Nurture Your Inner Nature

Did you know that the most powerful leadership tools you will ever use are within you.

The key to successful leadership is you.

Fashioned from our beliefs and demonstrated by our actions, our leadership is an articulation of our inner self.

Our values drive our leadership.

How we lead is an expression of what we believe.

How we lead people toward is an illustration of what we stand for.

The limits we set clearly communicate what we will and will not tolerate.

Our values undeniably shape our leadership.

Our values are the foundation of who we are as leaders.

When we lead based on our values, we can trust we are doing the right thing.

When our values inform our leadership we can be assured we are making the right choices.

When our values drive our leadership we can take comfort in knowing that we are aligning ourselves with our personal best.

By demonstrating our values we are setting the tone for every action, behavior, and interaction.

This is important no matter how successful we are.

This is important no matter what kind of leadership position we hold. It does not matter if we lead a Fortune 500 company, a small business or if we are leading a company of one.

We must nurture our inner self, we must allow our nature to grow and flourish.

Without clearly defined values we will have difficulty fostering and aligning strategies, vision, purpose and meaning.

We all know there will be challenges and complications. But it will be our defined values that help us to weed through and solve them.

Leading by our values sets the standard for what we say…. is planted and what we do becomes the seeds of what matters most to us

Lead from Within: In order to live our purpose and bring meaning to our leadership we must plant the seeds of our inner nature and imprint our values in everything we do.

Photo Source: Thank you Dan Oestreich for taking the most beautiful photo and sharing it with me.

 


 

N A T I O N A L   B E S T S E L L E R
The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness

After decades of coaching powerful executives around the world, Lolly Daskal has observed that leaders rise to their positions relying on a specific set of values and traits. But in time, every executive reaches a point when their performance suffers and failure persists. Very few understand why or how to prevent it.

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Photo Credit: Getty Images


Lolly Daskal is one of the most sought-after executive leadership coaches in the world. Her extensive cross-cultural expertise spans 14 countries, six languages and hundreds of companies. As founder and CEO of Lead From Within, her proprietary leadership program is engineered to be a catalyst for leaders who want to enhance performance and make a meaningful difference in their companies, their lives, and the world.

Of Lolly’s many awards and accolades, Lolly was designated a Top-50 Leadership and Management Expert by Inc. magazine. Huffington Post honored Lolly with the title of The Most Inspiring Woman in the World. Her writing has appeared in HBR, Inc.com, Fast Company (Ask The Expert), Huffington Post, and Psychology Today, and others. Her newest book, The Leadership Gap: What Gets Between You and Your Greatness has become a national bestseller.

  1. johnpaul

    31. Jul, 2012

    Dear Lolly,

    You go for the essence of true leadership. Many profess their values but it only those who nurture them will act on what they profess.

    Many say they are leaders but few truly give from their inner most self. Thank you for being such a remarkable example of true leadership.

    john

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  2. Duane Grove

    31. Jul, 2012

    Love this piece and 100% consistent with my own philosophy. Key of course is for companies to create environments that allow the authentic self to prosper. Respect for diversity and embrace differences as enablers instead of barriers. Recently posted a blog piece related to this very topic. http://bit.ly/Qtf2MQ

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  3. Dan

    31. Jul, 2012

    I love this language around “we must plant the seeds of our inner nature” and strongly connecting that metaphor to values. Sometimes I think we get confused, thinking that values are big things and leadership’s goal is to transplant these great trees quickly. But another way is to see them as something small but infinitely powerful, and if only we leave a few behind each time we past, soon a forest will grow.

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  4. Scott Mabry

    31. Jul, 2012

    I think one of the differences between leaders and managers might also be the role that values play. For leaders, values are a powerful driving force that relies on a long term view of what really matters versus a short term view of completing tasks and meeting financial targets. Loved the post Lolly and grateful for all the inspiring content you share.

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  5. Valencia Ray MD

    01. Aug, 2012

    Hi Lolly, I agree with you. Thanks for a compelling post. From my experience, the challenge for leaders based on this blog conversation is summed up when you say:

    “Without clearly defined values we will have difficulty fostering and aligning strategies, vision, purpose and meaning”.

    I find that most people/many leaders are so “wired” to stay in action mode – even if they are NOT clear about what they are attempting to accomplish – that they don’t take time to reflect on what their values are. They don’t know their own values. They have “lost their Self”. This type of attitude is now being challenged in our changing environment and I’m glad for it, as if we want to bring passion, purpose and clarity to our leadership, we need to be clear about our values – from the heart, not just in the head (Intellectual concept). Also, by understanding our heartfelt values, we can more easily define what culture is most authentically aligned with the impact we hope to make in our service to the world. “Heart-less” leadership is not the way to engage others. Mind/head WITH heart however, goes a long way. Thanks for leading courageous conversations.

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  6. Joanna

    02. Aug, 2012

    So true .. Without our own set of clear values, we are without foundations and inner strength and we cannot lead without being a worthy leader to follow ..

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  7. dotun

    09. Aug, 2012

    How does leadership style come in? I love your article its eye opening

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