Confidence & Authenticity

Leading with Courage: Real Stories

One of the women I interviewed for Leading with Courage was around 60 when she told me her story. A career-long nurse who had moved into high-level administrative roles over time, Madeline remembered what it was like to develop confidence in her leadership with intentionality. 

As a young RN, her confidence was initially shaky. And that confidence challenge, she said, was related “not just to nursing, but really to myself as an individual and as a woman.”

But Madeline stayed open to assignments that offered opportunities for growth, especially when she was asked to take on leadership roles. She remembered that she would think to herself that she must be capable of doing the next thing asked of her because “they came to me,” believing she could do it.  With that approach, she says, her “professional path “just started moving and I started to reflect on that myself. And saying, ‘Oh, they’re giving me more to do as I‘m taking on more. How do I do that authentically?'”

How do I do that authentically is the question that stood out to me in this story. It’s a question that’s beautiful and necessary as we start to realize that we’re becoming vested with more responsibility in organizations that weren’t built by us. 

For Madeline, intentional authenticity anchored the ensuing decades she would spend in her field. It animated her many passions and projects,  including her through development of deep expertise and advocacy skills around making healthcare access more inclusive. 

Madeline's story gave me new insights about confidence, ethics, and intentionality, and how we can learn to trust ourselves to lead authentically.

How have you grown your confidence as a leader?