The 10-Headed Demon Every Leader Must Face
Today, many celebrate Dussehra, a vibrant festival marking the victory of good over evil. The central story, as I learned it growing up in India, is of Lord Rama’s triumph over Ravana, the formidable ten-headed demon king of Lanka. It’s a timeless tale of light conquering darkness, truth prevailing over falsehood.
For years, I saw this story as a grand, external spectacle. But as I’ve navigated my own journey from health crises to entrepreneurship, I’ve realized the most significant battles aren’t fought on ancient battlefields with bows and arrows.
They are fought in the silent, internal arenas of our own minds.
The most dangerous demon isn’t an external monster; it’s the committee of inner critics we allow to occupy our headspace. For the ambitious, high-achieving woman, this isn’t just one voice of doubt. It’s a multi-headed beast, with each head whispering a unique, insidious, and draining lie.
This is the modern Ravana. And it’s time we faced him.
The 10 Heads of the Modern Leader’s Inner Demon
Your public success may be visible, but your private battles are what truly define your leadership. See if you recognize any of these voices.
- The Head of Perfectionism: This voice insists your work is never quite ready. It fuels procrastination and turns the pursuit of excellence into a prison of impossible standards. It’s the reason your draft sits at 99% complete, because “perfect” is always just out of reach.
- The Head of Imposter Syndrome: Despite your credentials, experience, and track record of success, this head whispers that you are a fraud. It tells you that you’ll be “found out” at any moment, attributing your hard-earned victories to luck.
- The Head of People-Pleasing: This is the diplomat-turned-saboteur. It urges you to say “yes” when you mean “no,” to soften your message to avoid ruffling feathers, and to prioritize external harmony over your own internal alignment.
- The Head of Comparison: The ultimate thief of joy. This head relentlessly scrolls through the highlight reels of others, measuring your chapter one against their chapter twenty. It leaves you feeling perpetually behind, fueling a sense of lack and inadequacy.
- The Head of Glorified Burnout: This voice wears exhaustion as a badge of honor. It’s the one that tells you to send one more email, take one more meeting, and sacrifice your well-being on the altar of productivity. It equates rest with weakness and hustle with worth.
- The Head of Self-Doubt: The relentless questioner of your own wisdom. This head undermines your decisions, magnifies potential risks, and makes you second-guess the intuitive nudges that are trying to guide you.
- The Head of Scarcity: This voice convinces you there is never enough—not enough time, money, opportunity, or recognition. It forces you to operate from a place of desperation and fear, rather than from a place of creative, resourceful grace.
- The Head of Fear of Failure (and Success): This head keeps you playing small. It fixates on what could go wrong, but it’s equally terrified of what might go right. Success means visibility, expectation, and new levels of pressure—so it’s safer not to try at all.
- The Head of “Not Good Enough”: Perhaps the oldest and most foundational lie. This is the core wound that tells you that you are inherently lacking. It’s the root from which many of the other heads sprout.
- The Head of “Later”: The master of delayed fulfillment. This head promises you’ll find peace, joy, and rest after the next launch, after you hit the next revenue goal, after you secure the next promotion. But “later” is a horizon that never arrives.
The Victory of Inner Alignment
Just as in the story of Dussehra, this battle is not unwinnable. You don’t need a mythical weapon. You need an inner arsenal, one you already possess.
The work of a Soul CEO—the work of a truly fulfilled leader—is to systematically and courageously conquer these inner demons. It is to choose, day after day, to lead from a place of wholeness, not from a place of fear.
So today, as the effigies burn, I invite you to perform your own sacred ritual.
Take a moment. Identify the one head of your inner Ravana that is draining the most of your energy right now. Is it Perfectionism? Is it Comparison? Is it the lie that you must earn your rest?
Acknowledge it. See it for the lie that it is. And declare your own private victory over it.
Because your most powerful leadership, your most profound peace, and your most sustainable success are waiting for you on the other side of that battle. This is how you build a life that not only looks good on the outside but feels even better on the inside.
This is your victory.