I was catching up on some insights from my friend Vicki Bradley recently. She was sharing some powerful thoughts on how confidence is actually built for Women in Leadership. It really got me thinking about a massive "blind spot" I’m seeing in the market right now.

I want you to know something important. Even the high level Executives and Board members I work with feel these exact same emotions. They toggle between pure excitement and deep anxiety just like the rest of us.

Ask an AI tool for a picture of "an executive." Is the default a man? Or do you get a man and a woman, shown as equals? That tiny test is the whole game. Your eye catches it, your voice corrects it, and this is where we actually get to have some fun.

We already know the trap. We downplay our wins. We assume praise is just being nice. We overprepare for everything. And now there is a fresh new flavor of the same thing, served warm: I cannot tell anyone I used AI to write that, because then they will think I am not really competent.

I was in a room with a group of senior leaders. Smart people. The kind who've built real careers, sit on boards, and run massive teams. And I asked them one question…

Rejection isn't failure. It's a signal. And signals are data. Data that smart leaders use to make better decisions. Think about it. Every "no" tells you something

I'm describing a ROARer. The person already doing the deep thinking, the real listening, the judgment calls. The ROARers are the leaders those rooms are searching for.