Can I be honest with you for a second?
Starting this community feels a little scary. Actually, scratch that – it feels a LOT scary. There's this voice in my head asking: - Will anyone actually engage? - Will people find this helpful? - Will they like me? - Am I doing this right? - What if I build this whole thing and nobody shows up? - And then I had to laugh at myself. Because this feeling? This "stepping into the unknown while everyone's watching" feeling? This "desperately wanting people to like you even though you KNOW you don't need them to" feeling? This is EXACTLY what it felt like to step into my first leadership role. I was suddenly visible in a new way. Former peers were now watching how I lead. My manager was assessing how I was doing. My team was wondering if I was going to be any good at this. And underneath it all was this quiet panic: Am I doing this right? Will they respect me? What if I mess this up? So here we are. Me, starting this community, feeling all the feelings. You, navigating your leadership transition, maybe feeling the same things. And maybe that's exactly why this space needs to exist. Because leadership isn't about having it all figured out. It's about showing up anyway. It's about being willing to be seen while you're still learning. It's about building something meaningful even when it feels uncomfortable. So I'm going to show up here – messy, imperfect, learning as I go. And I'm inviting you to do the same. Drop a 🙋 if you can relate to any of this. And then tell me: What's the scariest part of your leadership transition right now? Let's normalise the discomfort together. — Shelley