I’ve been sitting with a question lately: What is this season asking of me?
It’s been surfacing in coaching conversations, in long walks, and in the quieter moments between meetings. It’s a powerful question, not because it demands an answer right away, but because it invites us to pause and listen more deeply.
We’re not just leading through change anymore. We’re leading through disruption, disorientation, and redefinition. The scale of what we’re navigating as leaders, parents, partners, citizens is beyond what many of us were ever trained or prepared for.
And in this kind of season, Real Leadership isn’t about having the answers. It’s about being present enough, grounded enough, human enough to ask better questions.
The Myth of “More” in Leadership
The traditional leadership playbook teaches us that when things get hard, we should dig in, do more, push harder. But here’s the uncomfortable truth: more effort isn’t always the answer. Sometimes it’s more presence. More clarity. More alignment.
Sometimes it’s less noise and more noticing.
One leader I’m working with - a deeply committed executive navigating intense organisational change - recently told me, “I feel like I’m sprinting uphill while blindfolded.” Her instinct was to keep moving faster. But her body and mind were sending other signals. The cracks were starting to show.
What we uncovered together was this: it wasn’t her strategy that was off - it was her centre. She had lost her anchor in the effort to hold everything together.
And this is where Real Leadership begins - not with performance, but with presence.
You Don’t Need to Be the Answer
There’s something exhausting about the expectation that leaders need to have it all figured out. And even more exhausting is the internal pressure we put on ourselves to prove we’re worthy of the role.
Here’s the reframe:
You’re not here to be the answer. You’re here to hold space for the right questions.
That means leading with curiosity instead of control. It means being vulnerable enough to say “I don’t know” and strong enough to listen when others do.
It means recognising that your power as a leader doesn’t come from being above others - but alongside them.
Terry Real calls this “right relationship” - not one-up, not one-down, but shoulder to shoulder. That’s where trust lives. That’s where collaboration flows. That’s where your leadership becomes real.
Build Your Inner Infrastructure
In this era of intensity, we need more than strategies, we need stability. And that starts inside.
What’s your own health like? Not just physically, but mentally, emotionally, and relationally?
Who do you have around you to support your growth, not just professionally, but personally?
What boundaries are in place to protect your energy and attention?
This season may be asking you to show up bigger, but that doesn’t mean more hours or more hustle. It may be asking for deeper focus. Sharper clarity. Stronger alignment between your values and your leadership choices.
It might be asking you to stop trying to hold it all, and start holding what matters most.
The Space You Create Matters
In every room you enter as a leader, you bring energy. You set the tone. You shape the emotional climate. So what kind of space are you creating?
Are you creating a space where people feel seen, safe, and stretched? Or a space that’s frantic, reactive, and transactional?
Holding space isn’t passive. It’s a discipline. It takes regulation, reflection, and a willingness to stay open even when things feel uncertain.
And it starts with making space for yourself.
Room to reflect.
Room to feel.
Room to remember who you are before you go charging into what you do.
So Let’s Come Back to the Question…
What is this season asking of you?
Not in the sense of pressure or performance. But in the sense of possibility.
What is it revealing?
What’s ready to shift?
What might open if you stopped trying to lead like someone else and started leading more like you?
Because your team doesn’t need the perfect version of you. They need the present version. The real version.
And so do you.
#RealLeadership #AuthenticLeadership #LeadershipReflection #MichelleSalesLeadership
Follow us on: LinkedIn Instagram Facebook