There is no shortage of ‘how-to’ leadership models. Google ‘how to be a good boss’ and you’ll get almost two billion results.

If you want to read a book on leadership, you have over 100,000 to choose from.

And yet, research reveals that only thirty-five per cent of employees feel inspired by their boss.

So, it’s clear that more knowledge and more leadership frameworks are not the answer.

One of the shortfalls of many of the current approaches to leadership development is that they focus on the acquisition of new knowledge rather than on putting into practice our most powerful ways of being.

We are searching outside ourselves for answers that can only be found inside ourselves.

We are striving to imitate instead of figuring out how to better access and activate what’s innate.

Much of the current advice on leadership is based on the flawed assumption that good leadership is about learning and implementing a ‘best practice’ model of leadership.

In other words, to be a good leader you must learn and adopt a ‘standard’ set of skills or capabilities. Of course, there are technical skills competent leaders need to get under their belts, such as commercial acumen.

However, all the technical skills in the world won’t make you a true leader.

I would like to offer an alternative model of leadership – TRUE leadership.

Being a TRUE leader means that you:

  • Trust in your innate leadership potential,
  • Know how to Reassure yourself
  • Deeply Understand yourself, and can
  • Empower yourself in moments that matter.

It also means that you trust in the innate leadership potential of others, know how to reassure others, deeply understand others and can empower others in moments that matter.

Becoming a TRUE leader is more about unlearning than it is about learning.

It’s about activating the innate qualities of our essential nature as humans – qualities such as creativity, compassion, connectedness, clarity, confidence, playfulness, discernment and courage.

And now, more than ever, we must tumble and polish the brilliant jewels buried deep inside each and every one of us.

We must find the courage to do the inner work that will empower and enable us to step into more of our innate leadership potential.