Leading with
Authenticity
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Dan's Insights and Inspirations for Empowered Leadership

Self Awareness Is Rare. But Here's Why It's Critical To Authentic Leadership.

Self-awareness is like trying to read the label of a bottle from inside the bottle. You’re so close to yourself, you can’t fully perceive yourself. As a leader, here's what you can do about it: increase your self-awareness.

The Better You Lead, The Harder It Gets. (Here's Why & What To Do About It.)

I used to think that leadership would get progressively easier over time…until I learned this truth: "For Authentic Leaders, the higher you get, the harder you’ll have to work. The more influence you gain, the more you have to give of yourself."

Fail-Proofing Your Leadership

It’s common to think that those who have succeeded in leading others have, by definition, avoided failure. But, that's just not reality. For men and women who have made significant strides as leaders, failure isn’t avoided. Failure is re-interpreted.

How to SEEM More Confident

For better or worse, confidence is often the "it" factor that marks average people as potential leaders. But what if you have the responsibility of leadership, but you don't have the authentic confidence needed to lead?

Why People Don't Trust Your Leadership (And What To Do About It)

Trust is like oxygen for a team… when trust levels are low, everyone suffers. If you feel like the absence of trust on your team threatens your organization… you're not alone.

The Surprising Reason Leaders Don't Learn from Experience

Why do some people make the same mistakes, over and over again? This famous thought from John Dewey brings some clarity: "We do not learn from experience... we learn from reflecting on experience." In other words, we don’t learn from our mistakes. We learn from reflecting on our mistakes!

Becoming A Velvet Brick: How The Best Leaders Handle Confrontation.

Confrontation is an essential quality of Authentic Leadership. When done poorly, confrontation looks pretty familiar. Yelling, tears, name calling, feet stomping, fists pounding… But increasingly, I've met Authentic Leaders who understand how to confront others with candor, competence, and compassion.

How to Say "Yes", Before You're Ready

Why do some people pass on opportunities to lead, while others say yes before they're ready and rise to the challenge? This quote from Jacqueline Novogratz (CEO of Acumen Fund) sheds some light. “Just start. Don’t wait for perfection. Just start and let the work teach you.”

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