This episode introduces Authentic Leadership for Everyday people. It also features a segment from an episode where Raj Kapoor, Chief Strategy Officer and Head of Business for the self-driving division at Lyft talks about his World Without COVID initiative.
The word authenticity is probably overused and can feel abstract, but when you look at its true meaning, it actually has a very practical and pretty clear cut application to leadership.
The word “authentic” comes from ancient Greek. It is the composite of two words: “authos”, which means the self, and “entos”, which means inside. So authentic really means “the inside self” or, the true self. Authentic leaders go through the process of clearly understanding their true selves, articulate their core values, and are willing to make decisions and take actions that are always consistent with those values.
When you are living that authenticity, there is a very powerful virtuous circle that happens. It’s the Authenticity-Confidence-Vulnerability power triangle. Let me explain: being authentic and really true to your core values, will actually make you more confident. That confidence in your authenticity will actually allow you to show your more vulnerable side, and by allowing others into your more vulnerable side you will create powerful authentic connections, which will drive more effective leadership.
My guests in this podcast are leaders that have displayed a high level of authenticity. They will tell us how they started articulating their core values. We will go through situations when their values lead them to make decisions that were not obvious or easy. We will hear their successes, but they will also be vulnerable and candid about the times when things did not go as planned. We will also look at the intersection between individual and corporate values, and how adhering or not adhering to a set of values can shape a company.
They share practical tips that anyone at any level can use to become a better leader and a better person. And as we look at individual decisions we are faced in our daily professional and personal lives, we will explore what it means to set up goal and measure success based on our own values and not the definitions or expectations of society or our peers.
A lot of the conversation will revolve around business, but true leadership is really about the whole person, so we will also talk about how their personal interests and their life overall impact their leadership.
Finally, we will take a look a brief fun look at the opposite of leadership: each one of them will share the business platitude or cliché that truly drives them crazy. And you will be surprised at how deep some of the insights from this question will be.