By Cathie Ostapchuk

I’m writing this from the Alpha Leadership Conference in London, UK, surrounded by 5,000 leaders who care deeply about the Church, the culture, and what it means to faithfully witness in a world that feels increasingly uncertain, fractured, and, if we’re honest, shaken.

And one phrase has stayed with me all week:

How do we become an unshakeable force in a world that is shaking…

when so many of us feel fragmented on the inside?

I think women, especially, know this tension.

We say we want to make an impact. We want to lead well. We want to be a witness in the world. We want our lives to matter. So we sign up for leadership conferences, read leadership books, sharpen our communication, build our skills, grow our platforms, and learn how to influence.

And if, if there’s time left over, maybe we take a retreat. Maybe we journal. Maybe we put a few rhythms in place. Maybe we think a little about our spiritual life.

And somewhere, usually far too late, we realize we’ve skipped something essential.

We’ve learned how to lead… before we’ve learned how to live.

And even deeper than that, we’ve often skipped the most foundational question of all: What does it mean to be truly human?

Before Genesis ever gives humanity an assignment, it gives us an identity.

Before “go,” before “multiply,” before “lead,” before “build”—there is this:

We were made in the image of God.

Which means our lives begin not with performance, but with dignity. Not with productivity, but with relationship. Not with endless capacity, but with God-given limits. Not with proving ourselves, but with belonging.

And I’m becoming more convinced than ever that many women are exhausted not because leadership is hard - though it is - but because we’ve built our lives in the wrong order.

We start with leadership.

What we actually need is formation.

We need to begin with identity: what it means to be image-bearers with dignity, relationality, limits, and vocation. Then we build rhythms that shape our souls in the middle of real life—not after life slows down, but especially when it doesn’t.

Then leadership begins to emerge - not as performance, but as overflow.

And from there, something beautiful happens.

Our witness becomes credible.

Not because we have all the answers, but because people sense wholeness.