The Circles That Hold Us

Every leader needs a circle.
Not a network. Not a team. A circle—the kind that knows when you need silence more than solutions, and laughter more than logic.

This truth came home to me during a recent weekend away with five women I now consider family. None of us were sure we’d show up that first year. We were independent, self-sufficient, running our own worlds. But somehow, we did. And somehow, we keep finding our way back.

This year, we gathered in a beautiful home on Martha’s Vineyard—one of the places our youngest circle member now calls home. She took her hosting role to heart, seasoning fresh sweet corn twice before grilling it to golden perfection. We’d bought six cobs, but only five made it to the grill. No one minded. We passed them around like communion—sweet, smoky, and shared. It was abundance, redefined.

Over the years—Atlanta, Alabama, New Orleans, now the Vineyard—our gathering has become more than ritual. It’s a living classroom on trust, humility, and connection. The conversations stretch from career crossroads to family crises. We tease, we disagree, we make amends. And we always eat together.

3 Leadership Lessons from the Circle That Holds Us

1. Leadership requires vulnerability, not perfection.
In spaces where performance drops away, we remember how to listen. Real influence begins in honesty—showing up messy, imperfect, and present.

2. Relationships are the slow-cooked sauce of leadership.
Community, like a good stew, can’t be rushed. It’s seasoned, stirred, and tested over time. The leaders who last are the ones who tend their circles as carefully as their strategies.

3. Trust is built in small acts, not grand gestures.
Sometimes you’re the one grilling the corn. Sometimes you’re the one being fed. The rhythm of reciprocity—of giving and receiving—is what sustains long-term impact.

These lessons go beyond friendship. They’re about the kind of leadership that sustains both people and purpose—the kind that balances power with presence, and success with belonging.

And perhaps that’s the quiet truth of leadership itself: it’s less about standing apart, and more about standing among.

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