Authentic Leadership

Tracey Matthews joins me on the podcast to talk about authentic leadership. How it can sometimes be a scary place to be but also the reasons why it’s so valuable to be that authentic leader We share how authenticity can go beyond leadership in to other areas of lives The lessons Tracey has learnt over the years Where to start if you want to be an authentic leader too.       Tracey joins me on the podcast to talk about authentic leadership.   We talk about how we education needs to reflect that times have oved on and incorporate different skills, technology and environments.  It’s beyond education and a leader is about helping people to grow and develop to be the best that they can be.   Tracey shares what she thinks it takes to be an authentic leader.   It can sometimes be a scary place to be.  It means there’s a core set of values, principles and these are brought into our leadership and that you’re prepared to share and communicate those things that important and being strong enough for those to shape the way you are as a person.   We talk about some of the values that people have and thinking about having the resiience to be able to cope with people sometimes disagreeing with you.  If you are trying to be something that you’re not, then that lack of congruence becomes apparent.  Tracey the lack of congruence seeps out of every pore and people begin to get a sense that things are not right by recognising body language and tension.   Emma explain about some of the subconscious things that can happen when we are not true to ourselves and the reasons why we need to be authentic as leaders.   What made Tracey passionate about authenticity of leaders.  Tracey is passionate about education and how it can shape lives, through her own journey and also through learning and adapting throughout her own career, which she puts down to a variety of education.  This might have been through courses or networking and learning from people.   Part of Tracey’s MBA was studying on leadership with lots of models and authentic leadership has stuck with her, With the authentic leaders it’s about making sure that we reflect on previous experiences and understanding “what is it that makes me the best that I can be”.  For Tracey, she has been at her best when she has felt very aligned.  When she has left an organisation when she’s felt there’s a mismatch with values.   The human element of people being aligned to Tracey has shown and been rewarding when people have followed her through her career.  Those connections are exactly what we need as human beings and form the basis of what we need survival and then that builds trust and feel safe to be ourselves.   Emma explains about the feeling safety that runs through our core subconscious level.  When we have connection, trust and safety there’s so much more that can happen in a team and workplace that breeds amazing things through culture and growth and more.   Listen to Tracey’s explanation of someone anticipating going into a meeting and where we want our people to feel that they are the experts and are able to tell things as they are.   We talk about the correct use of power that enables people to be vulnerable and the positive and negative opportunities for using that power.  Authentic leadership means being able to use that power appropriately.   Authenticity goes beyond leadership into being a good colleague and being a good customer.  Tracey talks about her listening to Stephen Covey’s 7 Habits book and the learning she took from that.   Listen for Tracey to share her one place to start to be an authentic leader and how that needs to be a journey of discovery and knowing your own values.    Connect with Tracey: The Career Colleges Trust  https://www.careercolleges.org.uk/ Tracey on Twitter: @TLMatthews Tracey on Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/in/traceymatthews1/