Authenticity

This posting, written by my colleague and collaborator Julie van Amerongen, celebrates Authenticity as a core principle of Working for Good.

Authenticity is certainly worth cultivating. Like happiness, profits, and other such things, it tends to be the result of focusing on other things, rather than something you can accomplish by focusing on it directly. And, ultimately, others will be the judge of whether or not we are authentic.

Yours in Working for Good,,

Jeff

“To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.” ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Can you sense when you are truly being authentic in your work? For me, it’s when I’m really connected with my passion and working actively in that direction. I feel confident and energetic, focused, creative, light and productive. I am honoring my inner world, while expressing myself in my outer work world.

Applying the Working for Good skill of Awareness, we can tune into our passion and purpose, and what our unique offerings really are. And, when we carry our purpose through Embodiment to Integration we activate the power of being evermore deeply authentic and witness the results, such as taking better care of yourself, more connection with your office team, or experiencing more success overall. It just feels right.

Before attending the Working for Good workshop, participants are asked to take the Keirsey Temperament Sorter - a personality questionnaire designed to help people understand themselves better. Inquiring into our deep-routed behavioral patterns and understanding our tendencies, supports us to align with and express our strengths, address our weaknesses, and be more authentic. When we can see ourselves, we are more likely to be ourselves.

“That inner voice has both gentleness and clarity. So to get to authenticity, you really keep going down to the bone, to the honesty, and the inevitability of something.” ~ Meredith Monk

LINKS

Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value, by Bill George

Keirsey Temperament Sorter