Entrepreneurial Leadership

Authentic Leaders - Where or where have you gone?

There seems to be an endless amount of information written about leadership and what it means to be a leader.  Leadership can be bestowed on you by title or position, but is that really leadership?  To lead you must have followers and power given through title alone does not necessarily cause people to follow.  People don't follow a person...they follow a vision that resonates deep within them.  An authentic leader paints a picture for us and shows us what might be...a direction to move in...a goal to strive for... They speak not to our logical brain, but to our heart and soul.  Authentic leaders put the vision first and themselves last.  They understand that we are all connected and that each of us is just a piece of a much bigger puzzle of interconnected pieces.  In a system, it only takes the movement of one to start a chain reaction.  Imagine the power of such a reaction started from a place of authenticity...a place that requires one to "be real"...a place of truth.  As my friend and teacher Dr. Sylvia Lafair would say..."when one person is willing to be authentic, he or she gives space for others to risk telling their truth also."  Authentic leaders...where or where have you gone?  We need you now!

These principles are at the heart of what it means to be an entrepreneur