How To Lead With Authenticity & Ease

There is a strong call for authentic leadership these days. We want leaders who are real, honest, and thus, trustworthy. This call suggests leaders to “be themselves” in order to be authentic, but is this a sound advice? Being authentic as a person means being true to yourself. Authentic leadership, however, means being true to the folks you lead, which is an important difference. Leading people, whether they are with few (like in your own family or small business) or with many (like in a large organizational or corporate setting, or in politics), means that you need to expand beyond your authentic self and consciously bring authenticity into your leadership role. This course dives into the question. What is an authentic leader? And how can you become one? No matter the leadership role you have today, in this course you explore and determine what kind of authentic leader you want to be. To guide this process, the course offers a framework of eight authentic leadership foundations to consciously determine how you want to translate your authentic self into your role as a leader. Through the use of meditation and visualization you will explore the value of this framework for yourself, and learn the tools to step into your authentic leadership role with confidence. If you have worked on yourself, and have been connecting with your authentic self, and you're now ready to take that connection to the next level - the interaction with others -then you'll probably like this course. This exploratorative work distinguishes itself from the more rational-based leadership trainings that are out there, because the framework invites you to dive deep into your authentic self and do some soul searching. It's pretty easy to think up how you would like to be as a leader, but as long as that idea isn't backed up by a connection with who you truly are, it's hard to become an authentic leader. Be therefore ready to explore with your heart and gut who you truly are, then reflect upon the foundations to bring your authetic self forward into your leadership role. Femke E. Bakker, Ph.D. relies on her expertise as a professor in political psychology, her previous experience as a professional actor, and her knowledge as a meditation teacher to bring together insights of scientific studies, acting methods, and meditation techniques to guide you towards your authentic leadership role. The course is based on a workshop Femke offers to corporate and executive teams.