We’ve all heard about the "glass ceiling"— a concept applied mostly to women and some minorities that explains about the unseen, unbreakable barrier that tends to keep them from reaching top corporate jobs.

The term "glass ceiling" is an unacknowledged barrier to advancement in a profession, especially affecting women and members of minorities. It forms a barrier for female professionals to move up the corporate ladder.

In today’s fast-paced world where leadership is chiefly associated and dominated by men, these Top Up-and-Coming 10 Female CEO's of 2016 managed to break in through the "glass ceiling" guided with absolute purpose and perseverance.
  

1. Indra Nooyi

Nooyi's strategic reclassification of Pepsico’s products successfully moved the corporate spending away from junk food and promote the shift towards healthier alternatives. 

2.Tanya Domier

Tanya's leadership led to a strategic partnership with Walmart focused on improving the in-store interaction between brands and shoppers. This helped the agency to rise rapidly to the "Top 100 U.S. promotion agencies”.

3. Mary T. Barra

Mary's leadership helped transform the personal mobility into advanced technologies such as connectivity, electrification and autonomous driving.

4. Diane Nelson

Diane Nelson serves as the President of DC Entertainment (DCE), President of Warner Bros. Consumer Products (WBCP), and President & Chief Content Officer of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment (WBIE).

Since 2009, when Nelson took over leadership of DCE, all sparking Advertising Age is due to name DC Entertainment one of America’s Hottest Brands.

5. Meg Whitman

In 2009, Whitman announced her candidacy for Governor of California, becoming the third woman in a 20-year period to run for the office. Whitman won the Republican primary in June 2010.

6. Julie Anixter

Julie is a vocal advocate. Her ability to communicate convincingly to networks of influential people created a connective thread across the increasingly diverse community of designers, innovators, educators and other advocates.

7. Holly Duckworth

Holly's more than 10 years of experience as a professional speaker has honed her ability to implement association initiatives, build consensus and influence volunteer leaders.

8. Adrianna Lupher

MBS New Media is a digital media marketing and publishing firm that houses the first and only Military Spouse Blogger Network. Adrianna is also a proud mother of two girls and enjoys sharing her life with her husband.
 

9. Candice Corby

Under Candice's leadership, Cobra has increased its client base, grown top-line revenue by more than 400 percent, broadened and refined its core service offerings. She lives in Austin with her husband, Ken Corby.

10. Cheryl Lawson

Cheryl helps small businesses create social marketing strategies and PR plans. She is also a marketing course developer for the University of California Extension Center where she created the course curriculum for the program’s social media marketing course among others. 

Currently, women are increasingly playing significant roles in the corporate world. The inspiring stories and achievements of these 10 female leaders proves that with strong determination and willpower, a successful leader will always find its own unique and incredible ways around these obstacles.

Do you think you have that qualities to make a good leader? What are the things that a woman must learn in order to surpass these so-called barriers?