8 Cornerstones of leadership 5
For me,this means embracing my slightly goofy self. It means little things like dressing in what I believed demonstrated my personality (whilst still being appropriate to the environment and society at large)
It means big and important things like understanding and tapping into my strengths, a knack of empathy, listening, creativity and my positive attitudes.
It also mean being clear about what I'm not really good at so that I can either delegate or work on improving on them.
To cut long story short, I become myself when I find my groove as a leader.
When we get tired of trying to be what a good leader should be by looking at others and trying to be like them.
Being an authentic leader is being the best version of you
Let's consider ways to build up your authencity as a leader.
Who are you when you are at your best
I bet you, this answer is closely connected to when you're authentically you.
Write down the answers to this question and don't stop at the first sentence. I will like you to try if you can fill up a page.
Think back over your life to those times when you were on fire, inflow and you Shone what was present. The question is, what were you doing during those times? what did it feels like? what challenges did you overcome?.
What's your personal purpose?
This might look a little bit of namby pamby exercise, but when I spent time writing down my purpose, it was much more impactful than I would have thought.Even more so when I look at it regularly. It's my anchor to what I do.why I do what I do, who I need to be to achieve this and how to 'show it up' both in my professional and personal life.
What do you value, and in what order?
One person might have honesty at the top of their list, another person might have compassion. Trying to write down the top five things you value. That's not enough though. That's why you'll need to write them down in order of how you want to manifest them each day as a leader.
Surround yourself with people who'll tell you when you're not being authentic
You need to surround yourself with people who can say it to your face that you're not being authentic anytime you're out of yourself.
Be prepared for not being everyone's 'cup of tea'
Sometimes in leadership, being liked is overrated, it's important to be liked as a leader but not overrated. It's better to strife for being respected and to lead with heart. Knowing that the more you're yourself , the more you give permission to others to be themselves. And that's a cool thing to do which is vital to leader/follower relationship.
Today's the day to start being your authentic self.
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