There’s a lot of buzz these days around being an authentic leader, but what does that even mean?
Breaking down the words authentic and leader
Defining Authentic
According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, Authentic means being true to one’s own personality, spirit, or character. It has a unique quality. These are the things that make you, well, you.
I don’t know about you, but I always struggled with the word authentic. How do I know that I’m being authentic? On the one hand, I want to be different; on the other hand, being different is a bit scary. What happens if I don’t fit into the “box” anymore? Will I lose my reputation and credibility? Will I be hireable? Or a laughing stock?
Unwritten Rules
There were some “unwritten” rules when I worked in accounting:
- Always remain professional
- Be taken seriously
- Have a good work ethic and be willing to do “whatever it takes” to get the job done
- You’re a numbers person, therefore you’re not creative
And when you look like a teenager like I do, you wonder if anyone actually does take you seriously. I wanted to show up for my profession and I wanted to be good at what I did, I take pride in that.
Yet, these very “rules” prevented me from fully showing up in my authenticity because I was so scared to break them, so scared of colouring outside the lines. However, I’ve also learned that the more I “own” my quirks, story, and the things that make me unique, the easier it is for me to show up and do a great job. I have more fun, and my energy is so different.
What are some of your “quirks” that you could “own” a bit better?
Defining Leader
A leader is a person who has commanding authority or influence. Leaders are often assumed to be those in a position of major power and influence, like a CEO, prime minister, or hockey team coach. And while that’s true, it doesn’t tell the whole story.
There are other areas in our life that we have power and influence, starting with ourselves. First, we are all leaders and have the power to lead ourselves. Second, we also hold power and influence in others roles in our lives like being a parent, an older sibling, the person organizing community events or an individual contributor at work that has been at the company so long they provide mentorship to the others. We just might not think about it like that, and we should.
What does it feel like to be a leader?
Take a moment now to consider that now.
- Have you fully stepped into the power of being the leader of your life?
- What other roles in your life are you a leader?
- What’s it like to be a leader in those roles?
If you’ve never realized you’re a leader before, this moment might feel a bit scary. Honour that. It also opens a massive opportunity for you to step into your leadership and we’ll go deeper on how to do that authentically, or in a way that feels good and is as unique as you are.
Now putting it all together, authentic leadership is the ability to use your commanding authority and influence in a way that’s true to your personality, spirit or character. It might be different than what you’ve seen as leadership and it’s effective because it feels so aligned to who you are and who you are coming.
Ways to Explore Your Authentic Leader
Often when I think of leaders, I think of someone who is commanding, bossy and takes charge. They can be effective but maybe not someone you actually like. Now that’s a very old-school, traditional lens of leadership. I think we’re all learning that although that is one leadership style, it’s not the only one. There are many ways to lead.
What do you think about when you think of leaders?
Let’s explore some ways to expand our definition of leadership and to tap into your authenticity. Each section will start the description of a tool, then I’ll provide my own personal example for context and finally offer some prompts for you to deepen the learning for yourself.
Mindfulness
What is it?
Mindfulness is about the ability to take a step back and pause, to breath and to build more presence and consciousness into your life. In our fast-paced world, it is so incredibly easy to continue going from one thing to the next. To check the boxes and never take a moment to reflect.
Yet, the reflection is the most important part. The reflection allows us to check in:
- Are we focusing on the right things?
- Are we going in the right direction?
- How are you right now in this moment?
“Wrong Jungle”!
One of my favourite analogies around this is from the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey where he’s talking about the concept of “Begin with the end in mind” which means to start with a clear understanding of your destination.
Here is a paraphrased version.
Imagine a group of producers cutting their way through the jungle with machetes. The managers are behind them, sharpening the machetes, creating policies, developing muscle training programs and setting up work and compensation schedules. The leader is the one who climbs the tallest tree, surveys the situation and yells “wrong jungle!”. We’re often so busy cutting through the undergrowth we don’t even realize we’re in the wrong jungle.
The other important piece to mention here is that when you aren’t take an intentional moment to cause, it might also be because you are stuck in the stress cycle. With notifications and different things demanding your time and focus every second, you can get stuck in the sympathetic nervous system, fight or flight, which creates a physiological response making it impossible think clearly and rationally. Learn more about stress in my pervious post here.
Mindfulness helps you tap into your authentic leadership because you can come from a place of calmness and intentionality. You can take a moment to pause to think about how you’d like to respond, what is the right path forward for you and if you’re in the right jungle for what you want in your life and work. You can take a moment to reflect on how you’re showing up for yourself and the other leadership roles you carry, and if there’s anything you’d like to change.
Bringing more mindfulness into your life
Some great ways to build more mindfulness in your life are:
- 5-min Gratitude Journal
- Yoga and Meditation
- Taking a walk through nature
- Journalling
What are some ways you’re already inviting mindfulness in your life? Where are there some opportunities to keep building on this?
Core Values
Core values are the things that are important to you, your non-negotiables and what’s not. They help us get to a place where our uniquenss gets expressed most fully because we feel so in alignment and so likes ourselves. It’s the truth about who you are as a person.
Here are some of my values as an example:
Freedom
I really value my time and having the autonomy to choose where I spend that time. I like being in the driver’s seat of my life and knowing that I can make choices just because I want to. When my value of freedom is being honoured, I feel so light and airy. Like anything is possible and that’s really exciting to me.
Connection
I crave deep connection in my life, always. Anyone who’s had a conversation with me knows I don’t do small talk. We get deep, quickly. I love learning about people and finding ways to build connections. Relationships are incredibly important to me.
