In my presentation on October 29th, The Human Factor: rethinking how we build Asset Management programs, I gave my 4-step approach to getting back into alignment with my Authentic Authority. We as supervisors, managers, & senior leaders are delegated authority by our titles but we need to earn that authority in order to enact meaningful change, and empower those we lead. I’ve always been a leader that aims to hire people smarter than me and the empowering them to let their mastery shine through. In my 15 years as a leader, I was never able to build my ‘Avengers’, my group of remarkable people that could become something more. Until May of this year when my ‘Avengers’ were assembled. And do you know what happened? I found out very quickly that my 15 years as a leader aspiring to create a dream team hadn’t prepared me for the moment I had it. 15 years of advocating for it and I ran into a brick wall with the words “What do I do now?” spray painted across it. I could feel my survival instincts kicking in. I could feel the call of the easy road. I watched the traffic passing by on the well-travelled road. And it was tempting to take the easy, well-travelled road, but that isn’t the road I wanted to be on. Leadership always comes down to a choice, and those choices determine what type of leader you want to be. I made my choice in that moment that I was going to take the hard road, the road less travelled. I felt that pit in my stomach as I grappled with how I can put myself in a position to lead my team of remarkable people. As I outlined in my presentation, after I got through my week of Imposter Syndrome I looked back to what actions I found most helpful in getting myself back to my Authentic Authority. There were 4 actions that I’ve titled as my Authentic Authority Approach. The 4 self-aligning actions of my approach are: 1. Be honest with yourself and those you trust, 2. Lean into your network of peers and mentors, 3. Embrace the skills that make you remarkable, 4. Keep a journal

Found a great quote today about the power of Fairy Tales and Story. “Fairy tales do not give a child his first idea of bogey. What fairy tales give the child is his first clear idea of the possible defeat of bogey. The baby has known the dragon intimately ever since he had an imagination. What the fairy tale provides for him is a St. George to kill the dragon.” —G. K. CHESTERTON, TREMENDOUS TRIFLES, ESSAY XVII, “THE RED ANGEL" Stories and Fairy Tales show us that we are capable of overcoming the challenges placed before us.

Sent in an abstract in early April and finally heard back! When I started working with Krystal last year, one of my big vision board goals was a TED talk in 5 years. This is a step in that direction.

I’ve recently got to that amazing place as a leader where I’ve got an extremely talented driven team whose experience and knowledge surpasses mine. Many leaders proclaim that this is the end goal for every great team and I absolutely agree with them! What I wasn’t ready for was that sudden moment of realization that I don’t know how to lead a team like that. In my 15 years as a leader, I’ve strived for but have never been able to get to that state. I had that moment 2 weeks ago and it turned into one of the hardest work weeks of my life as I tried to wrestle with how to lean into the almost gut-wrenching feeling of ‘what do I do now?’ & ‘how do I put my money where my mouth is?’ I instantly saw why this leadership style isn’t more wide-spread, it requires vulnerability and a level of self-awareness most people aren’t comfortable with. It would have been so easy to pull back and lean into my ‘authority’ as a leader but I made a conscious decision against that. I’m still trying to figure it out and I’m bound to make a few mistakes along the way, but below are a few key actions I took to lean into the feeling: - Be honest with your team that you’re struggling! If you’ve truly built a team that you have empowered to work in their mastery and given them the psychologically safe space to be their best, that empowerment and safety should exist for you too! Showing vulnerability in this way will be hard and isn’t going to feel very good at first but when a leader demonstrates vulnerability it shows your team they are safe to do so as well. - Lean into your Mentors. On my worst day of the week that I had the moment of realization, I happened to have a call scheduled with my mentor and the entire call was spent on this topic. I scheduled lunch with my old boss later in the week who I knew also dealt with the same realization multiple times as he had changed careers. They both validated what I was feeling and told me how they got through. - Journal, Journal, Journal. I spent nearly 3 hours and jotted down 8 pages of notes of what was going through my mind and what I was feeling in my body as I worked through the realization. Journaling is something that falls to the wayside far too often but can be a huge help of uncluttering your mind and setting a course. Putting it on paper or in a digital journal forces you to work through from start to finish your thoughts and feelings.

As a follow up to Leadership Through Storytelling, I'm going to run a Value Story Workshop on May 28th at 7:30pm MST. We'll go through the process of developing one of your life stories that is at the heart of your core values. Attached is a list of values to start doing some brainstorming about your core values.