Editor’s Note: The following is an excerpt of our new gender parity research, developed in partnership with Health Evolution.

Welcome to the latest edition of Oliver Wyman’s Women in Healthcare Leadership initiative. Thanks to our Health Evolution Summit partnership, we interviewed nine female leaders who are industry key leaders and board members in their fields.

These women are driving big change in a complex and hugely challenged industry. Our report merely captures a snapshot of their diverse industry perspectives, rich experiences, and breakthrough leadership styles. We’re proud to feature them to help other (male and female) leaders — those at the top, those on their way to the top, and those beginning to tap into their true potential — drive the future of an industry in transformation in their own ways.

Our interviewees spoke openly about their leadership styles, industry challenges, and “truths.” They universally chose to prove themselves early on in their careers, tackle hard things by embracing a cauldron of intellectual energy, find connections between markedly different things, remain people-focused, and spend more time thinking about where a company can be in five to ten years and then mapping backward.

SIX LEADERSHIP TRAITS WOMEN WHO DEFY THE C-SUITE ODDS TEND TO HAVE IN COMMON:

1. Strategically embrace the unknown

2. Have a different kind of leadership style and philosophy

3. Focus hard on a unified clarity of vision, purpose, and values

4. Translate ideas clearly and empower others along the way

5. Be results-driven, accountable, and unafraid of making hard decisions

6. Stay engaged, nudge others, and coach teams to success