EXTEND YOUR DEVELOPMENT

Discovering Your Authentic Leadership

The Problem: As this article explains, culture and - to a degree - the field of leadership development, celebrate leadership and simultaneously search endlessly for "the best model" of leadership that will supersede all other forms of leadership. yet no model of leadership has proved definitively superior in all situations, and individual leaders are not able to easily replicate the approach to leadership that other successful leaders use.

The Challenge: We all have the capacity to inspire and empower others. But we must first be willing to devote ourselves to our personal growth and development as leaders, and often our greatest capacity to engage others arises from being most authentically ourselves, rather than mimicking someone else we admire or adhering to a certain stereotype of leadership. This means expressions of effective leadership are endlessly diverse, rather than a narrow set of behaviors.

The Point: People trust you when you are genuine and authentic. Authentic leaders demonstrate a passion for their purpose, practice their values consistently, and lead with their hearts as well as their heads. They establish long-term, meaningful relationships and have the self-discipline to get results. They know who they are. To practice greater authenticity, ask yourself eight questions:

1. Which people and experiences in your early life had the greatest impact on you?
2. What tools do you use to become self-aware? What is your authentic self? What are the moments when you say to yourself, this is the real me?
3. What are your most deeply held values? Where did they come from? have your values changed significantly since your childhood? How do your values inform your actions?
4. What motivates you extrinsically? What are your intrinsic motivations? How do you balance extrinsic and intrinsic motivation in your life?
5. What kind of support team do you have? how can your support team make you a more authentic leader? how should you diversify your team to broaden your perspective?
6. Is your life integrated? Are you able to be the same person in all aspects of your life - personal, work, family, and community? If not, what is holding you back?
7. What does being authentic mean in your life? Are you more effective as a leader when you behave authentically? Have you ever paid a price for your authenticity as a leader? Was it worth it?
8. What steps can you take today, tomorrow, and over hte next year ot develop your authentic leadership?

The Bottom Line: Superior results over a sustained period of time is the ultimate mark of authentic leaders. Their success enables them to attract talented peopel and align others' activities with shared goals, as they empower peopel on tehri team to lead by taking on greater challenges. Authentic leadership is the only way the authors believe one can create sustianable long-term results. Read the full article.