Fostering Your True Leadership

Social media is often perceived as the mean to leadership.

Many tell us to use social media to be seen, share what we stand for and become thought leaders and experts.

Good social media can be a powerful tool to help you share your stand in the industry and world, reach your community and showcase your wisdom and expertise.

However, social media doesn’t make you a leader!

It isn’t social media that fosters your stands, beliefs and expertise but your inner work – the work you do to develop your leadership.

I believe that there is a huge misunderstanding of what leadership means today.

Leadership is often seen as a tool to control others.

We are seeing it in families, politics, international relationships and online. There are influencers, brand ambassadors, experts, government leaders and our parent who are illustrating the types of leadership they stand for. Some of that isn’t what I think is true leadership – the one that can actually bring change about, create more sales in your business and change your life… entirely.

I’ve been fascinated by this idea of leadership for many years and I’ve been watching people showcase their leadership online for over a decade. And I’ve been feeling that most of what I see online, on TV or families isn’t leadership but manipulation, pretence, intimidation and a struggle to create real change as a result of bad leadership or misunderstanding of it all together.

I find that this is especially obvious online, where people use the platform to share their views, beliefs and ideas but also ensure propaganda, pretend of be a leader or misuse social media technology. And many people are struggling to establish their true leadership online.

I think we can change this for the best.

So, I invited Sonya Stattmann, a gifted leadership and business coach, TEDx speaker, podcast host and a dear friend of mine to share her perspective on leadership.

She provides a very unique leadership support that has helped me find my voice and leverage social media more effectively. I feel it’s criminal to keep her secret. I want to share her work with those who are also seeking leadership support in their work and on their mission.

Leadership is how we stand more in our own integrity, not how to make others do and think what we want them to.

Sonya reminds us that when we stand in our power we become a leader, which is different from telling people what to do and believe. It’s about being a leader and inspiring others to feel empowered, by our example.

This requires to know who we really are, what we stand for and what are our values.

Many people online are trying to come across as someone they aren’t in reality. This can be felt by most people encountering them. We can feel that there is something missing. We can tell they are not congruent eventhough we cannot always point to the specific think lacking.

Some people are also placing a lot of pressure on being a leader. They are working hard trying to be a leader, exhausting themselves into it, instead of being a leader.

When we allow ourselves to be who we really are it feels empowering to those around. This is a true leadership.

Many of us have created this persona that others told us to be – professional, put together, nurturing, always available and alike.

These ideas and definitions aren’t ours. We don’t embody them. Somebody else told us that these are the qualities that are important in business, for example.

While they may mean something to some people, most of the time they are forced upon us  and don’t align with who we really are.

Starting to realise this and becoming more aware of what are your values in business (and other areas of life) is where you start stepping into your leadership.

Sonya reminds us that self-development is one of the most important first steps in fostering your true leadership. She recommends we get really clear and honest about who we really are. She recommends a lot of personal self-reflection first. If you aren’t sure where to start with it, just reach out to Sonya for a chat and see where it takes you.

What I love about Sonya’s approach to leadership is that she is talking about finding your own leadership, aligned with who you are, not what others are telling you to look like, believe in or say.

There are many leadership coaches out there and many are teaching specific ways of operating and being in order to become leaders. And I really struggle with that because these ways don’t align with who I am, forcing me to pretend if I was to follow their teachings.

Everyone is uniquely different.

We must accommodate for it in order to truly be ourselves. We cannot be the best leaders that we can if we are trying to be someone else.

And when you stand in your value, it shines everywhere, including social media.

It may or may not be your platform, but once you are clear about how you operate, what are your values in business and life you can share it with the world with the help of social media technology, whether that’s your Facebook account, business Page or Snapchat.

Social media can be a powerful platform for your voice!

P.S. Whenever you are ready… here how I can help you leverage social media technology to really power your mission:

I design simple and effective social media and Facebook ads strategies helping gifted not for profits and businesses for purpose leverage their social media technology and loyal community to really power their mission, building more donations and creating impact. My work is custom solution aiming at the specific needs of your work.

There are many ways you can reach out to see if I am a good fit for your goals. Check out the Facebook Messanger bubble on the bottom right, contact page on the top and/or a form and a calendar, if this type of communication suits you better.

I look forward to supporting your vision of the future!