Written by: Derick Grant, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
We all want to be recognized as a leader, but how many of us are willing to serve others and be our most authentic, vulnerable selves in the process?
To be an outstanding leader in life, your ability to be relatable will be the catalyst. Having the ability to influence someone else's thoughts, or decisions, or actions is something that we should not take lightly. We as human beings often forget how much power we possess at times. One of the most influential characteristics that great leaders have is their ability to be relatable. To be relatable, I must first be vulnerable. To be vulnerable, I have to be authentic. Being who you are is the first step of being the leader you desire to be.
Authentic leadership lies in your ability to first lead yourself. Being yourself constitutes doing what's for the highest good of all involved. I asked myself all the time, is this decision the best thing for all involved? When you are in a leadership position, your primary focus should be to be yourself, show your vulnerability, and show that you struggle with the same things as your followers. Your openness will cultivate a place of trust, which creates a land of relatability that will be the gateway to your followers to follow you. I know this is entirely against what we've been taught; primarily as men, we're always taught that you're not supposed to show weakness. This couldn't be further from the truth.
We need to change the way we look at things. A paradigm shift is happening. Being vulnerable, being authentic, is not being weak. It shows how strong you are. So challenge yourself, first within your home, within your community, within yourself, to see how authentic and vulnerable you can be. Instead, focus on being the most authentic version of yourself when it's just you. Then move to do the same within your family, then within your community, and then start to branch out and carry that authenticity, that same vulnerability within the workplace. It'll only be a matter of time before you see how your followers will gravitate to you even more.
Lead yourself first, and then lead others all the more effectively and efficiently.
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Derick Grant, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
After traveling to 70 different countries, and playing 8 years for the Harlem Globetrotters, Derick Grant set out on a mission to help hundreds of athletes, coaches, and people tap into their infinite seed of greatness. His client base consists of but is not limited to the NBA, WNBA, NFL, executives at Fortune 500 companies. He is an author, TEDx speaker, and revered as one of the most powerful performance mindset coaches in the athletic world. His revolutionary approach to mindset by teaching what the mind is, and how to use it as a tool has helped influenced high achievers across the globe. His podcast, “The Pathway to Your Results”, helps teach people how to find this seed of greatness we all had inside of us.
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