I was posed this question by my mentor Cathy Burke at our Rising women’s circle. It is such a thought provoking question – one that has many intricate layers.

How you relate to ‘leadership’ has real world implications to how you show up in the world.

And as a woman, this is an important conversation to have.

Studies have shown that women tend to lose interest in leadership, ambition and power – not because of taking time out from careers to have family as is commonly thought – but because they believe the burdens of being in positions of leadership and power, are not worth the prize.

As I heard this, I was nodding in agreement – I could 100% relate to this.

In my early career in the corporate world, the leadership model I was exposed to was a corrupt and toxic one, where people climbing the corporate ladder would make others feel small and abuse their power to get to where they wanted to go. As a 25 year old, I looked to the women that held senior positions and it was not something that I aspired to be like. So my early impressions of leadership was that it was toxic and certainly not for me.

It is now nearly 20 years later, and I did leave the corporate world to seek out my soul’s purpose. My life’s journey has been a winding one full of twists and turns – but most important, healing, self-discovery, growth, finding self-worth and self-love. 

It is this healing journey into the depths and rising from the ashes that has given me lessons and wisdom I feel called to share with others.

I think the traditional leadership model is broken. When I look to the ‘leaders’ in society, in politics, in corporations – they are people who have gotten to the top by breaking others, they are intimidating and abuse their power. They are not inspiring, or something I aspire to be like.

A true leader to me is the unlikely person who has been through the trenches of life’s experiences and found light and love amongst the turmoil, and chooses to share that wisdom with others.

When I think of a true leader – they are authentic, soul aligned, bringing love and inspiration, building others up and being a shining lighthouse guiding others to find their own power.

Humanity is currently in a unique position where world events have required deep reflection at a collective level. We should not be going back to the way things were, as “normal” was broken and led us to the position we currently find ourselves in. We have an opportunity to dream a new world into being and be the creators of that new world.

I believe women are the key to bringing about this new world.

And we need to reframe how we think about leadership in order to step into what our soul is calling us to do.

We need to let go of our old stories about what being a leader means – in my case, corruption, toxicity, abuse of power and making others small. And face the fears we have about leading – fears of persecution, criticism, not being enough or not being perfect.

We can use the divine vision of this new world to help us move through the discomfort of stepping into our power.

We don’t need to fit ourselves into the old, broken and masculine model of leadership. We can create our own version of leadership. One that is based on  authenticity, vulnerability, inspiration and Truth.

The time is NOW for women to rise into their leadership energy to help bring forth a new consciousness.

What thoughts and feelings do you have about YOU leading?

If you’re feeling called to step into your leadership energy, come and join the Heal.Thy Money community where we bring more love consciousness into the world of money and business.