--- title: What I learned about leadership, forgiveness, and letting go — from a day with Marianne Williamson description: A reflection on leadership, forgiveness, and emotional clarity inspired by Marianne Williamson’s London workshop. image: https://intuitive.ceo/hubfs/PP%20blog%20images%20(8).png --- [Skip to content](https://intuitive.ceo/blog/what-i-learned-about-leadership-forgiveness-and-letting-go-from-a-day-with-marianne-williamson#main-content) [![ICEO - LS - red (2)](https://intuitive.ceo/hubfs/ICEO%20-%20LS%20-%20red%20(2).png)](https://intuitive.ceo) - About - [The Intuitive CEO Method](https://intuitive.ceo/the-intuitive-ceo-method) - [Why Me](https://intuitive.ceo/why-work-with-me) - [Case Studies](https://intuitive.ceo/case-studies) - [Podcasts & Media](https://intuitive.ceo/podcasts-and-media) - Executive Coaching - [1:1 Programmes](https://intuitive.ceo/coaching-services) - [Taster Session](https://intuitive.ceo/the-taster-session) - [Executive Coaching for Senior Leaders](https://intuitive.ceo/executive-coaching-for-founders-senior-leaders) - For Organisations - [The Human Lens](https://intuitive.ceo/human-centred-coaching-for-organisational-change-the-human-lens) - [Group Workshops](https://intuitive.ceo/group-workshops) - [The Happy Workplace ↗](http://thehappyworkplace.org.uk/) - Resources - [Leadership Archetype Quiz](https://intuitive.ceo/leadership-archetype-quiz) - [The Conscious Leader Journal](https://intuitive.ceo/the-conscious-leader-journal) - [From Burnout to Fulfilment Workbook](https://intuitive.ceo/from-burnout-to-fulfilment) - [Blog](https://intuitive.ceo/blog) - [Speaking & Events](https://intuitive.ceo/speaking-and-events) - [Book a Discovery Call](https://intuitive.ceo/discovery-call) This is a search field with an auto-suggest feature attached. - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. # What I learned about leadership, forgiveness, and letting go — from a day with Marianne Williamson [Gemma Price](https://intuitive.ceo/blog/author/gemma-price) Jun 18, 2025, 3:03:28 PM ![Mariann Williamson](https://intuitive.ceo/hubfs/PP%20blog%20images%20(8).png) Last week I spent a day at a live workshop in London with author, activist, and teacher Marianne Williamson. You might know her from *A Return to Love* or her U.S. political campaigns, but in that room, she wasn’t playing any role. She was direct, human, fierce, and entirely focused on one thing: waking us up from the mental patterns that keep us stuck. Whilst there was meditation and visualisations, what surprised me most was how practical it all felt. This wasn’t abstract spirituality. This was a deep reckoning with the ways we think, the way we lead, and the way we carry pain long after it’s done. I took so much from that day, and I wanted to share a few reflections here on my highlights. Gentle prompts for high achievers and leaders who, like me, are committed to creating meaningful change without burning out in the process. ## 1. **Forgiveness Is Strategic.** Marianne spoke about forgiveness as an act of *emotional maturity*. She was clear that forgiving someone it not about having an excuse for poor behaviour, or having spiritual superiority, but as it's a personal refusal to keep reliving what someone else did. As a leader, it’s easy to get caught in loops — conversations we wish we’d handled differently, people who didn’t treat us well, decisions we second-guess. But holding onto that isn’t power weighs us down and blurs our judgement. Forgiveness, in this context, means *clearing your nervous system so you can lead with presence, not protection*. ## 2. **You Can’t Create the New While Carrying the Old** At one point, she described the feeling of carrying around a “bag of rocks” — old hurts, old stories, old roles. And how that emotional weight, whether we realise it or not, slows us down. I’ve felt this in my own journey. Transitioning from running a fast-growing business full time to embracing a more present approach  in my coaching work - it has required me to let go of a thousand invisible things like guilt, identity, expectation, and control. You can't start a new season in your life if you are carrying the bag of rocks from past hurt. ## 3. **Your Energy Is the Leadership Strategy** One of the most practical reminders of the day was this: **meditation and inner work aren’t optional if you want to show up well for others**. We talk about productivity, clarity, resilience — but underneath all of that is your internal state. Your ability to self-regulate. To listen, and to lead, without reacting. If you’re skipping the part where you reset your system each morning (and I’ve been guilty of this), then your whole day is being run by noise instead of intention. > In Marianne's words - “Meditate and pray in the morning, kick ass in the afternoon.” That feels about right. ## 4. **Boundaries Can Be Loving Too** This one stuck with me deeply. We often associate love with softness, openness, saying yes. But sometimes love says no. Sometimes love sets a line. This is especially important for people-pleasers, empaths, and women in leadership roles who’ve been conditioned to keep the peace. Love, when grounded, can be fierce. Boundaries don’t mean disconnection — they mean clarity. The most loving thing you can sometimes say is, *I won’t be doing that*. ## 5. **You Don’t Have to Be Fixed Before You Lead** Perhaps the most liberating moment of the day came toward the end. Marianne reminded us that *the next version of ourselves isn’t waiting for us to be perfect*. It’s waiting for us to show up. You don’t need to have healed everything. You don’t need to be endlessly resourced, centred, or enlightened. You just need to be willing, present, and open to seeing things differently. And when you do that, even for a moment, the field shifts. The future changes. That’s what a miracle is — it's not magic, but a change in perception. ## Final Thoughts There is no leadership without inner work. No clarity without healing. No sustainable success without honest self-reflection. Marianne’s workshop wasn’t about becoming more spiritual. It was about becoming more *real*. More present. More available for the kind of leadership the world is quietly craving — grounded, kind, courageous, and deeply self-aware. If you’re holding onto something that you know it’s time to release — a version of yourself, an old role, a story you’ve been telling — maybe this is your moment. Maybe you don’t need to “figure it all out.” Maybe you just need to be willing to set it down. That’s where I am now. And if any of this speaks to you, I’d love to walk beside you on the journey.   #### *Ready to go deeper?* [*➡️ Explore 1:1 coaching*](https://intuitive.ceo/coaching-services)   [Leadership](https://intuitive.ceo/blog/tag/leadership) [Mindset](https://intuitive.ceo/blog/tag/mindset) [Intention](https://intuitive.ceo/blog/tag/intention) ## Related Posts ### [Jun 27, 2026, 8:01:12 PM The Loneliness at the Top: Why Leadership Feels So Isolating — and How to Lead Through It](https://intuitive.ceo/blog/loneliness-at-the-top-isolated-leadership) ### [Sep 11, 2025, 2:25:01 PM Intuition in Business: The Hidden Superpower Leaders Are Finally Talking About](https://intuitive.ceo/blog/intuition-in-business-the-hidden-superpower-leaders-are-finally-talking-about) ### [Apr 2, 2025, 8:22:06 AM Why Business Leaders Need Coaching: The Key to Sustainable Success](https://intuitive.ceo/blog/why-business-leaders-need-coaching) ![ICEO - LS - red (2)](https://intuitive.ceo/hubfs/ICEO%20-%20LS%20-%20red%20(2).png) Executive Coaching by The Intuitive CEO®. 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