I’ve learned so much about leadership over time. Biggest lesson? Being authentic makes you a greater leader.
It means showing up as your true self at work – and for me, it means accepting to be an introvert. It has helped me improve the way in which I communicate with others, embrace latest thoughts and concepts, and construct trust across the team.
A few years ago, I used to be a part of a sales team with unbelievable leadership, however it was not a culture that was conducive to integrating life and work. I used to be coping with my son’s health issues on the time and it seemed crazy to me to attempt to pretend I wasn’t fascinated with it.
I made a decision to start out the business meeting by telling his story, including how I felt about it and the impact it had on my family and skilled life. It was an enormous risk – not only because I’m an introvert and it wasn’t easy for me to do that, but additionally because I had no idea how it will be perceived.
I believed the ladies within the group would respond, but to my surprise it was the boys who approached me later to share their personal stories. They thanked me for being so open – my sensitivity gave them permission to be vulnerable and share their sense of security.
That is when I noticed that being “harsh” – showing your vulnerability or being genuinely honest – will be very powerful. It sparked a latest way of fascinated with how we intertwine our personal and skilled lives on this increasingly connected world.
The Power of RAW Leadership: Leading with Authenticity
This belief led me to develop the concept of RAW leadership as a radical acceptance of those three pillars:
- Authenticity
- A weak point
- Curiosity within the workplace
I value these leadership values because they’re supported and sustained by my experiences on and off the job. For me, it began with authenticity.
We hear the word “authenticity” so much, especially after we discuss leadership values. Authenticity is about being true to yourself in any respect times, staying true to yourself. It’s something you may’t activate like a switch. This must be practiced day by day and I’m still practicing it.
What does it mean to live and lead as your true, authentic self?
Take into consideration your childhood. You dance around and you do not care what other people think. As you become older, you begin to form a personality with self-imposed rules reminiscent of, “It should not be like this,” “I can not do that,” or “I’m not enough.”
That is just a picture you’ve got created – but you think it to be true – and with these images you start to create a latest personality as a type of protection. With practice, you may separate perception from reality.
It’s difficult, but as you begin learning more about yourself and identifying your triggers, you may learn methods to quickly return to your authentic self – where your true power is.
Over the past few years, I’ve found that I appear in another way at top-level meetings than at the top of my team. To know why, I needed to do some work on how and why I created the fake persona. I’ve learned that I’m sensitive to those I have a look at who don’t recognize my price.
As you learn more about yourself, you will quickly learn what triggers you, and you may practice skills to return to your true power. It was a time once I also learned to see myself as a superpower.
Being an introvert can offer you power
Being an introvert strengthens me as a people leader and solution provider. It gave me the courage to look at my communication and relationships with others and be transparent about right and incorrect.
Most significantly, it taught me to be open to quite a lot of thoughts and concepts. This has led to deeper relationships and greater trust in my team.
Introverts are great listeners. I’m the person people call for advice because I listen deeply first. I’m not rushing to conclusions. I’m sure there are a lot of varieties of introverts, but I’m the one who craves meaningful conversations and likes to allow them to flow naturally, including silence. There’s great power in silence.
Introverts are more serious about bringing other people to light than in themselves. Still, because extroverts usually tend to interrupt conversations, introverts also must learn to speak beforehand while remaining considerate and respectful.
Difficult conversations are an amazing opportunity to practice these skills. Entering a difficult conversation with an expected final result is not going to promote your true strength. You’ll present your idea and listen only to evidence supporting your thesis.
You have got to offer up being right and trust yourself. Be certain you make them feel heard as much as you ought to be heard. This has had a huge impact on my conversations over the past two years. The dynamic of meetings has modified as I work to construct connection through authentic showing up and listening fastidiously.
Introverts make strong leaders
Many individuals consider that introverts are usually not strong leaders, cannot achieve success in climbing the profession ladder, and can’t appear to be extroverts. It is not true. Introverts make great leaders because they’re thoughtful, purposeful, and open to latest ideas.
As an introvert, I often hear people think I don’t love them after we first meet. At the identical time, once I tell people I’m an introvert, they don’t think me.
Introverts have a slight drawback when climbing the ladder because they think that silence adds no value, and introverts can’t be dynamic and loud. None of them are true. Silence is considered one of the powerful games in negotiation, and introverts will be outgoing and sociable. They simply may not jump right in and can probably must recharge quietly later.
A powerful leader will show the characteristics of each introverts and extroverts, listens with curiosity, shows empathy when mandatory, helps to search out solutions, is just not in a rush to attract conclusions. People need to feel heard, have autonomy and purpose, and luxuriate in the ride.
bottom line
Worry less about who you are usually not and more about embracing your true, authentic self. Be yourself – whoever it’s – and lead with authenticity, sensitivity and curiosity.
concerning the creator
Coleen Bashar is a senior operations and sales manager with over 20 years of experience in enterprise software.