Awaken Your Authentic Leadership – Book Review

My friend and colleague, Tana Heminsley, asked me to write the Foreword for her book a few months ago.  So I said yes and then began to read it.  I knew it would be good, I just didn’t know that I would have quite such an emotional reaction to it.

Here’s an excerpt from the Foreword of Tana’s first book “Awaken Your Authentic Leadership – Lead with Inner Clarity and Purpose” as my thoughts about Tana’s very practical book continue to be the same:

“When Tana first starting talking about Authentic Leadership I have to admit that I didn’t truly know what she was talking about: authenticity, I get that, leadership, yes, I’m in that business so I get that too. What I’ve come to learn from her and watched her model in her life, is in the pages of this book. What I can tell you is that the authentic leader in you has always existed, is in you right now, is who you truly are, and who you were always meant to be. If that is “what” an authentic leader is, then this book is the “how.”

Awaken Your Authentic Leadership takes the concepts Dan Goleman pioneered in the 1990s, one step further.  Not only do authentic leaders have the five hallmark competencies – self-awareness, self-regulation, balanced intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, empathy and exceptional social skills – they also have a life-affirming and ethical intent that trumps what their ego may want to do in any moment.  So the result is good for the individual, the company, the community and beyond.

I’ve been on my personal journey for the past 15 years to align my goals with my values and to stay true to them on a day-to-day basis. Life changed for me when I started doing this – I began to find my perfect blend of you and profit.