Leading with Grace: The Power Move Women of Color are Making Right Now
The new power move isn’t louder — it’s graceful. For women of color who are redefining success, gratitude is the strategy that sustains.
Leadership doesn’t have to mean burnout, pressure, or perfection. When you lead with grace, you shift from performing to being. You cultivate influence through empathy, gratitude, and authenticity — the true cornerstones of visionary leadership.
Writer and activist Audre Lorde once declared, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgence, it is self-preservation.” That same care applies to how you lead others. Grace in leadership allows you to set boundaries, honor your journey, and still lift others as you climb.
Start by asking: Who do you need to thank today? Who helped you rise?
Gratitude transforms hierarchy into humanity, it reminds your team that they matter. I still smile thinking about the time someone told me I thank people too much. Now I see it as my superpower. Gratitude isn’t weakness — it’s connection, leadership, and grace in action.
Executive coach Elaine Welteroth notes, “When you lead from gratitude, you lead from abundance, not scarcity.” It’s a mindset that keeps you grounded and gracious, even in high-pressure spaces.
As you reflect on this year, set goals for the next, and re-evaluate purpose and impact, remember that grace-centered leadership never expires — it redefines power through compassion, authenticity, and intention, reminding us that true leadership begins within and radiates outward.
Deneen L. Garrett is a Dream Lifestyle™ coach, speaker, writer and creator & host of a 100 Best Women’s Empowerment podcast Women of Color: An Intimate Conversation. She helps women design lives they love through intention, creativity and bold self-belief. Deneen also contributes to Culturs Magazine and Medium.