Employees need great leaders. Women CEOs are leading the way

Amid economic uncertainty, layoffs, and rapid changes in the workforce, strong leadership teams are vital to navigate challenges, and some companies have figured this out.

On Wednesday, Comparably revealed its eighth annual Best Leadership Teams ranking, highlighting the top-rated large, small, and midsize companies excelling in leadership.

At the top of the list was Elsevier, the science and academic publishing company, and ADP, the provider of human resources software.

“ADP’s leadership has been instrumental in strengthening ADP’s brand
awareness, growing market share, and leading the company’s sales,
marketing, and go-to-market activities,” an ADP employee said.

The two top companies are led by women CEOs, despite only 6% of CEOs worldwide being women, and retained their ranking from the year before.

“The leadership team always gives equal chances to the team members.
There is no partiality or favoritism. The forum is open for suggestions,
feedback, and discussion from the stakeholders,” Comparably quoted one Elsevier employee as saying.

Despite positive employee ratings, women CEOs tend to leave their positions at higher rates than men, according to a recent report from Challenger, Gray, & Christmas, which looked at monthly data between January and February 2025. According to the report, 54% of women CEOs who left their position that month were replaced by men, and the rate of new women CEOs declined from 26% to 23%.

Where the top-ranked companies are located

Among the top 25 companies featured in the ranking, more than half are based in California and New York, with 10 companies across the Golden State, four in New York City, and one upstate.

The ranking is the result of millions of employee reviews, who anonymously rate their direct managers, C-suite executives, and CEOs over a 12-month period. This year’s list was compiled with over 15 million ratings from 70,000 American and Canadian companies.

Here are the top 10 large companies with the best leadership teams in order:

1. Elsevier
2. ADP
3. Baylor Scott & White Health
4. Teleperformance
5. Synopsys
6. Esri
7. TaskUs
8. Informatica
9. SPS Commerce
10. RingCentral