What I Learned About Authentic Leadership At 35

At 35, I resigned from my marketing job forever.

🛑”You are only 35, become a coach at 50,” said some.

🛑”You are growing so well in your career, why switch now,” asked others.

🛑”How will you survive without the big fat salary check every month?” said my closest well wishers.

I didn’t know what propelled me then, but I have the vocabulary now.

💖 It is called Authenticity

I was convinced that I wanted something from life that a marketing career wouldn’t be able to provide.

And I couldn’t postpone that by 15 years.

“Be yourself and lead with authenticity, even in a world that demands otherwise.” says Indra Nooyi

Her exemplary journey proves that true leadership comes from embracing who you are and leading with values.

✨️As PepsiCo’s CEO, she championed Performance with Purpose, prioritizing sustainability and health-conscious products, even when it wasn’t the popular choice.

✨️She believed in leading with empathy , writing personal letters of gratitude to the parents of her executives.

✨️She openly shared the struggles of balancing career and motherhood—breaking the myth of effortless success.

We can all lead authentically. Here’s how:

✅ Know Your Values – Make decisions that align with what truly matters to you.

✅ Own Your Story – Your journey is your strength, not a weakness. Don’t hide or underplay it.

✅ Set Boundaries – Authentic leadership means saying no when needed so that you can say yes to what you are convinced about.

✅ Lead with Confidence, Not Perfection – As Confidence in leadership is about embracing growth when you fail, and moving forward.

The world may demand otherwise, but your greatest strength is being YOU.

Have you ever experienced a moment of authentic leadership in your journey? Share your story with us.

And if you feel the need to up your authenticity quotient, book a 30 minute discovery call. You don’t need to do it alone.

Yoshita Swarup Sharma

Founder & CEO – A Brighter Life | ICF Certified Executive Coach  | Leadership facilitator | NLP Practitioner| Inner Transformation Specialist

“What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls a butterfly” Yoshita lives life by the famous lines of Richard Bach. She is a management graduate from Symbiosis Institute of Business Management and economics graduate From Hansraj College, Delhi University. She has been an accomplished marketing professional before embarking on a second career in the domain of people transformation.

Connect with Yoshita Swarup Sharma