Look for simple solutions. Find the courage to voice them and see where that takes you. Every thought doesn’t have to be backed by a plan today. These are unique times, where you can build the plan as the days take shape.

For women having the stage today, it is important to understand what we can do as women in a position of power to ensure that the next generation of leaders doesn’t take another 25 years. 

Every leadership brand is a story that unfolds with time and experience. I know so many that didn’t begin because they were afraid of ending the previous one. In case you are wondering, it’s never too late to reinvent yours, to begin yours.

We need leaders today who can keep it real and be unashamed of the realities today. All systems are overworked, people are overworked and there is no visibility on payments and salaries. But we are all in it together and we have some able folks leading us, and sometimes they need to be led too. Keeping it real is the only thing that will help us in keeping it together. 

These skills can be cultivated by leaders irrespective of their gender. If you aren’t a leader today who can’t make space for the way the world is evolving, then you are losing. Very soon, after the dust settles, people will realize that what motivated them earlier doesn’t motivate them any longer.

If you need to understand how your customers’ needs are changing, what needs to be done today? Look for simple solutions. Find the courage to voice them and see where that takes you. Every thought doesn’t have to be backed by a plan today. These are unique times, where you can build the plan as the days take shape.

Leadership, as most of us will experience, is not a systematic, manageable set of actions but a long and tentative exploration, full of false starts and small triumphs.

The best leaders help you see yourself. They usually bring a good combination of‘ support and challenge’ to the table.

Awe-inspiring leadership doesn’t have to only mean leading from the front. It also means having their back. It means that you can be the catalyst and not the change itself. Leadership branding is a lot about asking what are you bringing to the leadership process. It is about paying attention to what makes you unique as a leader and understanding how that will matter to those who work with you. 

Our journey together will mean multiple rounds of crucial conversations - it’s not as easy as switching the job that you are unhappy at - but building and rebuilding relationships and the ecosystems that we are unhappy with. 

While independence is a necessary step in fully expressing one’s leadership abilities, achieving interdependence requires intentionality and insight, courage and humility. Independence may produce change, but only interdependence can give birth to transformation. Daring Leaders make transformation possible through embracing, cultivating, and deepening the spirit of interdependence.

Tough conversations. Owning up when you go wrong. Delegating not just work, but authority too. Practicing gratitude consciously. Having the courage to be vulnerable. Bringing your heart to work. That’s a daring leader. And that isn’t gender-specific. 

As people, we do not excel when someone whose intentions are unclear tells us where we stand, how good we “really” are, and what we must do to fix ourselves. We excel only when people who know us and care about us tell us what they experience and what they feel, and in particular when they see something within us that really works. That’s what a leader does. And a leader trusts first. Be brave enough to trust first, to enable the system to trust you. 

The challenge is compelling. Choosing to lead with courage will make all the difference.

Identifying and taking a mindful look at our value systems and our histories. It is how the past informs the present, and how we can still change what’s happening while it is happening.

Leadership is a journey for all of us. And there’s a magic that comes with taking time out to reflect on the things that will make a difference.

The women I coach are dedicated, learned, connected, successful women. They know their jobs in and out. But no matter what rung of the C hierarchy they are on, the themes often feature “issues” with their bosses.