Abstract
This paper analyses three cases of female leadership in Game of Thrones, using narratives from popular culture to explore the challenges female leaders face from male subordinates and colleagues and the different strategies they take in the face of these. Daenerys Targaryen follows a pathway analogous to a male leader's; Cersei Lannister works within channels of power considered acceptable for women in her culture; and Sansa Stark takes a hybrid strategy, combining elements of the two. All three are successful in their career ambitions, indicating that there is no preferred formula for women in leadership. The paper concludes by considering implications for theory, chiefly that fictional narratives indicate "Western" management culture is embracing a variety of different acceptable paths for women in leadership, and for practice, namely that series such as Game of Thrones normalise female leadership and provide fictional models for women in the leadership pipeline to explore.