Have you ever felt like you’re leading… while quietly wondering if you’re lost?What do you do when you’re not where you used to be, not yet where you thought you’d be, and the map feels a little blurry?In this episode of The Calm and Confident Leader, Jason Stonehouse sits down with writer, educator, and leadership developer Donna Barber, author of Enough for Today: 40 Reflections for Surviving the Wilderness. Together, they explore the leadership reality we don’t talk about enough, the wilderness seasons.Not the dramatic collapse.Not the highlight reel success.But the in-between.Donna shares what gets stripped away in the wilderness. The props. The image management. The illusion that leaders are somehow above the earthquake while everyone else feels the tremors. She offers a powerful reminder that leadership does not require superhuman strength. It requires honesty, humility, and the courage to admit we are in it too.You’ll hear them unpack:What wilderness seasons reveal about our fears, insecurities, and misplaced hopesHow to face fear instead of letting it quietly run the showWhy perception often fuels fear more than realityHow to rediscover God in ordinary moments, not just big spiritual eventsThe danger of victim thinking and the freedom that comes from owning your role in changeThis conversation moves from fog to responsibility, from fear to agency, and from waiting on change to becoming it.Because here’s the thing.You are not just surviving your season.You are being formed in it.Hosted by Jason Stonehouse, leadership coach and counselor, with guest Donna Barber, writer, educator, co-founder of The Voices Project, and author of Enough for Today.Resources mentioned: voices-project.orgdonnambarber.comjasonstonehouse.comIf this episode resonated with you, share it with another leader who might be navigating their own wilderness. And be sure to subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode of The Calm and Confident Leader.

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“What did the council decide on item 42?” — answered with the speaker and the moment.

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