The Myth of Not Knowing Enough: Why Soul-Led Leaders Must Reclaim Their Voice
By Jackie Leon
The Myth of Not Knowing Enough: Why Soul-Led Leaders Must Reclaim Their Voice
There’s a moment in every transition, whether it's stepping into leadership, launching something soul-led, or shedding an old identity, when a quiet voice emerges:
“But do I really know enough?”
It rarely shouts. Instead, it wraps itself in the soft clothing of humility:
“I just want to be responsible.”
“I’m not here to pretend I have all the answers.”
“I should probably take one more course, just to be sure.”
But beneath the grace lies hesitation. Doubt masquerading as maturity.
So let’s pause here, together.
What’s truly being protected when you hesitate to speak your truth?
And who taught you that silence equaled integrity?
The Shape of the Myth
It doesn’t arrive with fireworks. It’s subtle. A gentle fog creeping through decision-making.
You stall your launch.
You stay quiet while others share confidently.
You build out frameworks you may never use.
You tell yourself you’re “not quite ready,” when what you really mean is “I’m afraid my voice won’t be enough.”
And here’s the twist, it often shows up in the most thoughtful leaders. The ones with presence. Depth. Integrity.
Maybe that’s you.
When was the last time your carefulness cost you clarity?
And how often has your discernment doubled as a delay?
Truth Doesn’t Wait for Credentials
Soul-led leaders often carry wisdom that resists measurement. It doesn’t live in bullet points or shiny slides. It emerges from experience. From devotion. From sitting in discomfort long enough to listen past it.
I’ve coached emerging coaches still shaping their voice, their methods, and their internal compass. Creatives with systems thinking brilliance. I’ve also witnessed entrepreneurs who build from intuition as much as innovation, who channel clarity between pivots, launches, and deep pauses. Their wisdom is rarely loud, but it’s undeniable. And often… it’s hidden.
Waiting. For permission. For proof. For safety.
What part of you already knows, but waits for someone else to validate it?
And what becomes possible when your knowing isn’t conditional?
A Personal Reclamation
In my engineering days, I designed hardware systems and built testing stations for electronic equipment. I remember being knee-deep in decisions that looked technical on the surface, but were deeply intuitive underneath. Choosing metal shops, sourcing parts, testing prototypes… none of it was just about specs. It was about sensing who could deliver with integrity. Who understood nuance. Who would catch failures before they happened.
At times, I doubted myself. There was pressure to optimize for cost, efficiency, and speed. But something in me knew how to listen beyond that, to choose from presence, not just data.
That same tension followed me into coaching. Early on, I designed programs that looked great on paper, strategic, structured, polished. But they didn’t reflect my own inner wiring. They lacked the integrity I once demanded of my suppliers.
In both worlds, I had to reclaim the right to trust my design instincts. To build aligned systems, not inherited ones.
Where in your work are you following a template that doesn’t match your truth?
And what would happen if you trusted your inner architect more than the external blueprints?
Coaching Through the Myth
When clients bring this pattern into our sessions, we don’t rush to “solve” it. We meet it.
We name it. And then we question it with tenderness.
What’s the story underneath “not enough”?
Who benefits from you staying quiet?
What would “enough” feel like in your body, not your mind?
Because often, the myth didn’t start with them. It came from a mentor who prized certainty over humanity. A system that rewarded performance over presence.
Reclamation begins with awareness, with naming. Then with choosing differently.
What script are you still living by that no longer honors your truth?
And if you rewrote it today, what would the first sentence be?
Wisdom > Knowledge
Let’s shift the lens for a moment.
Knowledge seeks mastery.
Wisdom invites mystery.
To lead soul-led work is to dance with the unknown.
To listen without needing to fix.
To speak while still becoming.
Your authority isn’t proven by what you’ve mastered. It’s revealed in how you show up, honest, human, here.
Alan Watts wrote, “The menu is not the meal.”
Certifications are menus. So are frameworks. And templates.
But truth? Truth is the meal. And you don’t need permission to serve it.
What have you been trying to master that might already be yours to embody?
From Myth to Movement
Reclaiming your voice is not a singular moment, it’s a daily rhythm.
To write the post when it’s not perfect.
To lead the workshop with trembling hands.
To coach with presence, not performance.
It’s not the absence of fear, it’s a commitment to truth even when fear tags along.
What would it mean to honor your leadership as alive, unfinished, and already enough?
And who might finally give themselves permission when they see you do it first?
So I’ll leave you with this:
What if the very thing you’ve been doubting is the deepest sign that you’re ready?
