truth – Ruthann M. Wilson

Leading from Within: Why Personal Leadership Comes First

Inner clarity ripples outward.

What comes to mind when you hear the phrase leading from within? I invite you to pause, take a deep breath, and reflect on what that phrase stirs in you. Whether you’re guiding a family, a team, a community, or a congregation, authentic leadership begins within. It is shaped by inner clarity, rooted in vision, and attuned to what feels most true for you.

Guiding ourselves is a lifelong practice, shaped by reflection, realignment, and the courage to return to what feels true. This inner work is what shapes and builds integrity. Integrity is not a fixed state. It is a return to wholeness, a noticing of misalignment, and a gentle guiding back to congruence.

Personal leadership is the practice of living in alignment with your values, your rhythm, and your truth. Your values act as an inner compass, guiding what you embrace, what you release, and how you show up each day. Your rhythm is the pace and pattern that honors your energy, your seasons, and the flow of feeling. And your truth is what feels real and congruent. It is inner knowing that lives beyond performance and outside of the need for approval.

This kind of knowing becomes the foundation for making decisions that align with your values and support your growth. It nurtures relationships that feel safe and rhythms that sustain rather than drain your energy. When we lead ourselves with clarity, its impact begins to ripple outward. Outward leadership becomes more trustworthy, attuned, and sustainable so others may lead with clarity too.

This kind of leadership feels especially important right now. Many of us are rethinking how we live, work, and lead. Many of us are also feeling the pace and the pressure to perform, and finding reason to pause and reassess.

In a time when everything seems to be moving faster and trust feels fragile, inner clarity becomes a source of steadiness. It helps us shape lives that feel true and relationships that feel safe. It allows us to lead in ways that energize and inspire others.

Inner clarity shapes how we show up, how we speak, move, and reset. When we honor our personal rhythm, we show up with more presence and ease. When we speak from a place of alignment, our words carry weight and the potential to shape trust and what comes next. When we pause, reflect, and reset, we return to ourselves, able to lead from a place that feels steady, true, and sustaining. How we live becomes how we lead. And how we lead authentically begins with clarity within.

Reflections on Personal Leadership, shared in support of your leadership journey.

Personal vision begins within
Personal vision is inner clarity about what matters and what is yours to bring to life. Leadership guided by inner clarity offers steadiness, not because every step is mapped, but because the direction is true.

Values are your compass
Values are the principles and priorities that shape how you live, work, and lead. Values guide not only what you say yes to, but also what you release. When your values are clear, decisions become less about seeking approval and more about honoring what is true. Leadership begins when you choose alignment instead of approval.

Emotional clarity is foundational
Emotional clarity begins with noticing what feels true, what feels stirred, what feels off. This kind of clarity allows you to respond rather than react. It helps you lead with steadiness and create space for others to show up fully, because you have made space for yourself first.

Boundaries protect your energy and enable integrity
Boundaries clarify your role and create the conditions for sustainable leadership. Clear boundaries allow you to lead from a place of wholeness. When you honor your own rhythm, you lead in a way that feels true and steady.

Presence is powerful
People feel when you’re fully engaged: not distracted, not performing, simply present. Whether it’s in a meeting or a conversation, your attention communicates more than words. It shows that you’re listening. It shows that you care. Build trust by consistently offering others the gift of your full attention.

Leadership inventory offered as a way to reflect, realign, and return to what feels true.

What values are guiding me right now?
Are they clear, or do they need revisiting?
Where am I honoring my rhythm, and where am I overriding it?
What shifts might support more ease?
What feels congruent in how I’m showing up?
What feels off or performative?
Where might a boundary support my energy or integrity?
What would it look like to honor that boundary?
How does my presence feel to others?
Am I leading with attention, or distraction?

Move through the questions at your own pace. Let them deepen your inner clarity, and help guide how you lead from within.

Lead with clarity. Make space for others to do the same.

Thank you for pausing here. If my writing has offered meaningful insight or sparked a shift in how you see, feel, or move through the world, I would be honored to hear what stayed with you.

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All the best,
Ruthann

Career Journey: Things I’ve learned along the way

I’m grateful for a fulfilling career across multiple industries. In this post, I’ve shared a few practical lessons that helped me grow, adapt, and lead with purpose.

Be where you are

Know what’s expected of you and do it well. Being present means making the most of your current role: learn, grow, excel, and enjoy the work in front of you. It has a way of opening doors and drawing people and opportunities to you that will enable you to grow into your next role.
Learn from the past. Plan for the future. Live in the present by making the most of where you are right now.

