How one woman leads with soul is very different to how another woman leads with soul.

It’s personal. Very personal.

But there is one dominant theme.

They all embody courage.

The courage to risk it all.
The courage to take a stand.
The courage to tell the truth.
The courage to bare it all.
The courage to get out of their own way, their own fears, their own insecurities.
The courage to trust their heart, their intuition, their soul.

Here are four women currently reminding me how.

1. Ellen Page.

I love reading and hearing about “coming out” stories. So when Ellen Page, 26 year old actress, took to the stage at the Human Right’s Campaign’s Time to THRIVE Conference on Valentine’s Day and delivered a beautiful speech telling the world  “I’m gay” I couldn’t help but cheer for her – and shed a few tears!

Remember, don’t hide the essence of who you are.

2. Under the Red Dress by Beth Whaanga.

“This week Australian woman, mother of four, Beth Whaanga, took a deep breath and did something daring. God, more than daring. “Daring” doesn’t do this justice. What Beth did was allow herself to be completely vulnerable. What she did was extraordinarily, breathtakingly brave and generous and courageous and if I had a bloody thesaurus I would insert 1000 more words.

Because Beth took off her clothes and allowed herself to be photographed by her long-time friend and photographer Nadia Mascot for a project they are calling Under The Red Dress. In a bid to educate women about breast cancer. In a bid to start a conversation about how cancer surgeries change your body and the way you feel about yourself. In a bid to say – that woman you see at the school gate, that co-worker in the department near you – it’s entirely possible her body looks like this. It’s entirely possible their bodies tell a story that belies their outward appearance.”

She may have been unfriended by 103 people on Facebook and told that her images were “inappropriate” and even “pornographic” but all I see is one beautiful, courageous, powerful, soulful woman.  The kind of woman I want in my orbit all the time.

Remember, nothing is as it seems.

3.  Sera Beak.

“You must not trust the Divine Feminine enough because you think you know how to get her out in the world better than she does.”

Boom!

This is just one of the truth bombs Sera Beak shared with us during her keynote talk at Emerging Women in Boulder, Colorado last year .  Trusting the foreign feminine ways over the more popular familiar and proven successful ways of offering ones work to the world is the challenge.

But when you’re committed to leading with soul, it’s the only way.

Remember, don’t water down your message or what you truly stand for.

4. Beyonce.

“This is a project that I didn’t think was possible, actually,” she said during her opening remarks. “I’ve never done anything so brave in my life. The amount of personal growth from this project isn’t like anything I’ve ever done. I took all of my insecurities, all of my doubts, all of my fears and everything I’ve learned over the seventeen years and I applied it into this project.”

It’s also the album that fired up the critics and many parents.  Big time!

Her provocative and erotic album has been  called “vile”, “disgusting”, “sheer exploitation” and “should be banned”.  She’s been accused of “cashing in” , “selling out” and “turning into a vamp”.

And yet, it’s my favourite body of work she’s ever released out into the world.

Why?

Because she finally unleashed the side of herself that she’d been holding back in order to appear “responsible” and “a good role model”.  

She embraced her sexuality and expressed it FULL TILT.

She went all out. In her way.  In every way. From creation to production to promotion. She broke all the rules and made her own.

Remember, do it your way and don’t hold back.