Recognition has a strange way of making you look backwards.
Recently, I was named one of the Transformational Female Coaches to Follow in 2026 by The EliteX. It’s an honour I’m deeply grateful for. But when I saw the announcement, my mind didn’t jump to the recognition itself. It was the moment leadership became personal.
Instead, it travelled backwards. Back to a time when my life looked very different. A time when nothing felt certain. A time when leadership became deeply personal.
Many years ago, I was standing in a place I never imagined I would be. My marriage had ended. I was overseas. I had a young daughter to care for. Very little money.
And absolutely no clear idea what my future looked like.
There are moments in life where the ground beneath you shifts so suddenly that everything you believed about stability disappears. You question your choices. You question your abilities. Sometimes you even question who you are.
For me, that moment was both terrifying and defining. Because I realised something important. No one was coming to rescue me. If my daughter and I were going to build a new life, I would have to build it myself.
So I came home to Australia and started again. I applied for job after job. And one by one, the rejections arrived. More than forty rejections. Each one a small reminder that rebuilding is rarely graceful. Rebuilding is uncomfortable.
It is uncertain. And it forces you to confront the quiet voice that lives inside all of us.
The voice that whispers:
Maybe you’re not good enough.
Maybe you’ve already failed.
Maybe this is as far as you go.
That voice can be incredibly convincing when life is difficult. But somewhere beneath that doubt was another voice.
Quieter. But far more powerful. It said something simple. Keep going.
Looking back now, that period of my life changed the way I understood leadership forever. Before that moment, leadership had been something I studied.
Something I worked on. Something I observed in organisations.
But after that moment, leadership became something far deeper. It became something human.
Because when life forces you to rebuild, you begin to understand something important about people. Everyone is carrying something.
Pressure.
Responsibility.
Fear.
Uncertainty.
Even the leaders who appear the most confident are often navigating complex internal battles. That realisation changed the way I approached leadership. It changed the way I coached leaders. And it changed the questions I began asking.
For years I had worked in leadership and people roles. I had seen the extraordinary impact great leaders could have on individuals and organisations. I had seen teams flourish under leaders who created trust, clarity and safety. But I had also seen the opposite.
Leaders who created fear.
Leaders who slowly eroded confidence.
Leaders who shaped cultures where people stopped speaking up.
The difference between those two types of leaders fascinated me.
So I began studying leadership more deeply. Human behaviour. Decision-making. Emotional intelligence.
And eventually, the neuroscience of leadership. Because I wanted to understand something fundamental.
Why do some leaders bring out the best in people?
And why do others unintentionally bring out the worst?
Over the past three decades, I’ve had the privilege of working with thousands of leaders across organisations, industries and countries. And something remarkable happens when leaders feel safe enough to be honest. They say things you rarely hear in boardrooms or leadership conferences.
Things like:
“I feel like I’m making it up as I go.”
“I’m worried I’m going to get this wrong.”
“I don’t want to let my team down.”
The world often sees confident leaders.
But behind that confidence is usually a human being navigating uncertainty, responsibility and pressure. Leadership coaching simply creates the space for that honesty. And once that honesty appears, something powerful happens. Growth begins.
One of the most important lessons I’ve learned through this work is that leadership is not built in theory. It is built in moments.
The moment a leader chooses to have a difficult conversation.
The moment they decide to listen instead of react.
The moment they admit they don’t have all the answers.
The moment they choose courage over comfort.
These moments may seem small.
But over time, they shape cultures, organisations and lives.
Being recognised by The EliteX as one of the Transformational Female Coaches to Follow in 2026 is incredibly meaningful. But the real privilege of my work has nothing to do with recognition.
It is the opportunity to sit beside leaders as they grow. To watch confidence replace doubt. To see someone step into the leader they were capable of becoming all along. And to help organisations create cultures where people can thrive. That work never stops being meaningful.
If there is one thing I have learned through this journey, it is this:
Leadership is not about having all the answers.
It is about having the courage to keep learning.
To keep growing.
And to keep showing up in the moments that matter most.
Because leadership is not about perfection.
It is about progress.
And sometimes the moments that break us are the very moments that build the leaders we are meant to become.
🔗 See the full list https://lnkd.in/gNdfsY2E
🔗 Read my feature https://lnkd.in/gTaDMfUX
Sonia McDonald Founder & CEO
LeadershipHQ Leadership Coach | Keynote Speaker | Author
Helping leaders build courage, clarity and humanity in leadership.
#Leadership #LeadershipDevelopment #LeadershipCoaching #WomenInLeadership