vision – 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.

You’re welcome to follow the blog to receive notifications of new posts, subscribe to the mailing list to receive new posts and updates directly to your inbox, or connect with me on social media, whatever feels most supportive.

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

Start Small: Overcoming Procrastination

This week, I invite you to get started on something that you have been putting off. Start small and gain momentum if procrastination is an ongoing challenge.

Envision a desired future state and write it down and/or find an image that captures what you envision. Keep your vision in a place where you can see it on a regular basis.

Outline the steps needed to bring your vision to life as well as a date for completing each step.

Create an affirmation that aligns with your future state and work with it on a daily basis.

Each day, commit to taking three actions to move toward your desired future state.

Hold yourself accountable by assessing your commitment to action at the end of each day.

Don’t wait until you are “ready” to begin. Start small, gain momentum, and bring your vision to life. Plan and prepare for it or something better to happen.

The same discipline of starting small and building momentum applies in your career. Each step forward strengthens your confidence and clarity.

Believe in your ability to succeed.

All the best,

Ruthann

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

Daily Acts of Faith: Empower Your Journey

I believe life is a personal journey of faith and process of empowerment.

Simply stated, faith is our ability to move forward with positive expectancy. What is positive expectancy? It’s belief and trust in a favorable outcome.

Faith enables us to dream big, set goals, and trust the process of bringing our dreams to life. It also enables us to stay open to more than one outcome. If things don’t go as planned, trust (a key component of faith) enables us to ask “What did I learn?”, “How did I grow?” and use the lessons learned to keep moving forward in faith that you are being guided to your highest good.

Staying focused on your goals and staying open to more than one outcome is not easy. It requires trust in the process and guidance from within. I believe we cultivate and strengthen our connection to inner guidance through a daily practice of silence. I invite you to read my post Give yourself the gift of silence if you would like to learn more.

So, what are daily acts of faith? They are actions that you take on a daily basis to stretch and grow out of your “comfort” zone. Acts of faith are rooted in a vision of a desired future state.

Suggestion to get started:

Think about one area of your life where you feel stuck or discouraged.
Envision a desired future state and write it down or find an image that captures what you envision. Give yourself permission to dream BIG.
Create a powerful affirmation that aligns with your future state and work with it on a daily basis. I invite you to watch my video on The Power of Affirmations (Video) if you would like to learn more.
Each day, for the next 30 days, commit (in writing) to taking three actions to move toward your desired future state.
Hold yourself accountable by reviewing your commitments and actions at the end of each day.
Create time and space to listen to inner guidance.
Assess your progress using this process in 30 days.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you know someone who might benefit, please share it by clicking on a share button below.

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

Strategies to Stay Focused on What Matters

What we choose to focus on magnifies in our lives. Here are a few strategies that can help you stay focused on what truly matters and create the life that you desire.

Capture what is most important to you in writing

Writing things down can help you focus, plan, organize, and bring your dreams to life. Make a commitment to capture what is most important to you in writing – your values, vision, goals, etc.

Clarify your personal values

Values are qualities/principles that are most important to you. Your values are the foundation for your life. They inform your life choices and help you prioritize what is most important in your life. Take time to identify, clarify, and prioritize your values in writing and put them into action.

Create a vision for your life

A vision is a desired future state. Give yourself permission to dream BIG. Create a detailed vision of what you desire for your life and create a plan of action to bring it to life. You may find my post on vision boards helpful. Click here to read the vision board post.

Create awareness of how you are spending your time, energy, and money

Keep track of how you are spending your time, energy, and money (in writing) on a daily basis for the next seven days. It will help you see the degree to which you are (or aren’t) focused on what truly matters. This exercise is seriously eye opening!

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

How Intention in Prayer Fuels Personal Growth

When you pray, move your feet.

—African Proverb

When we pray with a goal in mind, we are engaging the power of intention in the context of all things being divinely possible.

The word intention comes from the Latin word intendere which means to “stretch out”, “to extend”. Intention inspires vision and guides action.

If you believe your prayers reflect what is best for your life, affirm your beliefs by living your prayers. For example, if you are praying for peace, envision what peace would look like in your life and commit to thinking peaceful thoughts, speaking peaceful words, creating and maintaining peaceful relationships, and creating and maintaining a peaceful environment. If you are praying for a new job/career opportunity, envision your new job/career and support your prayer with actions like updating your resume, creating a list of companies to send your resume, networking, and so on.

Prayer that is outcome focused and not supported with action is empty prayer. It is important that we pray and take action.

Engage the power of the written word to help you manifest what you desire. Create a plan of action that will enable you to move from where you are to where you would like to be. Consider using images and/or symbols as visual reminders (vision board) of your desired outcome.

Work toward your goals, but don’t be attached to a particular outcome. Being attached to a specific outcome can get in the way of you receiving an even bigger blessing than the one you had in mind.

The essence of prayer is faith in a divine presence working in and through our lives. As such, stay open to guidance and trust that you are being guided to your highest good.

Question for reflection

What is one thing you can do this week to move your life in the direction of your prayers?

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All the best,

Ruthann

The Role of Intention in Achieving Your Goals

*Downloadable worksheet at the end of the post.

The word intention comes from the Latin word intendere, which means to “stretch out”, “to extend”. Intention inspires vision and guides action.

To be intentional is to be willing to stretch yourself and grow. It is a process of stepping into your power, clarifying your vision, and consistently moving forward on your path. Do you know where you would like to be in the next three months? Six months? One year? Here is a quick way to get started.

Spend some time this week thinking about and visualizing where you would like to be in the next three months (or whatever time frame works best for you). Get clear as to what you would like to change, why you would like to make a change, and how you plan to make it happen.

I invite you to create a powerful intention to pull you forward. State what you intend to accomplish within a specific time frame.

I intend to _____________________________

Based on this intention, I commit to taking the following actions:

1. ___________________________________

2. ___________________________________

3. ___________________________________

If there is a gap between your intention and action, see it as an opportunity for personal growth rather than a personal failing; recommit to your intention and begin again. Consider using images and/or symbols as a visual reminder of your desired outcome.

*Downloadable worksheet: Be Intentional

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All the best,

Ruthann