Your Leadership Story: Part 3 of 8
A Reflection Series
Welcome to Your Leadership Story, an 8-part leadership reflection series designed to help you grow as an authentic, self-aware leader. This series is for leaders who want to pause and reflect on their leadership journey, reconnect with what shaped them, and lead with more clarity, purpose, and intention.
Hiding to Belong
The moment you hid a part of yourself to meet expectations—real or imagined.
When was the first time you felt pressure to hide or hold back
a part of yourself...
to belong,
be accepted,
or seem “enough”?
At 17, I left my small Appalachian town for a big university of 25,000 students.
One small-town girl.
One thick southern accent.
It didn’t take long to realize I sounded different.
I began to believe I needed to change how I talked to feel like I belonged.
But it wasn’t just my outer voice I started to change.
It was my inner voice too—how much of my true self I let others see and know.
That was one of my earliest leadership stretches.
Not about stepping up,
but holding back.
Trying to meet expectations instead of honoring who I really was.
What part of yourself have you quieted to meet others’ expectations?
And how might that still shape how you lead today?
Sometimes the parts we’ve had to hide
are the very parts others need most.
When we begin to let ourselves be seen—even just a little—
we offer permission for others to do the same.
But hiding doesn’t look the same for everyone,
and it isn’t always a choice.
Those early moments shape how we lead,
what we share, what we protect,
and how we create space for others to feel safe being seen too.
🌱 Take a moment to reflect.
What does this bring up for you, and what does it invite you to explore more deeply?