Develop transferable skills

Develop skills that are relevant across roles and industries (e.g., communication, collaboration, problem-solving, adaptability, etc.). My career has spanned several industries including pharmaceuticals, telecom, consumer goods, and hospitality, made possible by developing and applying transferable skills.

Stretch Through Projects and Roles

Welcome assignments that help you stretch and grow. Growth doesn’t always come through promotion. Sometimes it’s a lateral move or a stretch assignment that helps you build new capabilities and prepare for what’s next. Embrace the journey of growing into your next role. Be as open to a lateral move or stretch assignment in your current role as you are a promotion if it will help you grow and ultimately achieve your career goals.

Listen & Learn

Feedback is a gift. Be open to constructive feedback from peers, managers, leaders, etc. Solicit feedback in a way that it is constructive and enables you to grow (e.g., behavior-based, example-based, suggestions for improvement, etc.). Ideally, leaders should include feedback gathered from business partners, peers, etc. as a part of mid-year and/or year-end conversations. If you’re not receiving regular feedback, ask for it, and be open to what you hear.

Surround yourself with people who want to see you grow

Spend time with people who genuinely want to see you grow. We all need inspiration, encouragement, reality checks, and people with whom we can be vulnerable in our personal and professional lives. Spend time with people who genuinely want to see you grow and be that person for others too.

Own Your Career by Knowing Yourself

Know your values, gifts, talents, passions, abilities, and areas of opportunity. Define what success means to you and revisit that definition as you grow. Your vision may evolve, and that’s part of the journey. Create a plan of action to bring your vision to life. Consider working with a mentor and/or coach. Know the difference between the two and work with them accordingly.

Thank you for reading. If this message feels true or timely, you’re welcome to share it with someone who may benefit by clicking on a share button below.

All the best,

Ruthann

In-Progress, LLC | Walk your path with intention, at your own pace

Live Simply and Authentically Through Your Values

SIMPLY: without ambiguity, clearly

Simplicity is a principle as well as a practice.

As a principle, simplicity is foundational to our lives—a core value from which we build our lives. When our aim is to live simply, truth becomes our guide. We tap into our personal truth with questions like “What is true for me?”, “What do I value most in my life?”, “What is best for my life?”, “What matters most in my life?”.

As a practice, simplicity is a process of staying focused, planning, organizing, and letting go of things that no longer bring you joy or serve your highest good.

Living simply is not about living without. It’s about living with intention from the inside out. Take the first step—identify, clarify, and prioritize your values.

Do you need support? Be True to You is designed to help you clarify what truly matters and create the life that you desire.

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All the best,

Ruthann

First Things First: Mastering Your Priorities for a Fulfilled Life

“Things that matter most must never be at the mercy of things that matter least.”

—Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

First things first is a phrase that basically means things that are truly important should be prioritized over less important things. What are less important things? Whatever you decide based on the type of life that you want to live.

First things first is something we all know, but many of us struggle to put into practice on a regular basis. There is often a gap between what we say is important and what we actually do. Over time, the gap can contribute to feelings of being inadequate, inauthentic, off track, etc.

Becoming aware of where we have gaps is the first step to creating better alignment between actions and priorities. If you are experiencing a gap between what you say is important and what you actually do on a day-to-day basis, take a step back and explore the gap. Use what you learn to make changes/adjustments to your personal and/or professional life.

Here’s an activity, best accomplished in writing, to get you started:

Create a list of 3-5 things that are important to you. Be specific as possible. Put them in order.
Reflect on the past three months and record the order in which these things have been a priority in your life.
Is the first thing on your list, first in your life? If not, why not?
Do the things on your list reflect what you (vs. someone else) want for your life?
Identify steps you can take to align your actions with the order of the priorities on your list.
Ask someone you trust to lovingly hold you accountable.
Take action

Priority setting is an effective tool to create focus in your life. It will help you stay true to what matters most in your life.

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All the best,

Ruthann

Why Clarifying Your Values Matters

The next time you find yourself looking for a reason why you haven’t started, completed, or followed through on something, take a step back and ask yourself if it is really important to you. If the answer is yes, spend some time exploring why it is important. When you ask yourself why something is important, you are tapping into your personal values.

Your values are always at work in your life whether you are fully aware of them or not. Clarifying them and using them as a guide can change your life. If you haven’t taken the time to clarify your values/what is most important to you in writing, I encourage you to make it a priority. Life flows when you are clear on your values.

