How authentic are you?

Have you ever asked your close family, coworkers, or friends how authentic you are? If so, what did they tell you? If not, why not? Are you an open book or a mystery? Do people really know you and what you stand for?

This is the last Insight of chapter two in my book. For now, the working title of the chapter is BE yourself first. In the past three insights, I’ve explained why better starts with who, why design thinking matters in life and work, and asked you why you are doing what you’re doing.

Chapter three, starting next week, is the last before we focus on becoming leaders who will build the best teams, influence culture, and drive sustainable results. Before becoming that leader, you’ll need to be effective as an individual.

Better said, how do you move from being to doing to becoming?

One way to do that is to know your authentic self. A lot has been said and written about authenticity. For a while, it has even been one of THE business buzzwords. Whenever leadership was addressed, the word authentic would appear somewhere in there.

The whole authenticity discussion started more or less with the book ‘Good to Great’ by Jim Collins. Collins spoke about Level 5 leaders in his book. Level 5 leaders combine a strong will to succeed with humility and the capacity…