Leadership Is Rooted in Values, Not Control
Leadership, as I’ve come to understand it, isn’t about control or titles. It’s about care, clarity, and doing the work that aligns with your values—even when no one’s watching.
Yes, every leader needs to know how to manage. Managing is part of showing up for your team, your responsibilities, and your word. But leadership is something deeper. It means making the decisions that only you can make—and having the humility and trust to delegate the rest.
There’s a quote I carry with me from the Hormozis: “Rules are for people who don’t have values.” That resonates with me because in many communities—especially those of us who’ve had to survive systems not made for us—values have always guided our decisions. Not rules. Not rigid hierarchies. Values.
So I chose mine, intentionally:
High integrity
Strong work ethic
Keeping my word
Doing my best
Always adding value
These aren’t just things I say. These are ways of being I return to, even when it’s hard. Especially when it’s hard. And as a lifelong student of leadership, I’m still learning how to embody them more fully each day.
To me, leadership isn’t about extraction. It’s not transactional. I want my relationships—at work, in community, in life—to be transformational. That means mutual growth. Reciprocity. Healing. It means rejecting the idea that our worth is measured only by what we produce.
And one more truth I keep close: be careful who or what you allow to occupy space in your mind. As a woman of color, an immigrant, and someone navigating systems while trying to stay grounded—mental space is sacred. Protect it.
I share all of this not because I have it figured out, but because I’m walking this journey, too. I believe we lead best when we lead from who we are, not who the world tells us we should be.
If this reflection sparked something in you—if you’re also navigating leadership with intention—I invite you to join me.
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