---
title: The Inner Work That Prepares You for Outer Influence
description: Leadership is shaped in the inner work God does before giving outer influence. Learn how formation, healing, and the Triple R Method™ prepare leaders for real impact.
image: https://orvinkimbrough.com/hubfs/BLOG%20VISUALS%20(24)-1.jpg
---

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# The Inner Work That Prepares You for Outer Influence

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## *People admire the outcome of leadership long before they understand the cost of it.*

They see the job title, the platform, the influence, the decisions.  
But what they don’t see is the inner work the quiet formation that prepared you for any of it.

# **Outer influence is built on inner excavation.**

Before God gives you visibility, He strengthens your character.  
Before God expands your territory, He confronts your ego.  
Before God trusts you with people, He shapes your heart.  
Before God places weight on your shoulders, He builds muscle you didn’t know you needed.

And I’ll be honest with you even with decades of leadership experience, even with all the rooms I’ve sat in and all the decisions I’ve made,

# **I still feel God working on me every single day.**

There are mornings I get up and remind myself that it’s okay to be broken.  
It’s okay not to have it all figured out.  
It’s okay to need grace.

People sometimes ask me, **“How have you grappled with the toughest parts of the inner work and won?”**

And I tell them the truth:  
I haven’t won not in the past tense.  
It’s not a battle you finish.  
It’s a daily grind.  
A daily surrender.  
A daily choosing to let God shape the parts of me the world will never see, but everyone will feel.

This is the part of leadership development nobody applauds, because nobody sees it.  
But it is the most important work you will ever do.

The inner work is where you learn to tell yourself the truth.  
The inner work is where you face your fear of inadequacy.  
The inner work is where you confront the lies you inherited from childhood.  
The inner work is where you break the emotional patterns that sabotage your influence.  
The inner work is where you learn to trust God more than image, approval, or control.

And here’s the irony: **The deeper you go inward, the higher you can rise outward.**

Because leadership without inner work becomes fragile.  
Leadership without inner work becomes performative.  
Leadership without inner work becomes dangerous.

# In The Thriver’s Path™, we teach this through the Triple R Method™*:*

- **Reframe your thinking.**
- **Reclaim your agency.**
- **Rename your possibilities.**

And here’s the truth: none of that happens on public stages.  
It happens in silence.  
It happens in private wrestling.  
It happens in the slow surrender of ego, fear, and old narratives.  
It happens through reflection, healing, clarity, courage and a willingness to be shaped before you are seen.

So when the outer call finally comes when the opportunity arrives, when the room opens up, when the weight gets heavy you realize something powerful:

**Your inner work already prepared you for it.**

 "What part of your inner work is God strengthening right now so you can carry the influence He’s preparing you for next"

###### — Reflection Question

#### Hi, I’m Orvin Kimbrough, volunteer, board director, chairman, and CEO. I help professionals move from feeling stuck to being strengthened by reshaping how they think, lead, and live. My work focuses on confidence, leadership, and influence through mindset shifts, expanded networks, and bold, values-aligned action. My perspective is rooted in lived experience, from growing up in foster care to leading complex institutions as a CEO and shaped by faith, resilience, and a deep belief in human potential.

![Rectangle 19461](https://orvinkimbrough.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Rectangle%2019461.png?width=398&height=353&name=Rectangle%2019461.png)

  

## Books for Every Stage

[***Twice Over a Man***](https://www.amazon.com/Twice-Over-Man-Doggedly-Determined/dp/1955711348/ref=sr_1_3)<https://www.amazon.com/Twice-Over-Man-Doggedly-Determined/dp/1955711348/ref=sr_1_3>

A memoir often described as a leadership guide wrapped in an honest, relatable story of perseverance, healing, and growth. It explores how pain can be reframed into purpose and how ordinary people build meaningful lives through courage and clarity.

