Finding Your Light

There are seasons when stepping into your light means becoming more visible — speaking up, taking the seat at the table, and being willing to let people see more of what you bring.

And then there are seasons when finding your light has less to do with standing in the spotlight and more to do with finding the people who remind you who you are when you are not standing there alone.

That has been on my mind this month.

I have had several moments that reminded me how much leadership, growth, and community are connected. I have been in rooms with leaders who are learning from one another, worked with clients who have continued to build relationships long after a program has ended, and found myself thinking back to communities that have supported me in my own journey.

At a recent client session, a leader shared how meaningful the discussion had been after I presented on an upcoming professional development program and moderated a conversation with their leaders.

What stayed with me was not simply the feedback about the session. It was the idea of the conversation itself.

Professional development is not only about what we learn from the person at the front of the room. Some of the most meaningful learning happens beside us; in the questions someone else asks, the story that sounds unexpectedly familiar, or the person who gives language to something we have been trying to articulate ourselves.

Essentially, the community around the work matters.

And that matters for leadership, too.

ELEVATE

One of the things I love most about bringing leaders together is watching what happens when people realize they do not have to figure everything out on their own.

Recently, I hosted a panel discussion with a group of Directors who had completed a leadership program together. As they reflected on the experience, I was struck by how much of their learning had come from one another.

One person's experience sparked a reflection for someone else. A challenge shared by one leader gave another language for something they had been navigating themselves. The room became a place where people were learning from one another, not simply from the program.

That is an important part of elevating leadership.

We often think of elevation as moving up: a bigger role, more responsibility, greater visibility. But sometimes we elevate by widening our perspective, by listening to someone whose experience is different from ours, allowing another person's insight to challenge something we had assumed, or recognizing that there is expertise and wisdom around us that we do not have to create ourselves.

I have seen this happen repeatedly in leadership development. The framework or content may create the starting point, but the relationships created around the work are often what help it come alive.

And that is one of the reasons community matters so much.

This is what elevating can look like: stepping beyond what you already know, allowing other perspectives to expand your own, and becoming a stronger leader because you are willing to learn with and from the people around you.

EMPOWER

I was reminded of this in a very different setting this month.

I volunteered to be part of the fundraising committee at my son's school. At first, I had one of those very familiar thoughts: Why am I adding this to my already very full plate?

But something shifted once I got into the work.

I realized I wasn't taking on another thing to manage. I was becoming part of something.

The work wasn't mine to carry. It belonged to a group of people who each brought their own ideas, energy, skills, and willingness to help.

There is something powerful about that distinction. We can spend so much time thinking that being capable means being able to carry more, when sometimes empowerment comes from recognizing that we do not have to.

We can ask for help. We can contribute without controlling. We can allow other people to bring their strengths, and we can create space for someone else to step into their light, too.

I have experienced that in my own professional communities as well.

Entrepreneurship can be wonderfully expansive, but it can also be lonely. Having people around you who challenge you, encourage you, make you laugh, and remind you that you are not doing this alone is something I have come to value enormously.

This is what empowering can look like: knowing when to step forward, knowing when to let others step forward, and recognizing that your light might magnify someone else’s.

RESULTS

And then there are the results that come from creating that kind of environment.

They are not always immediately visible on a spreadsheet or captured in a performance metric.

Sometimes they show up in a leader who speaks up when they would have stayed quiet, in a team that has learned to communicate differently, or in a relationship where there is more trust because people have developed a shared language.

Sometimes they show up in a group of leaders who continue to learn from one another long after the program itself has ended.

I recently heard from a client after an engagement that combined targeted training with one-on-one coaching: “Jen met us where we were.”

That phrase stayed with me because that is what good development should do. It should meet people where they are, create the conditions for them to be open and engaged, and give them the confidence to move forward from there.

And when that happens in a community, the impact extends beyond the individual.

One leader's growth changes how they show up with their team. One new behavior changes a conversation. One person feeling more confident can create more room for someone else.

That is the ripple effect.

The workshop and coaching conversations are impactful moments. The results are what happens afterward.

This is what results can look like: not simply what one leader takes away from the experience, but what becomes possible for the people around them because they showed up differently.

That is the part of this work I care about most.