143 | Why High-Performing Women Become the Default Problem Solver featuring Eric Dingler
episode
Career Growth for Working Women | Career Advancement, Visibility, Promotion, Raises
26 min
2 speakers
6 chapters
transcribed 1 month ago
Transcript
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Transcript generated automatically by AI and may contain errors.
Why do high‑performing women often become the default problem‑solvers in organizations?
What happens when leadership avoids ownership, expectations are unclear, and communication breaks down? Usually, one person steps in to keep everything moving. And more often than not, that person is a high-performing woman. In this episode, I sit down with leadership consultant Eric Dingler to discuss why capable women often become the default problem solvers inside organizations, how invisible responsibility contributes to burnout, and why setting boundaries is a critical leadership skill. Ready? Let's go.
Welcome to Career Growth for Working Women. This show is for women who are done waiting to be noticed and ready to be compensated for the value they already bring. I'm Shannon, a promotion and compensation coach, and I help women position themselves for real advancement, not by working harder, but by showing their value more strategically using what I call the 5% method. If you're ready for clarity, confidence, and career growth that actually pays off, you're in the right place. Let's dive in. Hello, and welcome to the show. My guest today is Eric Dingler, and what stood out to me was his perspective of how directly it connects to something many high-performing women experience every day at work.
When expectations are unclear, communication is inconsistent, or leadership avoids ownership, someone usually steps in to hold everything together. And more often than not, that person is the most capable woman in the room. Eric has spent nearly three decades leading teams across businesses, nonprofits, and organizations, and over time he began noticing a pattern. The people who are the most reliable often become the default problem solvers, carrying invisible responsibility that was never formally assigned to them. Today, Eric helps leaders rethink how work is structured, delegated, and supported so businesses stop relying on one person to compensate for broken systems. And honestly, this conversation is about so much more than hiring.
It's about why capable women become overextended, overlooked, and emotionally responsible for everything around them. Eric, welcome. I'm so glad you're here.
I am very excited to be here. I told my wife I was going to be on this, and she's like...
Let's do it. Let's do it. So one of the things that you said to me when we first connected via messaging, you said that when roles and expectations are unclear, the most capable person usually fills the gap. So when did you start noticing that as a pattern?
So way early in my career, I was the director of a summer camp for 15 years. And I started noticing about my third summer, this pattern. And not only that, but I also noticed a very interesting thing, which was summer camp would end. And very soon after that, we would start getting applications from all of the girls that wanted to be on staff for all the female staff roles. Then we would get all of the, pretty much by the end of the year, we had all of our female counselors hired, several leadership roles, things like that. Then come spring break from college and about the week after spring break is when we would start getting all of the guys filling in for their applications. And so it was interesting.
I started just doing some study on that and found that like The difference between how a man's brain and a woman's brain develops, the prefrontal cortex that considers future consequences develops in women in the early or the late teens, but in men, not until the early 20s. which is why teenage young teenage boys and boys in their 20s do really stupid things one of the many reasons yes that just begin this idea of like hey you know what and what other ways are men and women different and how does that lead them to respond differently and stuff like that and and You know, women tend to be more nurturing and a lot of high capacity women want a community that they're in to be that, to be nurtured.
And if there's tension because things aren't getting done, these are the people that will start to step in to get it done. And if they're working for a leader that's not observant, it starts to go unnoticed and underappreciated.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
Why do high‑performing women often become the default problem‑solvers in organizations?
0:00–7:45
2
What early career experiences led Eric Dingler to notice the “default problem‑solver” pattern?
7:45–11:30
3
How do unclear expectations and poor delegation create invisible workload for women?
11:30–16:52
4
What are the hidden costs of carrying invisible responsibility for high‑performing women?
16:52–21:20
5
How can leaders set healthy boundaries without losing credibility or being seen as unhelpful?
21:20–25:31
6
What is the Six Working Geniuses framework and how does it help align work with personal strengths?
25:31–26:22
Speakers
2 identifiedMore from Career Growth for Working Women | Career Advancement, Visibility, Promotion, Raises
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