Learning & Growth
“Education gone wild,” said by one of my favourite coaches, Christina McFadden. That is the best way to describe what learning looks like for me. I love learning new perspectives, ideas and frameworks. I can’t stop. The more I learn, the more excited I get to be in learning spaces. I find it really exciting to learn new things, new ways to do things and connect the dots between other things I’ve learned. I’m a huge nerd and explains why I’m also doing some certification or program.
Integrity
My word matters to me. If I say I will do something, I’m doing it. It’s important to me to be a good person and a person of integrity. Other people trusting me is something I value, a lot and I don’t take that lightly. Living in integrity means doing the hard things because it’s the right thing to do. It means admitting when I made a mistake and speaking my truth with both “asteya” and “satya” in mind, from the first of 8 limbs of yoga, speaking my truth without harm.
Excellence
I have a very strong value of excellence. It can sometimes be taken a bit too far and move towards perfection and so I have to be very aware of that. I love interating and integrating feedback and making things the best they can be. I love to challenge the status quo and find creative ways to do things. When this value is being honoured, I feel so good about the output of my work.
What are your values?
What are some of your values? Take some time and write a few of them down. Why are they important to you? Who are you when you’re honouring that value? What happens when one of those values is stepped on? Explore this.
Here’s a list of values from Brene Brown to help you get started.
Your values can apply to how your prioritize and make decisions and ultimtately how you lead authentically. How do your values influence your leading? Who are you as a leader when you’re in alignment with your values? What’s possible?
Strengths-based Leadership
It’s said that the best way to learn and develop is by leveraging our natural gifts. We all have them. These are things that you’re just naturally good at – whether it’s a skillset or a way of thinking. According to Gallup, “when employees know and use their strengths, they are more engaged, perform better, and are less likely to leave their company.”
It feels good to be good at something and because it naturally comes to you, it’s easier to tap into that. The amazing part is that we all have our own unique strengths.
My Top 5 Strengths
According to when I did the Gallup’s CliftonStrengths 34 in 2012, here are my top 5 strengths:
- Restorative: People who are especially talented in the Restorative theme are adept at dealing with problems.
They are good at figuring out what is wrong and resolving it. - Input: People who are especially talented in the Input theme have a craving to know more. Often they
like to collect and archive all kinds of information. - Positivity: People who are especially talented in the Positivity theme have an enthusiasm that is
contagious. They are upbeat and can get others excited about what they are going to do. - Achiever: People who are especially talented in the Achiever theme have a great deal of stamina and work
hard. They take great satisfaction from being busy and productive. - Adaptability: People who are especially talented in the Adaptability theme prefer to “go with the flow.” They
tend to be “now” people who take things as they come and discover the future one day at a time.
This allows me to really connect with the things that just come naturally to me and it feels good to be able to lean on these. It’s said that it’s incredibly rare for people to have the same strengths in the same order.
You strengths are the “flavour” that you bring to your leadership and something you should carry proudly. They can also be leaned on to support any gaps and development areas to have more success.
What are your strengths?
What are some of your strengths? Where do you really shine? What do people tell you that you’re really good at? Start here and write them down! Or go get the StrengthsFinder report from Gallup.
Your Leader Within
Lastly, another way to connect to your authentic leader is to tap into what the Co-Active Training Institute refers to as your Leader Within.
Note: Most of this section has been paraphrased or taken from my learnings from and should be credited to the Co-Active Training Institute’s Coaching Model and coach training.
What is the Leader Within?
You might call it:
- Captain
- The wise old sage
- The wise one
- Your best self
- Highest self
- Inner CEO
It’s your inner authority who leads by example, standing in full self-acceptance and claiming full self-authority of your life’s journey. Both an expression of who you are and who you are becoming. The part of you that has “been there” and “done that” enough to gain clarity on the best path forward and knowledge about what matters. Most Leaders Within are not particularly interested in pleasing others, tolerating, or settling.
The Leader Within has two main components:
- Self-acceptance is the “Co” aspect of your Leader Within. It’s about the essence of who you are, the slowing down. The Being. It’s about accepting yourself as you, making it possible for others to accept you and permission for others to accept themselves. It’s linked to the wisdom of your heart. Accepting yourself just as you are in each moment is a powerful choice.
- Self-authority is the “active” expression of your Leader Within. It’s the speeding up, the part of you that takes action. The Doing. It’s about the ability to lead your life rather than having your life lead you. We don’t always get to choose the circumstances of our lives; however, we do choose to create from circumstance rather than react to it. It’s about recognizing that you have the power to create from what is and author your own story. It’s linked to the wisdom of the gut, the strong, sure place of knowing exactly what is needed.
Your Leader Within is always within you, always there to guide you. Sometimes, however, the brilliance of your Leader Within gets covered over with the mess of judgment and unconscious habits.
Who is your Leader Within?
Take a few moments to connect with your Leader Within. How would you describe it? What characteristics does it have? Is there an image that comes to mind? If you’d like to get creative, you can create a visual around your Leader Within using paint, a collage or anything else that is calling you.
Closing Thoughts
There are so many ways to explore and get grounded your own unique authentic leadership. My hope is that this article helped you see yourself as a leader while also inspiring you to continue exploring who you are in the process.
These are some of the tools that I use in my coaching sessions with my clients to support their journey towards more fulfilling lives and work. If you’re interested in doing some of this work together, book a 30min fit call and we can explore what that could look like together.
The world needs more of you and the gifts you bring to it. Keep shining.
