How is January hitting for you?
I am in a funk. I feel off, distracted, and just not at peace, and I am not enjoying it at all. I know, “this too shall pass”, but my anxiety is off the charts. I am limiting my social media, so I don’t spiral, overusing my calm app, and gratituding (I just made that word up) the tiniest things in my journal..but, man am I am exhausted.
This brings me to some reflection on leadership because I don’t think I am alone.
So, here are my thoughts around our blog topic this week, “Leadership Isn’t Always Loud Confidence.”
There was a moment in my leadership journey that didn’t look dramatic from the outside.
I was leading. People were engaged. The work was moving forward.
And yet, internally, I felt unsure.
Not the kind of doubt that makes you freeze, but the quieter kind. The kind that shows up when you’re carrying responsibility and wondering if you’re actually doing this the right way. When people look to you for clarity, and you’re still finding it yourself.
What surprised me wasn’t the uncertainty.
It was how long I thought I needed to hide it.
I did what many leaders do. I kept learning. I added tools. I looked for the next framework that would finally make me feel more confident.
But what changed things wasn’t more knowledge.
It was space.
Space to pause instead of perform.
Space to reflect instead of react.
Space where I didn’t have to have the answer immediately.
And just as important, support.
Not someone telling me what to do, but someone who saw what I was already doing well and named it. Someone who created safety, not by removing challenge, but by offering trust.
That combination changed everything.
Because confidence didn’t come from knowing more.
It came from being recognized.
This is something I see again and again with leaders. They don’t need a dramatic wake-up call. They don’t need to hit rock bottom to grow.
They need to be seen.
Seen in the middle.
Seen while learning.
Seen while leading without all the answers.
You don’t need drama.
You need recognition.
And when leaders are given space and support, that’s when trust grows, not just in others, but in themselves.
And maybe that’s why this January funk has been sitting with me the way it has.
Because leadership doesn’t pause just because we feel off. The expectations don’t disappear when our nervous system is tired. We’re still showing up, still making decisions, still holding space for others, even when we don’t feel particularly grounded ourselves.
So, if you’re feeling distracted, uneasy, or a little frayed around the edges right now, you’re not failing. You’re leading in a season that requires more tenderness than toughness.
Sometimes the most powerful thing a leader can do isn’t to push through or power up, but to create space. To name what’s real. To accept support. To let themselves be seen without turning it into a performance.
This season will pass. In the meantime, recognition matters. Support matters. And quiet confidence, the kind built on trust and safety, still counts as leadership.
Especially now.