What if the most powerful leadership tool wasn’t a strategy or skill—but the courage to show up as your true self, even when it scares you? Showing up as your true self in leadership is important while bravery and self-awareness enable leaders to inspire and engage with others.
In this episode of the Inspirational Leadership podcast, I speak with Kimberly Davis about practical strategies for measuring impact, staying values-aligned under pressure, and why bravery is the key to influential leadership. Kimberly is a TEDx speaker and her book, Brave Leadership: Unleash Your Most Confident, Authentic, and Powerful Self to Get the Results You Need, is the 2019 winner of the Benjamin Franklin Silver Award for Business and Career; an Amazon Bestseller; and was named as the number one book to read in Inc. Magazine’s “The 12 Most Impactful Books to Read in 2018”. An expert on authentic leadership, Kimberly Davis shares her inspirational message of personal power, responsibility, and impact with organizations across the country and teaches leadership programs worldwide; most notably, her program “OnStage Leadership”.
Listen in to learn why traditional definitions of success leave leaders feeling empty and how aligning actions with personal impact creates fulfillment and results. You will also learn why leaders must connect personally to their organization’s mission and create an environment where individuals see their role as part of a greater impact.
Key Takeaways:
- Understanding the connection between acting techniques and authentic leadership.
- How leaders can build trust and influence by showing up as their true selves.
- Leadership as a transformative process that benefits both leaders and those they inspire.
- The role of leadership in shaping an organization’s mission beyond shareholder value.
- Common mistakes leaders make when trying to enforce purpose rather than inspire it.
- The shift from traditional command-and-control leadership to a more purpose-driven approach.
- How emerging leaders can navigate the challenges of modern leadership.
What You Will Learn in This Episode:
- [02:53] Kimberly’s non-linear career path and the pivotal moment a client asked her to design a leadership program using theater tools.
- [05:26] The development of OnStage Leadership: From an experimental training session to a successful evolving program.
- [09:16] The origin of Brave Leadership – how the concept emerged and why courage is the foundation of authentic leadership.
- [12:55] The Super Objective tool: How focusing on a specific impact overrides fear and aligns actions with values.
- [17:40] Why mapping goals to your super objective turbocharges results while preserving authenticity.
- [20:24] How to measure your impact as a leader by mapping goals to your core purpose and course-correcting when misaligned.
- [25:06] Why Kimberly’s re-released Brave Leadership—updated with post-COVID case studies and a free Super Objective
- [28:06] How organizations falter when leaders prioritize shareholder value over purpose or try to mandate team members’ super objectives.
- [31:16] How to align individual purpose with the organizational mission to foster both business success and employee fulfillment.
- [34:27] Why emerging leaders are crucial for the future, plus how leadership has shifted requiring new approaches for success.
- [39:05] The loneliness of leadership and how vulnerability bridges the gap between leaders and everyone else.
- [41:59] How different would things be if we got clear about our impact and took responsibility for having that impact?
Standout Quotes:
- “When a leader stops being in alignment with their purpose they suffer and their organization suffers.”– Kimberly [25:59]
- “I believe that emerging leaders are our future and if we want to see more purposeful leadership, we’ve got to start with emerging leaders.”– Kimberly [34:41]
Listen to the podcast here:
Watch the video here:
Resources Mentioned:
- Learn more about Kimberly’s work at Brave Leadership
- Connect with Kimberly on Linkedin
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