Learning to Trust Your Voice

By Candice LeBlanc, Bay Mills Community College Director of Institutional Advancement
2025-2026 Indigenous Visionaries: Women’s Leadership Program

Leadership is Not About Taking Up More Space

I think we need to begin by changing how we define leadership. Indigenous women have many of the qualities that most organizations need. We build strong relationships. We make intentional decisions. We care deeply about the people around us. We love fiercely, and because of that, we often carry a tremendous sense of responsibility to the people we serve.

It feels natural for many of us to lead with the collective in mind. We do not only think about individual outcomes or personal successes. We think about how our decisions will affect our families, communities, youth, and elders. We understand the teaching of reciprocity. We understand that what we do should benefit more than just ourselves.

The difficult part is that these qualities are not always recognized as leadership. They can be seen as supportive qualities rather than evidence of strong leadership. We become the people who help hold everything together behind the scenes. It brings us comfort to make sure that people feel included and supported.

I’ve learned leadership is not about taking up more space but creating space for others. It can mean asking thoughtful questions and building trust before advocating for change. It is about helping people move forward.

This understanding is how I started seeing myself as a leader. I didn’t need to be louder or more forceful to be effective. The way I show up is just as valuable because it is the same way my mother and grandmother did. Care, consistency, and willingness to support others are not separate from leadership. They are a part of leadership.

Trusting Your Voice

When I think back to the younger version of myself sitting quietly in meetings, running through every thought in my head before saying something out loud, I wish I could sit beside her for a moment. I would tell her that she does not talk too much, and being thoughtful is not the same as being unsure. I would tell her keeping relationships strong does not mean she has to keep every thought to herself. And most importantly, I would tell her that her voice was never a problem. The problem was that she had not learned to trust her voice yet.

I don’t get it right every time. I have to think things through and reflect on how my thoughts will land to others. I now understand that leadership is not about leaving those parts of myself behind or unsaid. Those parts of myself that some may not consider leadership qualities; my humor, compassion, connection, relationship building, and responsibility to the community are my strengths. They are a part of me and a part of how I lead.

As Indigenous women, we bring perspectives shaped by our identity. It is built by our families, our communities, our culture, and our teachings. We understand what it means to care for more than ourselves. We understand the responsibility of making decisions that impact others.

Creating change does not always mean being the loudest person in the room. Sometimes it begins with trusting that your voice and learning that it belongs there. Our voices deserve to be heard, especially in systems that are trying to better serve people. Fitting into a system should never require us to make ourselves smaller.