Authentic Leadership is first and foremost about Self-empowerment. It is about connecting to our core qualities and trusting they can be expressed and shared with others. The uniqueness of our soul and of our life journey makes us all one and only human beings. No matter what we may think, judge or block in ourselves, the truth is that all of us have the creative potential to enrich our world.
So, why do we overthink before acting? Why do we judge ourselves so harshly, smothering our creative impulses and visions? Why do we block our self expression to a point that, when we actually express something, the original impulse is already so much transformed and filtered that all that comes out is a grey expression of ourselves?
We are blocking our originality, conforming to the norm, conditioned by what has been imposed on us by others. The “leaders” who come into our lives, people we look up to, wishing that some day we can be like them. Our parents, older siblings, uncles and family friends. Our teachers, the sports man and women we admire, the movie stars and the pop stars whose posters we stick to our walls in our teenage years.
These leaders are the politicians we see on TV, the millionaire entrepreneurs, the scientists, writers and so fourth.
We project into them an idealized image and are conditioned to believe that to achieve their status is either impossible or the result of a lot of sacrifice and hard work. As children, we are not inspired to connect with our natural born talents, we are not taught to connect with nature, to privilege play time over study time and we are led to believe that happiness will come through the sacrifice of our dreams and conforming to the reality of the real world built on career achievements and financial prosperity. Study, work, buy a car, own a house, retire and die. This is the mantra. We’ve seen our parents do it, as they have seen theirs, so we should comply to it as well.
In a moment where the politicians lack the courage to make a shift to save our existence in the planet, in a society where the school system is castrating the students originality and creativity, in a community where oppression (wether it is religious, sexual, doctrinal, racial, …) still rules over equal rights and freedom to self-express oneself, the shift has to come from within each one of us. It is about taking the self-responsibility of claiming what we long for the most, to manifest to manifest our deepest intentions and to lead through example so that others may feel inspired to undertake their journey.
Authentic Leadership is about coming forward with all of you. It’s about taking the risk of coming with your truth, your fears, your vulnerability and allowing yourself to be bigger than the small version of yourself that was imposed on you. It’s about connection to the whole and acting in a responsible way that will create a respectful and sustainable living in communion with all life forms. For those who already are in leadership roles, authentic leadership means to empower and support other people to achieve their full potential and coming into their own leadership.
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