We are likely to struggle to keep commitments when they are not clearly connected to personal values. When this happens, commitments tend to be rooted in fear and obligation rather than rooted in your heart.

Today is a great day to evaluate your commitments to ensure they are in alignment with your values. If not, give yourself permission to make changes or let them go.

Clarify what is most important to you and why. It will help you manifest what you desire.

Clarifying your values ensures that your career choices are authentic and sustainable, guiding decisions about roles, promotions, and leadership.

Need support? Be True to You: A Practical Guide to Pursuing an Authentic Path is designed to help you clarify what is most important to you and bring it to life. Click here to learn more about Be True to You.

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All the best,

Ruthann

Organize for Success: Five Steps to Turn Vision into Action

Success begins with vision, but it takes organization to bring that vision to life. These five steps will help you move from inspiration to action with clarity and confidence.

I have outlined five steps, best accomplished in writing, to help you begin the process.

Step one is to determine your goal/desired outcome.

What does success look like? Envision what you desire and capture your vision on paper through words and/or images. Consider creating a vision board.

Step two is to determine why your desired outcome is important to you.

Why do you want what you have outlined in step one? What is your motivation?

Step three is to identify obstacles to reaching your goal and ways to overcome.

What might get in the way of you reaching your goal? How will you overcome?

Step four is to determine what resources you will need to bring your vision to life.

What will it take to bring your vision to life in terms of time, energy, money, and others? Be specific and realistic.
Plan backward.

Step five is to implement your plan.

What is one thing you can do this week to stay true to your vision of success?

In your career, organizing resources with a clear vision ensures that projects, priorities, and opportunities move forward with focus and integrity.

Thank you for pausing here. If my writing has offered meaningful insight or sparked a shift in you, I would be honored to hear what stayed with you.

Success begins with vision and grows through the steps you take with focus and integrity.

All the best,

Ruthann

In-Progress, LLC | Walk your path with intention, at your own pace

The Journey to Authenticity: My Journal Reflections

JOURNAL ENTRY: I realized over the break that I am living a double life.

I have kept a journal most of my life. I have found it to be an invaluable tool for recording my dreams, clarifying my thoughts, and processing my feelings. It has also helped me to see how much I have grown over time.

As a part of the writing process for Be True to You, I reviewed some of my older journals. I was looking for themes in terms of what I was journaling about as well as statements that were related to breakthroughs and turning points. One of the statements that I found during the process inspired this post. I made a note in my journal that I felt like I was living a double life. I was driven by a need to be accepted and, in the process, not openly sharing the part of me that loves to explore a variety of topics and finds inspiration in many things.

At the time of my journal entry, I was exploring spirituality through a different lens (e.g., the Divine Feminine, symbolic systems, etc.). My interest in the topics was real, however, I wasn’t comfortable sharing what I was exploring because the topic was outside of “normal” conversations within my circle of friends and family. I did not want to be seen as “eccentric” or a “new ager”. In reality, I was judging myself and assuming what others might think about me. I noted in my journal that I was out of integrity by not sharing that part of me. I made a decision to stand in my truth and start sharing my interests with others; not only for my personal integrity, but as a way for them to get to know me at a deeper level.

For the most part, it seems the more authentic I am with others, the more authentic they are with me. Being authentic and vulnerable opens the door for deeper and more meaningful relationships.

Is there a part of you that you are hiding/not sharing with friends and family because you are afraid of disapproval, rejection, or judgment? How might you begin to bring that part of you forward?

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All the best,

Ruthann

Who Looks Inside Awakens: Tap into Your Inner Wisdom

“Your vision will become clear only when you look into your heart. Who looks outside, dreams. Who looks inside, awakens.”

—Carl Jung

Are you living your life from the outside in? Do you feel disconnected from your true self and power within?

A new way of living begins when you choose to live from the heart and guidance within. Your heart is your spiritual core, center of truth, inner compass, and extraordinary guide.

You tap into the wisdom of your heart when you ask questions like ‘What is true for me?’, ‘What is best for my life?, ‘What do I value most in my life?’. Your heart knows the answers.

Take the first step:

Be still. Be quiet. Be open to inner guidance.

Thirty-Day Challenge:

Take time each day to listen to the wisdom of your own heart.

Commit to 15-20 minutes of daily silence.

Learn more – YouTube

Who Looks Inside Awakens: Tap into Your Inner Wisdom

Go Deeper on Your Path

Be True to You: A Practical Guide to Pursuing an Authentic Path

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Clarity is powerful and it comes from within

All the best,

Ruthann

In-Progress, LLC | Walk your path with intention, at your own pace