Learning To Receive

There’s one more thing that is hard for women in particular: it requires us to stop giving and start receiving. And receiving whether that’s help, recognition, support, or just stillness, can feel deeply uncomfortable. We’ve been taught that our value lives in our output. In how much we give, do, and hold together. But here’s what I’ve learned: the façade of having it all together isn’t strength. It’s separation.

The moment I admitted I couldn’t do it all, that I needed help, that I didn’t have all the answers, I didn’t lose respect. I gained connection, because my team saw me as human. So they did what most teams did, they leaned in, they stepped up. And through that we built something together that I never could have built alone.

Receiving is a leadership skill. It’s leverage. It signals that you lead by trust. Trust in your team. Trust in their capabilities.

Start small: accept a compliment without deflecting. Ask for help before you’re desperate. Take the break before you need to collapse into it.

To receive, you have to soften. You have to trust. You have to allow. And that is also leadership.

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Soft Leadership is my upcoming book on leading from presence, not pressure. Follow along for more excerpts and long-form reflections.