Ripple-Making — The Measurable Effect of Your Unique Voice

Kenya Dunn
23 hours ago
5 min read

In the POWER Tribe, we have a core value that guides everything we do:

Making the world better as a result of our leadership.

This is not just a statement. It is a standard. A call to action. Every decision, every conversation, every choice we make as leaders should leave the world measurably better because we showed up.

One of the most powerful ways to honor this value is through ripple-making.

Ripple-making is the measurable effect of using your unique voice and power responsibly.

Every time you speak from alignment, integrity, and courage, you don’t just express an idea, you change what happens for others. That’s how leadership turns into transformation.

Speaking Truth to Power: The Catalyst of Ripples

Ripple-Making in Practice: A Stewardship Moment

In my work, I help leaders become what I call Good Stewards of their roles.

These are leaders who are visible, answerable, and consequential.

Leaders whose decisions ripple far beyond themselves. They don’t just manage pressure; they manage responsibility.

One particular client comes to mind.

He was a relatively new C-suite executive, less than a year into his role when we began working together. One afternoon, well outside of our scheduled meetings, I received a text from him:

“Urgent. Could really use your help. Got time today?”

When we connected, he shared that he had just received a call from his boss. The message was direct: “I need you to be prepared tomorrow to talk to the board about our plan to get projections back in line by the end of the quarter.”

It was already 4:30 p.m. He had less than twelve hours to prepare.

But the real weight of the moment sat beneath the timeline.

For months, he had been trying to raise concerns about this very issue.

In his words, “I’ve been trying to tell him this was a problem for the last three months, but he wouldn’t listen. Now all the pressure is on me.”

Then came the sentence that sharpened the tension.

Before ending the call, his boss added: “We need to be prepared to talk about cuts. That’s the only way I see us getting out of this.”

This was the moment where stewardship mattered.

Here was a leader facing what I believe every high visibility, high impact leader must steward, the 5 P’s: pressure, pace, profits, people, and power, all at the same time.

Pressure from an urgent board request
Pace dictated by an unrealistic timeline
Profits dominating the conversation
People who would feel the consequences of each decision
Power the influence he held and could wield responsibly

As we talked, more context came into focus.

Just weeks earlier, the company had held a town hall. Employee trust was already fragile. Questions about job security surfaced repeatedly.

At the same time, based on his early findings, he knew that revenue leakage, not headcount, had been one of the organization’s most persistent, unresolved problems for years.

Cuts felt expedient. They did not feel responsible.

What he really wanted was simple and courageous: one week.

One week to come back to the board with a more comprehensive plan.

One week to address the real issue.

One week to avoid making people pay for leadership’s delay.

This wasn’t about getting his way. It wasn’t about being right.

It was about speaking truth to power.

Together, we focused on what he could steward in that moment—his voice.

He chose to return the call to his boss, not to push back emotionally or defensively, but to name reality clearly and responsibly.

He would share his ask.

He would outline his next steps.

And he would explain why those steps mattered, for the business and the people.

Whether or not his boss agreed was not the measure of success.

The success was the act itself:

Integrity over silence
Clarity over compliance
Stewardship over fear

That is ripple-making.

Being a ripple-maker is the ethical use of your voice to influence outcomes that matter.

Every time you do this with integrity, you create ripples; preventing missteps, empowering others to show up, and shaping decisions, policies, and systems.

Speaking truth to power isn’t about controlling outcomes. It’s about honoring responsibility.

And in high-stakes leadership, that choice alone can change what happens next for people you may never even meet.

Stewardship Requires Both Backbone and Care

Leaders at this level don’t get the luxury of choosing between strength and empathy.

They are required to hold both, at the same time, under pressure.

Strength without empathy creates compliance, not commitment. Empathy without strength creates understanding, not direction.

Good Stewards lead with backbone and care.

They understand that silence is also a decision, and that their words carry weight long after the moment has passed.

When leaders hold strength and empathy together, they don’t just move people, they shape culture, trust, and outcomes.

Speaking Truth to Power Is a Stewardship Act

What mattered most in my client’s moment wasn’t whether the board granted his request.

What mattered was this:

He chose clarity, respect, and responsibility despite pressure, urgency, and risk.

Speaking truth to power is not about being oppositional. It is about being aligned. It is not about winning. It is about stewarding what you’ve been entrusted with.

That is ethical courage in action.

Ripple-Making Happens in Real Time

Ripple-making isn’t theoretical. It shows up in moments like these:

Naming what others are avoiding
Asking for time instead of defaulting to fear-based decisions
Advocating for solutions that protect both people and the business
Grounding your message in facts, values, and lived experience

These moments rarely feel comfortable. But they are the moments that define leadership legacy.

Small, aligned actions compound.

Over time, they create measurable impact inside organizations and beyond them.

Stewardship Is Sustained by Rest and Spiritual Grounding

Being a Good Steward requires more than competence and courage.

It requires capacity.

Leaders who are visible, answerable, and consequential cannot run on adrenaline alone.

Rest is not a retreat from responsibility; it is the fuel that makes responsible leadership possible.

Well-rested, spiritually grounded leaders don’t speak less, they speak more clearly.

They are better able to:

Separate urgency from importance
Resist fear-based decision-making
Hold tension without collapsing or hardening
Speak truth to power with respect, strategy, and integrity

But this matters:

Rest and spirituality are not escape hatches.

This is not permission to opt out, delay hard conversations, or hide behind “protecting my peace” when the moment requires action.

I call that "spiritual bypassing". It erodes trust just as quickly as poor decisions do.

True grounding does the opposite. It strengthens resolve. Sharpens judgment. And prepares you to show up fully when the stakes are real.

A Reflection for Leaders Who Carry Weight

If you lead in a role where your decisions affect livelihoods, trust, and direction, consider this:

Where do you need rest so you can lead more responsibly—not less?
Where might spiritual language be tempting you to disengage instead of lean in?
What truth is yours to speak because of the role you hold?

Your voice is not just personal expression. It is a leadership instrument.

Your rest is not indulgence. It is preparation.

And your ripple is not accidental. It is the result of aligned action.

Now let’s get out there and make the world better, one responsible ripple at a time.

—Kenya

I work at the intersection of authority, trust, and impact; helping leaders translate complexity into narratives they can lead from when the stakes are highest.