185. WE Explorer Ghina on Why You Shouldn’t Wait to Lead

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In this episode of the series with explores from Changemakers expedition, Julia speaks with Ghina, a 24-year-old law graduate whose message is simple and urgent: don’t wait to lead.

Growing up the youngest of four sisters, Ghina absorbed early lessons that leadership isn’t a title but a mindset, something you practice long before anyone calls you a leader. She reflects on the battles with self-doubt, modesty, and cultural expectations that made her hesitate to step forward, and the turning points when she decided to challenge herself and lead anyway.

Ghina speaks about the different ways of leading sometimes from the front, sometimes alongside, sometimes from behind and why knowing yourself is key to choosing which way to step up. She also talks honestly about exhaustion, criticism, and the ever-present voices of insecurity, and how she counters them with one conviction: my dreams are bigger than my doubts.

Listen to this episode to explore why starting early matters, how to lead without copying others, and why finding and owning your own voice is the most powerful act of change.

About the Guest

Ghina Rai

As a law graduate, Ghina Rai has been fearlessly advocating women’s rights through many channels, including her own social community, InPower Indonesia, which focuses on women’s substantive representation in policymaking. Through her unyielding commitment to championing the cause of the marginalized, she imparts hope and inspires change by teaching refugees and living with labour rights movements. She also used her writings online to shed light on inequalities and serve as a call to action. In her leisure time, she practices martial arts, showcasing the unlimited potential of women.

About the Host

Julia Middleton

Julia Middleton is the host of the Women Emerging podcast and a best-selling author of “If that’s leading, I’m in” as well as two previous books: “Leading beyond Authority” and “Cultural Intelligence”. She is deeply committed to helping people from all backgrounds to find their own approach to leading.

In 2020, Julia launched Women Emerging and in 2022 she lead an expedition of 24 women to find ‘an approach to leading that resonates with women’. She now leads expeditions with women all over the world based on 4Es methodology, discovered in the first expedition.

Prior to that, Julia was founder and, for over thirty years, Chief Executive of Common Purpose, which grew to become one of the biggest leadership development organisations in the world.
Julia is also an Ambassador for the Aurora Prize based in Armenia, on the boards of Alfanar Venture Philanthropy in the Arab World and Equality Now, which operates globally, and on the Advisory Councils of Fundacao Dom Cabral in Brazil and Synapse in Pakistan.

Born in London and brought up in New York, Julia was educated at French Lycées and graduated from the London School of Economics. She is married, with five children and lots of grandchildren.