barriers is performance feedback. “Women get 38% more problematic feedback than men. Instead of clear, actionable insights, they often receive vague praise (‘You’re a great team player’) or personality-based comments (‘You should be more confident’),” she reveals.
Stereotypes further compound the issue, with women being seven times more likely to be labelled with words like ‘emotional,’ subtly signalling they aren’t leadership material. The consequence? Biased feedback leads to biased promotions.
Toor believes the solution lies in changing how talent is evaluated. “It’s not about fixing women. It’s about fixing the way we assess talent,” she asserts. Training managers to provide structured, behaviour-based feedback ensures performance, rather than personality, dictates career progression.
Initiatives That Drive Impactful Change
Having worked with over 250 organisations, Toor has observed which gender-equity initiatives yield the most tangible results. Among them, sponsorship stands out. “Companies serious about diversity ensure high-potential women receive actionable feedback and support from leaders who step up as their sponsors, not just mentors,” she says.
Other effective strategies include transparent pay and promotion criteria and workplace flexibility. “Companies that embrace flexible work arrangements—such as hybrid models and results-based performance evaluations — see higher retention and advancement of women,” Toor notes. The key to success, she adds, lies in embedding these initiatives into leadership accountability rather than treating them as HR programs.
Moving Beyond Performative Allyship
To create truly inclusive workplaces, male leaders must shift from performative allyship to active advocacy. Toor outlines the ‘Three A’s’ that define meaningful allyship:
- Actively Listen – Understand women’s challenges by engaging in deep, intentional listening.
- Amplify – Elevate women’s voices by reinforcing their ideas and ensuring they are heard in meetings and decision-making spaces.
- Advocate – Go beyond words by recommending women for leadership roles, advocating for their promotions, and ensuring they get high-visibility opportunities.
Toor emphasises that hiring diverse talent is just step one; retaining and advancing them requires structured strategies.
- Equitable Access to Stretch Assignments: Women must be given high-impact roles that drive business outcomes, not just ‘safe’ positions.
- Flexible Work Without Career Penalty: Workplaces should adopt hybrid models and performance metrics that prioritise impact over hours worked.
- Leadership Accountability for Gender Equity: Progress should be tied to leadership KPIs to ensure long-term commitment.
Diversity as a Business Driver
Beyond equity, diverse teams are proven drivers of innovation. Toor underscores that companies must design inclusive decision-making structures and cultivate psychological safety to harness the full potential of women in leadership. “Diversity is not just about representation—it’s about creating the conditions where innovation thrives,” she asserts.
As a trained mindfulness practitioner, Toor integrates mindfulness into leadership development, advocating for:
- Self-Awareness: Aligning career growth with strengths and values.
- Compassionate Leadership: Redefining leadership as people-centred rather than results-driven.
- Self-Compassion: Encouraging women to embrace imperfection and take bolder risks.
The Global Perspective on Gender Equality
Having worked across continents, Toor observes that while cultural nuances exist, the core barriers holding women back are universal—biased hiring and promotion processes, lack of sponsorship, and the disproportionate burden of caregiving. The World Economic Forum estimates that we are still 131 years away from gender parity, a sobering statistic that reinforces the urgency of change.
Bhavna Toor’s message is clear: true transformation requires both systemic change and a shift in leadership mindsets. “If we change the way we evaluate women, we change the way they rise,” she states.
As organisations strive to build diverse and inclusive workplaces, the principles of mindful leadership offer a roadmap — not just for empowering women but for reshaping the very fabric of corporate leadership.