Illustrating Leadership Lesson: Finding your guiding light

When leadership feels steady, it’s easy to move forward with confidence. But most leaders don’t struggle when things are going well — they struggle when things feel messy, unclear, stressful, or conflicting. When you’re pulled in too many directions, when decisions feel heavier than usual, or when something simply hasn’t gone well in your organization or business.

In those moments, it’s tempting to look for more information. Another article. Another framework. Another opinion.

But what gets leaders through those seasons isn’t more information.

It’s clarity.
It’s alignment.
It’s having a guiding light.

That guiding light is what vision-centered leadership is all about.

Why Vision-Centered Leadership Matters

Vision-centered leadership gives you something steady to return to when everything else feels uncertain. It helps you make decisions with confidence, not because you have every answer, but because you’re grounded in what actually matters.

At its core, vision-centered leadership is rooted in three things:

• Knowing your why

• Understanding your values

• Committing to ongoing self-awareness and personal growth

You’ve probably heard all three of these ideas before. But when they’re intentionally woven together, they don’t just shape how you lead, they shape who you are while you’re leading.

Your Why: The Anchor Beneath the Work

Your why is your anchor.

It’s the deeper reason behind the work you do...beyond your job title, your company, or your never-ending to-do list. It’s the impact you want to have. The contribution you want to make. The purpose that makes the hard days worth it.

When you’re connected to your why:

• You don’t need constant external validation

• You recover from setbacks more quickly

• Decision-making becomes clearer

Your why gives you a lens to filter choices through.

If you’re not sure what your why is, start with questions like these:

• What kind of leader do I want to be remembered as?

• Who or what am I ultimately doing this for?

• What would feel meaningful to me, even if no one else ever noticed?

Naming your why clearly gives you energy when you’re exhausted and perspective when things feel chaotic which, as we all know, they sometimes will.

Your Values: The Compass That Guides Decisions

If your why is your anchor, your values are your compass.

Your values guide the day-to-day decisions, especially the hard ones. They help you navigate moments where the “right” answer isn’t obvious.

Imagine your core values include integrity, collaboration, and growth. If you’re offered an opportunity or promotion that compromises one of those (even if it comes with status or money) your values point you toward alignment instead of temptation.

Values help you:

• Set boundaries around your time and energy

• Decide which opportunities to pursue or decline

• Model consistency and authenticity for your team

To clarify your values, reflect on questions like:

• What principles do I hold myself to, even when it’s difficult?

• What frustrates or inspires me the most, and what does that reveal?

• When have I felt deeply in alignment, or completely out of alignment, and why?

This isn’t about listing words that simply sound good.

For me, my values include integrity, compassion, empathy, self-awareness, honesty, respect, and curiosity. But the heart of those values goes deeper than the words themselves. At the core is partnership, a reverence for transformation, and a commitment to growth that creates a more joyful, life-giving world.

I can feel it immediately when someone truly shares those values. AND just as clearly when they don’t. Those shared values shape who I choose to work with and which efforts I want to support. Staying connected to that deeper meaning keeps me aligned as a leader.

Self-Awareness and Growth: The Work That Never Ends

The third pillar of vision-centered leadership is a lifelong commitment to self-awareness and personal growth.

The best leaders are still students.

They’re willing to reflect, adjust, and evolve. They’re comfortable admitting they don’t know everything...and they stay curious instead of defensive.

Self-awareness means understanding:

• Your stress responses and triggers

• Your communication patterns

• Tendencies like over-functioning or avoidance

• Your strengths and your blind spots

Personal growth means doing something with that awareness.

That might look like coaching, therapy, journaling, mentorship, or intentionally creating space to reflect. Ideally, leaders have more than one way they engage in growth.

Why does this matter so much?

Because you can’t lead others well if you don’t know yourself.

When you do, you become a calmer, more grounded, more adaptive leader. Someone who doesn’t panic under pressure, offload stress onto their team, or lead reactively. Instead, you lead with intention.

Why All Three Work Better Together

Each of these elements is powerful on its own. Together, they create something stronger.

• Your why gives you purpose

• Your values give you direction

• Your self-awareness gives you clarity in the moment

Combined, they allow you to lead from a centered place rather than a performative one. They help you trust your decisions, especially when things feel uncertain. And they create a steadiness that others can feel.

Vision-centered leadership isn’t about being perfect or having everything figured out.

It’s about returning to your inner foundation again and again.

It’s about leading from alignment instead of ego.

And it’s about making decisions that reflect not just what’s urgent, but what truly matters.

If leadership feels messy or unclear right now, start here:

Reconnect to your why.
Reclarify your values.
Reflect on how you’re showing up and who you want to become.

Because the clearer your internal vision is, the more confidently you can lead, no matter what’s in front of you.

Your host, Jessica Wright, is a Life & Career Development Coach for Leaders and the Founder of Wright Life Coaching, LLC. You can connect with and follow her on LinkedIn.