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Which three of these leaders do you consider to be authentic?
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What reservations or concerns might you have about following each one?
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How did the context in which each of them led differ from what you face today?
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What qualities, if any, of these three leaders would you like to emulate?
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What qualities, if any, would you like to avoid?
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No Leader Is Perfect
The biographies of those most often placed on the “best leaders” lists can be surprising at times. Even the most widely admired leaders have very human weaknesses: notable failures as well as successes, startling inconsistencies in relationships or behaviors, and even times of intense struggle with their core values and principles. These struggles do not disqualify anyone from being a source of inspiration, a role model for others, or a teacher. Indeed, leaders, teachers, and mentors must first know and understand their personal developmental needs in order to help you work on yours.
Introductory Exercise 2: Your Preparation for Leading
The purpose of this exercise is to establish a starting point for your work with this fieldbook.
What are the most important qualities you bring to leading?
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All good leaders are continuously developing. Which of your leadership qualities would you like to develop further?
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It is important to keep in mind those qualities that you want to work on. This fieldbook is intended to help you fulfill your aspirations to become a more authentic and effective leader. No one can give you the leadership qualities you seek. You already have them within you. This guide is designed to help you gain a clearer understanding of what they are, identify those aspects of yourself that you like and want to embrace, as well as those that you don't necessarily like and want to change.
Learning From Your Leadership Journey
In Part One, you will begin your leadership journey. You will venture beyond standard signposts of leadership by examining your life story, learning from times when you lost your way, and unpacking significant life crucibles.
PART ONE
EXAMINE YOUR LEADERSHIP JOURNEY
When you're in trouble and all your defenses get stripped away, you realize what matters and who matters. That's when you need to get back to your roots and to your values.
Your life story provides the very foundation for your leadership. Your development as an authentic leader begins by analyzing your story and most formative experiences. As you reflect on your past, you will develop tools to see yourself more clearly, understand your leadership achievements, and embrace your goals for future development.
In Part One of this guide, we begin with your life story.
1
LIFE STORY
We are the mosaic of all our experiences.
The process of becoming a True North leader begins by unpacking the fundamental question: Who are you?
When you first meet someone and they say, “So tell me a little bit about yourself,” how do you respond? If you are like most of us, you share selected highlights of your life story. In many ways then, we are the stories we tell others about ourselves.
In this chapter we ask you to reflect on your life to gain a better understanding of who you are. You will be exploring how various aspects of your story fit together to define you as a unique individual. This is the starting point for gaining greater self-awareness and for understanding what your life and your leadership are all about.
In the 125 interviews we conducted with authentic leaders for True North and the additional 30 we added preparing this revision, leaders consistently told us that they found their purpose for leadership by mining their life stories. Having a clear sense of their personal narratives enabled them to remain grounded and stay focused on their True North.
These leaders did not define themselves by a list of characteristics, traits, or styles. Although some tried to emulate great leaders early in their lives, they soon learned that attempting to mimic others did not improve their effectiveness as leaders.
Some interviewees did not see themselves as leaders at all, even though they had been identified by others as exemplary leaders. Instead, they viewed themselves as people who wanted to make a difference and who inspired others to join them in pursuing common goals. By understanding and framing their life stories, they found their passion to lead and were able to discover their True North.
Exercise 1.1: Your Path of Life
In this first exercise, you are going to draw the path of your life to date. See Figure 1.1 for an example of what this might look like. On the facing page is a workspace for