[***More Than a Conqueror***](https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fshop.ingramspark.com%2Fb%2F084%3Fparams%3DTxWdcxD48kMFq4JCl6q8N6xELUyUMvOOCcW8D1h28GM%26fbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBExVWZPbHNLOWlreXEwNzVvaHNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR4Xnzp0DAi0TCjDdZU_d_z_jvXeZTzpmqX-jTYytn_JY7PbHR96V0zDdVgJAg_aem_zCiXf98tO_kzMsGKgsMfBA&h=AT2QcqQJfTGgJz_YzXF6uc5IrcqJpsQEkTFQWwxM90T-Qi70KY-OAOrZRaagju1LRB1gtGF_hkJ-uCEFeUW-mCEb55f7NOgga0uO9gPChQlba2XFdkHePj9jDAWGRsSehJkwWeT566MqrhHI&__tn__=R]-R&c[0]=AT24IZs-rVDDTL6Ga7AaNVlaFWXrL_28ayVIUMWzqHHrZcNzcgZTpt_4HcYiIWYJ659NVuqX1e9Rk0C-fq-9xfi_4A-8Imeky5zW740lVcTEtoYn2b7xLKb9wvqTtrHeaJUta7Ck1XukJvfZ32YvekN0qbnpUTcguibwtCoXAbTaXOGmZxNWzJFbxZ1L_SJ5hDLKWIVoFw)<https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fshop.ingramspark.com%2Fb%2F084%3Fparams%3DTxWdcxD48kMFq4JCl6q8N6xELUyUMvOOCcW8D1h28GM%26fbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBExVWZPbHNLOWlreXEwNzVvaHNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR4Xnzp0DAi0TCjDdZU_d_z_jvXeZTzpmqX-jTYytn_JY7PbHR96V0zDdVgJAg_aem_zCiXf98tO_kzMsGKgsMfBA&h=AT2QcqQJfTGgJz_YzXF6uc5IrcqJpsQEkTFQWwxM90T-Qi70KY-OAOrZRaagju1LRB1gtGF_hkJ-uCEFeUW-mCEb55f7NOgga0uO9gPChQlba2XFdkHePj9jDAWGRsSehJkwWeT566MqrhHI&__tn__=R]-R&c[0]=AT24IZs-rVDDTL6Ga7AaNVlaFWXrL_28ayVIUMWzqHHrZcNzcgZTpt_4HcYiIWYJ659NVuqX1e9Rk0C-fq-9xfi_4A-8Imeky5zW740lVcTEtoYn2b7xLKb9wvqTtrHeaJUta7Ck1XukJvfZ32YvekN0qbnpUTcguibwtCoXAbTaXOGmZxNWzJFbxZ1L_SJ5hDLKWIVoFw>

Written for teens and young adults, this book encourages confidence, resilience, and identity formation during the years when self-belief is being shaped.

[***Ward and the State***](https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fshop.ingramspark.com%2Fb%2F084%3Fparams%3DwdqQ7FopuaJaqQkUZSG1sFLjjMSN5sVtNQLMjmvFom3%26fbclid%3DIwZXh0bgNhZW0CMTAAYnJpZBExVWZPbHNLOWlreXEwNzVvaHNydGMGYXBwX2lkEDIyMjAzOTE3ODgyMDA4OTIAAR5_NsTCZ-_KHsrXmHc1VU3zjdg3q2V4d2LJrEAXyTk6oUnOwXASQz2e7opqzg_aem_en3qxyK4EFHDmFHING2rGw&h=AT3ljrY7ibgL7UyEHSLeOeid0aW-uXxvRfjpFw6K0ZHN1SYBT2vzMVP2Uc8-TxwQ-lO80FPTLIbPqnzeJwW_JGwatIzAOZtEpEkZEUpNUdwGMqKjs5yEZfe7Jxkzu2MZ3eS_feyEOrIpqiGu&__tn__=R]-R&c[0]=AT24IZs-rVDDTL6Ga7AaNVlaFWXrL_28ayVIUMWzqHHrZcNzcgZTpt_4HcYiIWYJ659NVuqX1e9Rk0C-fq-9xfi_4A-8Imeky5zW740lVcTEtoYn2b7xLKb9wvqTtrHeaJUta7Ck1XukJvfZ32YvekN0qbnpUTcguibwtCoXAbTaXOGmZxNWzJFbxZ1L_SJ5hDLKWIVoFw)

A children’s book that gently introduces big ideas like belonging, courage, and hope, helping young readers see themselves as more than their circumstances

 

## INTRODUCING: The Thriver’s Path™

**This blog is part of** [**The Thriver’s Path™**](https://orvinkimbrough.com/begin-the-thrivers-path)**— a growing ecosystem of writing, courses, reflections, and community designed to help people of all ages reframe their thinking, reclaim their agency, and take their next meaningful move.**

***→ Ready for your next move?***

**Explore more writings, resources, and ways to engage at** [**orvinkimbrough.com**](https://orvinkimbrough.com/home-page)**, or join the conversation inside the** [**Thrivers Club™ community**](https://orvinkimbrough.com/begin-the-thrivers-path)**.**

## Enjoyed this post?

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