Don’t Let the Word “Leader” Disqualify You
By Cathie Ostapchuk
It happens in almost every room I walk into, and if you’ve been in enough of these spaces, you’ve likely felt it too. Someone names the room a gathering of leaders, and while some people visibly lean forward, many others quietly pull back, not outwardly, not in a way anyone would notice, but internally, just enough to begin disqualifying themselves.
The thoughts are familiar and often unspoken: That’s not really me. I don’t belong here. I’m not a leader like them.
But when you step back and look at the men and women God chose to use throughout Scripture, the entire framework begins to unravel. David was anointed king and then sent back into obscurity, returning to the fields where he would wait for fifteen years before stepping into what God had already declared over his life. Those were not years of visible leadership; they were years of formation, uncertainty, and likely questioning. Rahab, on the other hand, was a prostitute before she became a crucial figure in the lineage of Jesus. By every external measure, she would have been the least likely candidate to be part of God’s redemptive story.
So what, then, were they placing their faith in? Was it their own leadership potential, their readiness, their sense of confidence and clarity? Or was it the power of God to raise them up, to place them in moments they could not have orchestrated, and to use their lives in ways that would ultimately shape history?
Somewhere along the way, we have quietly shifted the definition of leadership into something that depends far too much on self-perception. We have come to believe that if we could just become confident enough, clear enough, or certain enough, then we would finally be ready to step forward.
But the Kingdom of God has never operated on that framework. Before you can lead well, you can begin by living whole, grounded in the truth of Psalm 139: that you were known, formed, and intentionally designed by God before you ever carried responsibility or influence, before you ever questioned whether you were enough.
Leadership, in its truest sense, does not begin with performance; it begins with identity. It begins with trusting that God knew exactly what He was doing when He created you and that He is more than capable of doing something through your life, even if you cannot yet see how.
And this is why Gather exists.
Gather is for every woman: hear this clearly:
not just the confident ones, not just the ones with titles, and not just the ones who already feel like they belong in the room.
We are creating spaces for women to live well and lead whole through Gather Circles launching later this year, through The Studio 2026 Cohort, and through meetups and events across the country.
As a next step, we would love for you to join us for A Taste of The Studio on April 28, just one week away, as an entry point into what this kind of formation and community can look like in your own life.
When: Tuesday April 28 7 - 8:15pm EST
Where: Online via Zoom
How much: $25
Why: Come be encouraged in your identity and equipped to step more fully into what God has spoken over your life
And if Gather has encouraged you or strengthened you in any way, would you consider becoming a monthly donor? Even $20 or $50 a month helps us continue creating these spaces for women across Canada. This is not a quiet ask; it is an honest one, because we believe too much is at stake to step back now.
So come, not when you feel ready, but now.
I believe in all your carry. You were created to live well. You were created to live whole. Let’s live and believe together.