Authentic Leaders Listen to the Voice Within

 

 

It has happened to all of us…

You get a hunch, a feeling. Your intuition tells you not to attend the party but your guilt kicks in. “I promised my friends I’d go.” “What will people think if I don’t show up?” “I have an obligation to go.” You give in to what you THINK is the right thing to do and ignore what your feelings are telling you. Next you’re at the party bored and kicking yourself for not trusting your gut.

 

Great leaders follow their intuition…

Whether you’re a leader of others or you self-lead, you must learn to trust and respect your feelings. Why is this mandatory for great leadership?  Because it’s your internal guidance system and to ignore it can negatively affect your life.  When you begin to follow your intuition, you become honest and true to yourself. You become authentic. People sense it and pay attention.

 

Why don’t we trust ourselves?

It doesn’t feel safe.  It’s too much of a stretch of faith – way outside of our comfort zone. It will shatter other people’s myths about who we are. So we live up to other’s expectations of how we should live our lives. In other words, our intellect rules the show, which is often under the influence of those around us. We bury our gut instincts along with our authentic selves and follow instead of lead.

 

The solution?

Step out, onto the limb of trust, as thin as it may appear. Find the courage to go forward honoring your true self and listening to your internal guidance.  Shatter the dull noise of external influences and opinions that don’t and never will line up with your true north. You were not born to be another’s puppet. We need your unique slant on life. And you need to express it.

 

“Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition,
Everything else is secondary.”
~ Steve Jobs