The Five Practices of Authentic Leaders: Part 3 of 5

What does authenticity have to do with leadership? If your role involves influencing others or bringing out the best in people, your own authenticity can have a major impact on what you are likely to produce. Authenticity is about credibility and trust. When you are fully in touch with who you are, you are able to bring the full range of your capacity to a situation:  you are more powerful and engaging, more present. People trust you when you are genuine and authentic, not a replica of someone else.

You can become more authentic through making five practices habit.  Each practice will be explored in separate blogs.  Delved into so far:  1. Know Who You Are and 2. Reframe Your Life Experiences.

3. Live Your Values

The values that form the basis for authentic leadership are derived from your beliefs and convictions, but you will not know what your true values are until they are tested under pressure. When your success, your career, or even your life hangs in the balance, you learn what is most important, what you are prepared to sacrifice, and what trade-offs you are willing to make.

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos is one of the few CEOs who lived up to his aspiration to put customers first. Repeatedly sacrificing short-term profits – and suffering the irritation of Wall Street – he reduced prices and even published information on the Web site discouraging customers from purchasing certain products.

To help leaders stay on course with their values, support teams like spouses, significant others, families, mentors, close friends, colleagues and coaches prove invaluable.  Even the most outwardly confident and competent leaders need guidance and support.

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