ABSTRACT
Leading, motivating, inspiring and coaching others is very different from having specialist knowledge. The gold standard of leadership is ‘authentic’ leadership. Authentic leadership can bring all kinds of business and professional benefits, such as sales growth, employee satisfaction, high attendance at work and managerial well-being. Authentic leadership is about being true to yourself and at the same time understanding the responsibility of getting the best out of others. This chapter shows how anyone can develop authentic leadership by living life with purpose and passion; understanding and enacting personal values, grounded by integrity and trust; developing deeply connected relationships; and above all, working on emotional intelligence, especially empathy. In short, empathic influencing results in better leadership and higher performance.
