---

Lead Well

By Kristie Phillips | The Open Chair

Somewhere along the way, many of us picked up the idea that in order to lead, we had to be perfect.
Flawless habits. Flawless choices. Flawless emotions.
But the longer I walk this journey, the more clearly I see the truth:

Leadership doesn’t require perfection. It requires integrity.

Integrity isn’t about having all the answers or getting it right every time.
It’s about choosing to live in a way that your private journey and your public message are moving in the same direction.

Not matching perfectly.
Not without stumbles or slow days.
But aligned with honesty, effort, and grace.

---

This realization hit me especially hard recently.
In conversations with the people closest to me—my husband, my family—I felt the weight of their observations.
Where they saw inconsistency, I felt shame.
Where they questioned my habits, I questioned my right to lead.

But here’s what I’m learning:

When you are in a season of becoming, you will feel the gap between who you are and who you are becoming.
That gap isn’t disqualification—it’s evidence of growth.

If you’re honest enough to see the space between your ideal and your reality—and you’re willing to keep moving toward integrity—you are already leading well.

---

You don’t have to fake perfection to be a leader worth following.
You just have to keep choosing:

• To show up with humility
• To own your growth areas without hiding
• To keep aligning your daily choices with your deeper mission

Because leadership that demands perfection becomes heavy, brittle, and distant.
But leadership rooted in integrity—raw, honest, imperfect integrity—is magnetic. It draws people toward hope. Toward possibility. Toward their own courage to grow.

---

If you feel the tension between who you are and who you’re called to be—you’re not failing.
You’re becoming.

Keep leading.
Keep becoming.
And remember: Integrity is enough.

---

Thanks for reading today’s reflection from The Open Chair. If this resonated with you, I’d love for you to share it or leave a comment. Let’s keep building a space where real leadership—and real growth—can thrive.