Mon 07 Sep 2026
Winner of Women into Leadership Award: Inclusive Leader of the Year Award 2025
In conversation with: Lt Col Katie Palastanga RA
Every leadership journey has a defining moment. Looking back, was there a particular experience, opportunity or challenge that gave you the confidence to step into leadership?
Very early in my Army career, I learnt an important lesson about trusting myself. I was a newly commissioned officer, barely out of training, and the experienced senior soldier who should have been my closest adviser was persistently undermining me. For a while, I genuinely wondered whether the problem was me.
During an exercise, after another attempt to challenge a decision I’d made, I’d finally had enough and very publicly stood my ground. I certainly wouldn’t handle the situation in quite the same way today! But when I got back into my vehicle, my driver looked at me and said, “About time, Ma’am. We’ve all been waiting for you to do that all week!”
That comment has stayed with me for more than 20 years. My soldiers had seen what was happening long before I’d trusted my own judgement enough to act.
My leadership has evolved enormously since then, but that early experience taught me something fundamental: trust your judgement, use your voice, and don’t confuse somebody else’s confidence with your own competence.
What advice would you give to women who are aspiring to leadership roles in the Civil Service?
Although my own career has been in the military rather than the Civil Service, much of what I’ve learnt about leadership transcends that distinction. My biggest advice would be: don’t assume that leadership requires you to become somebody else.
I’ve spent more than 20 years learning that there isn’t one ‘right’ way to lead. Different people need different things from us, and good leadership means having the self-awareness to adapt your approach. That requires confidence, but also humility.
You don’t need to have all the answers. Recognise the skills and talents of the people around you, create the conditions in which they can thrive, and invest your time in developing them. I care deeply about the people I lead. That doesn’t mean making things easy for them; sometimes it means challenging them, giving difficult feedback or pushing them beyond what they think they’re capable of. But I want people who work with me to know that I am invested in their success.
And don’t mistake someone else’s certainty for evidence that they belong in the room more than you do. I still experience a confidence gap myself; I’ve simply become much better at acting despite it.
Finally, create opportunities for others as you progress. Leadership isn’t just about the opportunities you take; it’s also about the opportunities you create for others.
One year on from winning the Inclusive Leader of the Year award, what opportunities, achievements or personal growth are you most proud of, and has the award played a part in that journey?
A lot has changed in a year. I’ve moved from leading inclusion work for the British Army into a role within Military Strategic Headquarters, working across Defence on some of our most complex strategic people issues. It’s taken me from an area where I had deep specialist expertise and put me firmly back into learning mode, which has been both challenging and hugely rewarding.
I’m particularly proud that the things I learnt through inclusion work have travelled with me. Understanding different perspectives, creating space for challenge, noticing whose voice is missing and being prepared to question established ways of doing things aren’t simply ‘inclusion skills’; they’re leadership skills, and I’ve found them every bit as valuable in the wider strategic environment.
The award didn’t create those opportunities, and I wouldn’t want to pretend that it did. What it gave me was an unexpected moment of validation. I’m much better at recognising other people’s contribution than my own, and knowing somebody else had seen value in how I lead made me reflect differently on what I might be capable of.
Perhaps the greatest growth has been becoming a little more comfortable occupying that space, while continuing to create space for others too.
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For this year's Women into Leadership Awards - visit leadership-awards.co.uk
Or for more information about Women into Leadership London - please click here
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