Karen O'Reilly: Trump and Musk battle shows we're still living in a dysfunctional boys' club 

Elon Musk and US president Donald Trump in the Oval Office. They symbolise a deeper, more dangerous truth: women are still locked out of the rooms where big decisions are being made.

The recent public spats and controversies involving high-profile figures like Elon Musk and Donald Trump serve as a stark reminder of the urgent need for diverse voices and leadership styles at the highest levels. 

While these individuals command significant attention, the ongoing discourse highlights the value of empathetic, collaborative, and inclusive leadership — qualities often demonstrably present in female leaders: we're still living in a boys' club.

And it's not a very functional one.

These two high-profile men, chaotic, controversial, and almost cartoonish in their power, symbolise a deeper, more dangerous truth: women are still locked out of the rooms where big decisions are being made. 

Even here in Ireland, women make up less than a third of senior leadership roles, and the more flexible the role, the more likely it is to be lower paid, lower powered, and limited.

Meanwhile, Musk and Trump swagger around with the kind of blind confidence that could get you a top job in politics without so much as a CV check.

We’re watching global decisions made by men who seem utterly apathetic to the blood on their hands. The planet is on fire, people are dying, and talent is being wasted, while a handful of arrogant voices dominate the stage. Picture: AP

Their confidence levels are so inflated, they’d make a man with a LinkedIn course in leadership feel qualified to run the IMF. What’s missing from the power parade? The things that actually make things work: empathy, perspective, and a bit of bloody common sense — traits women tend to bring, just without the press conferences.

At Employflex, we work with brilliant women every day: returners, mid-career professionals, senior leaders who have stepped back to raise families or care for relatives, women who could steer companies, industries, and even countries into a more inclusive, stable, and innovative future.

But they need access. They need trust. And they need flexibility that isn’t treated like a perk, but as a leadership strategy.

Because let’s be honest. If we judged leadership purely on productivity, strategy and results (rather than confidence and bluster), we wouldn’t be talking about Elon Musk or Donald Trump at all.

It’s not just about fairness anymore, it’s about survival. While the world burns, literally and figuratively, under the weight of climate collapse, wars waged by egos, greed dressed up as policy, and leaders with more interest in power than people, we’re still asking: where are the women? 

We’re watching global decisions made by men who seem utterly apathetic to the blood on their hands. The planet is on fire, people are dying, and talent is being wasted, while a handful of arrogant voices dominate the stage. 

If ever there was a time for balanced, empathetic, future-focused leadership, it’s now. The world needs a new kind of leader. A flexible one. A thoughtful one. A female one.

We’ve tried ego. Let’s try empathy.

• Karen O'Reilly is the founder of Employmum and Employflex