The glass ceiling refers to those artificial barriers based on attitudinal or organizational biases that prevent women from reaching high-level positions that are very often held exclusively by men. However, there is new evidence to suggest that the glass ceiling is more complicated than the metaphorical “glass ceiling” implies. For example, the glass ceiling implies the existence of an impenetrable barrier to top positions. Today we can clearly see that this barrier is no longer impenetrable. Women like Condoleezza Rice, Hilary Clinton, and Nancy Pelosi are great examples of women who have broken through the glass ceiling. That said, there are still challenges that women face in the workplace, especially those in middle- and lower-level positions. Women don't advance unhindered through the ranks before reaching the top. Instead, they face many challenges and difficulties. For this reason, Eagly and Carli (2007) labeled this journey of challenges that takes place from the lowest levels to the top as the leadership labyrinth (as cited by Northouse, 2010). Some of the challenges encountered within the maze include stereotypes, prejudices, and leadership style. Diversity improves outcomes Canas and Sondak (2011) describe diversity management as a systemic approach that goes beyond legal requirements and organizational claims. They go on to explain that diversity management is systemic, because it should be ingrained in an organization and tied to strategic business objectives. Diversity management, like any other initiative, must start from the top. There is a business case for diversity, hiring diverse groups of women; organizations will be more representative of their communities and customers. ...... middle of paper ...... each rough game, each also includes the use of transactional leadership. This means that sometimes there are deals that need to be made to get the job done. Vecchio (2008) describes transactional leadership as “accomplishing the task at hand” (p.303). In the midst of bipartisan issues, transactional behaviors are sometimes necessary. These women have demonstrated their ability to reach the top despite the labyrinth of leadership. They demonstrated androgynous combination characteristics. Their intelligence, social skills and ability to influence others are remarkable. Therefore, comparing any of these female leaders to a male leader would be unfair. These female leaders, even though they had to adopt masculine characteristics to reach the top, didn't have to emulate anyone. They created a path for other women to follow.