Standing ovation. Sold-out room. Empty hotel bed. You know, these moments sound familiar? That moment when your professional peak feels like an emotional valley.
We remember receiving that first leadership award, applause filling the room, while emptiness filled our chests. Real talk, we ain’t alone. The World Economic Forum says only 32% of us hold leadership positions. Yet many of us share this same hollow feeling.
They told us “it’s lonely at the top,” but honestly, that’s not the complete picture. It’s only lonely when we’re performing instead of being present. When we trade our softness for strategy. When we wear masks instead of showing our faces.
Female leaders face unique isolation. Not because leadership requires solitude, but in a way, we’ve been climbing mountains in shoes that don’t fit. Baby, I said what I said. Your isolation is your signal that something needs to change.
The Weight Nobody Sees You Carrying
Your inbox fills with congratulations while your calendar bursts with engagements. Behind closed doors, you’re actually drowning in exhaustion nobody witnesses. NAMI found that 52% of folks felt burned out last year.
The gap between public success and private struggle widens for female leaders. We manage emotions, ours and everyone else’s. We carry invisible labor while maintaining perfect composure. Our bodies often signal distress before our minds admit it.
These physical warnings deserve attention through proper nervous system regulation techniques. You know, our bodies hold wisdom when leadership demands become too heavy. Ignoring these signals leads to deeper burnout.
Every performance “yes” costs us authentic connection. Each mask distances us from real relationships. Too often, we trade well-being for achievement until our bodies force a reckoning.
Your Softness Isn’t the Problem
Corporate culture, in a way, teaches us that vulnerability equals weakness. We internalize messages that softness has no place in leadership. So we armor up, afraid our humanity might diminish our authority.
This armor? It keeps folks out but locks you in too. We forget that strategic rest skill represents strength, not weakness. The very armor protecting our image often becomes our isolation cage.
What if softness actually creates stronger teams? What if vulnerability builds deeper trust? The qualities we hide might be our greatest leadership assets.
Why We Hide Our Softness
Society sold us a lie about leadership. Vulnerability doesn’t weaken your influence, it actually amplifies it. The Mindful Word found something we already knew, leaders who embrace vulnerability foster greater trust and engagement among their teams.
I remember sitting across from another CEO at a conference dinner. Both of us exhausted, both pretending we had it all figured out. When I finally admitted feeling overwhelmed by my latest project, something shifted. You know, the tension visibly left her body.
Her shoulders relaxed and eyes softened. “Me too,” she whispered. That moment created more connection than any polished presentation ever could. In a way, our shared vulnerability built a bridge neither of us expected.
What Softness Actually Creates
Presence creates this transformation. Practicing mindful listening helps us stay grounded during vulnerable exchanges. We create space for authentic connection when we stop performing strength.
Brené Brown gets it – vulnerability is a superpower. When we drop the mask, our teams feel permission to bring their whole selves too.
Many leaders report seeing positive shifts after embracing vulnerability. Teams often experience higher engagement, innovation, and sometimes even improved retention. All because, frankly, we had the courage to be seen.
Soft power leadership doesn’t mean being weak. Think of it as being real instead. Your humanity connects more deeply than your highlight reel ever will. Your softness is the solution you’ve been avoiding.
Breaking the Loneliness Without Breaking Yourself
Loneliness doesn’t require grand solutions, you know. Small, consistent actions create the biggest shifts in our leadership experience. Y’all, 53% of us feel lonely at work, with isolation intensifying as they climb higher. Let’s change that math.
Truth Tuesdays
Pick three women leaders you respect, ok? Text each one every Tuesday with something real you’re experiencing. Not your highlight reel, but your actual truth. Maybe share a win that felt hollow or a challenge you’re facing.
This simple practice creates ripples. Women often respond with their own truths, creating instant connection. The practice of reflective journaling strengthens this exchange by helping us track patterns and growth. You know, barriers dissolve when we stop pretending we have all the answers.
I tried this after a particularly rough product launch. My text to a fellow CEO simply read: “Exhausted. Launch successful but I feel empty.” Her response came within minutes: “Same boat. Coffee tomorrow?”
That coffee turned into our weekly ritual. Now we meet, light one of those Second Life Candles, made from recycled wax, and just… exhale. Watching old wax become new flame reminds us burnout can transform into breakthrough. We just needed witness.
Sacred No’s
Every declined meeting creates space for genuine connection, actually. Every boundary honors your well-being. Women leaders who feel unsupported, Fortune found what we been knowing, must protect their energy fiercely.
Schedule downtime with the same priority as revenue meetings. Block your calendar for rest. Protect your peace like it’s profit, because frankly, it is. Your capacity to lead depends on your willingness to pause.
And when I actually do rest? I reach for Comfrt, those wellness essentials designed for deep, guilt-free exhale. Their cozy textures and calming details remind me that rest is strategy. Because boundaries don’t just live on a calendar, they live in how you let your body reset.
Try implementing mini spring reset practices when overwhelm creeps in. One sacred “no” each week builds the muscle of self-trust and expands your leadership presence.
Remember, baby, your boundaries are strategic, and in a way, they keep you sane. I said what I said. Your “no” creates space for deeper “yes” moments that matter.
This Is Your Soft Place to Land
When companies lead with kindness? Satisfaction jumps 23%. Baby, the math is mathing.
Gladly Network is more than a marketplace. It’s where purpose meets purchase. We connect you with brands that give back across travel, wellness, food, and home. Every choice you make creates impact.
I’m excited to share two upcoming experiences: On September 13, join me for “Hope in Action”, where we’ll have honest conversations about suicide prevention for women entrepreneurs. Then on October 10, “Mind Your Business” explores how to make mental health your competitive advantage.
Both events are virtual and intentionally intimate, because real transformation happens when you feel truly seen.
Peace first, profit follows. That’s always been the formula. Your kind of leadership? That’s what we’re about.
You Were Never Meant to Grow Alone
Listen, your loneliness ain’t about you not being enough. The system set us up to feel this way.
You know how trees survive storms? Underground root systems. They link up, share nutrients, hold each other steady when the wind gets rough. That’s us, baby. We need those sister roots to weather what’s coming.
That isolation you feeling? Real as it gets. And climbing higher just made it worse because you been climbing the wrong mountain all along.
Come find your people at Gladly Network. A community where your choices matter, your wins are celebrated, and together your choices create impact for good.
Baby, we said what we said, you were never meant to grow alone.
