What Does It Really Take To Be An Authentic Leader?
This week I went a bit wild with my live training with a discussion on Authenticity Vs PR in leadership. You can watch it on the link at the bottom of this newsletter, by the way. I felt a bit guilty about the slight rude word, but I think I got away with it ;-)
I felt the need to get on my soap box over something I am very passionate about – and that is that leadership is not a label, or a qualification.
It is about authentically showing up with positive impact on the people around you.
And that’s what I do - I help tech leaders to show up as leaders, with communication,
collaboration, authenticity, and impact.
But I was asked if I do Personal PR.
And it stumped me.
Because I believe that the only way you can really create your own authentic PR is by being who you need to be, showing up how you need to show up. Not just paying someone to make you look good.
Would you agree?
So, my job is to make sure that we are not just polishing the proverbial poop (see reference in training link if you have no idea where that one comes from 😉), but actually developing great impact, good leadership and genuine authenticity as a leader.
Which means that people are inspired by your greatness and your ability to lead the way, in a way that means people love to be working with you as part of the team.
Not because they just need the money or are scared or are just waiting for the next better opportunity to come along and get out of the nightmare that is working with some bosses.
So, what is the difference between true Leadership Impact and Personal PR?
A leader is there to inspire. Inspire others to follow and be part of the cause that you stand for.
A good leader will also be able to create the relationships and the impact so that people WANT to follow you.
They choose to.
And an even better leader works with those people to enable them to grow and develop so that they feel super confident in the way that they can help you achieve that dream.
And when you have that impact then people want to and can help you create great things.
But PR focuses on making things “look” better, or to shout out about the great stuff without having the backing of the real authenticity behind it.
Because you wouldn’t need to shout about it if your impact is the real deal.
I see so many people want to be seen as inspirational, but they are not living it.
They are not authentic in what they do or say.
If they talk about what they believe in, they are not seen to follow it through.
They expect others to follow and believe, yet they are only pretending or hoping for others to see the good parts, whilst hiding their bad.
They take the glory instead of growing their team.
It’s a bit like in the Wizard of Oz film, where the wizard was a little old man behind a curtain, instead of the amazing person poor old Dorothy thought he was.
So, to me, if we want Personal PR then we need to show it in and of ourselves.
It needs to be lived and seen by others to be lived, so that people don’t need to be told how amazing you are or what you have achieve, but they feel it, they see it every day and they know that you are one of the good guys and girls who bring them with you, who they would do anything for.
And they know that you would have them stand aside you in the glory of what you have achieved as a team.
So, if you feel you need a bit of PR, then I would ask you to ask yourself – “Do I need to look at my impact first?” so, the PR can do its natural job as I live and grow as the leader I want to be.
Do you agree?
Or are you busy with that polish? 😉
And if you would like to work on that authentic leadership impact that is far more sustainable and productive in the long run, then give me a shout and we can get that sorted for you.
PS you can watch the replay of the quick live training I did on this here
Enjoy!
Julie
Chief Impact Engineer at Think Be Do Leadership
P.S. Whenever you are ready...here are 4 ways I can help you increase your impact as a leader:
1. Join The "Quiet Leaders Lab™ Facebook Group and connect with other leaders who want to grow
It's our Facebook community where those that are The Quiet Leaders can learn and share how to increase their impact, influence and outcomes -- Click here
2. Grab a free copy of my leadership impact report: The Team Performance Engine™
It’s the Road Map to your journey to increasing your impact as a leader - Click here
3. Join our Leaders Launchpad™ Mastermind Group Programme
This Mastermind is a selected group of like-minded leaders, in an online community, focused on growing your results.
With training, group coaching calls, guest speakers and more, supporting and challenging you to design and implement real team performance in your business.
Send me a message or email [email protected] with "IMPLEMENT" in the subject line and we can discuss how you can join us
4. Work with me and my team privately
If you or your team just need a little more one to one attention to make change happen in your business... just message and put "PRIVATE" in the subject line... tell me a little about your business and what you’d like to work on together, and I’ll get you all the details!