Authentic leadership is forever based on the quality of the positive impact you have on others rather than the quantity on your bandwagon.
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Is there an overriding objective to your mission to “be a leader” beyond being admired enough to have followers?
Is the primary reason for your ‘being followed’ based on beneficial substance , or almost entirely on the quantity of your followers?
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▪️Leadership, in its accurate perspective, actually takes no account of “followeeship“.
▪️Authentic leaders are free from the trap of building and defending a reputation. They are revealed in their immovable spirit of integrity and accountability, no matter how imperfectly judged it may be. Productivity is the objective in leadership, not the myth of perfection.
▪️Leadership’s effectiveness is determined by the degree of ‘accountability’ it inspires in others. A leader has a single-minded focus on the primary objective at hand, while at the same time having the understanding that the mission is only as good as the overall constructive (and frequently confrontational) impact it has on those around him/her.
▪️Leaders refuse to use the past as something to defend, excuse, or justify the present. Constructive intent, accountability, and action moving ‘forward’ is the solution-oriented lifeblood of leadership.
▪️Authentic leadership is not politically correct, nor is it purposely “anti-PC”. The principles of leadership transcend political ideology and labels, and without apology.
🔺Irony Alert: True leaders understand their primary purpose is ‘living’ the values which lead those “following” them to see through the need to be dependent on someone to follow.
🔺True leadership has a definable objective rather than the mentality of “herd gathering”. And, leaders are independent of the ‘need’ to continuously explain themselves or to be confirmed by others’ approval or praise, and is ‘willing’ to stand alone to sustain integrity, trust, and reliability. Their ‘life process’ is their message rather than their “approval rating”.
🔺If you sense a leader as someone more than a “bridge” to being accountable as a leader ‘in the process’ yourself, take a new assessment of your self worth and identity. One of the greatest hindrances to fulfilling potential is being attracted to the charming charisma of co-dependency. Bridges are an effective part of the process of any journey, but not one you want to reside on.
🔺Yes, authentic leaders have those who follow them. The difference is asking “am I more impressed with them, or the process?” Every great, and constructive, leader has been a follower at some point. The key point is that they progressed beyond the “follower” stage even though the actual process is never-ending.
🔺However, those who want “to lead” just to have followers are simply revealing chronic self-absorbed codependency that is actually the antithesis of leadership.
McConnell Athletics 