Four A Leadership

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Leadership is made up of FOUR A’s, defined as Awareness, Authenticity, Alignment and Action.
Awareness is both self-awareness and constantly growing one’s awareness of others.  It involves being aware of the political landscape around you so that you can successfully navigate and influence others.  It involves self-improvement and continual growth to expand and leverage your strengths.
Authenticity is the art of being yourself, honoring your natural personality, and owning your voice and power.  Bringing forth your best self in all interactions and being true to yourself and your highest values are key components in strong leadership.
Alignment is the element of aligning your actions and messages with your most profound and meaningful commitments, but it also means mastering the art of bringing other people and resources into alignment with a shared vision.  This is how engagement is created and sustained in any group or organization.
Action is the distinguishing factor.  Great leaders do not just have vision and purpose, communication skills and strategic thinking prowess.  They also must be in action that is consistent with and aligned with their vision and messaging.  This is how trust and followership is created.  Leaders must also be skilled at enrolling others to take action.
©2007. Suzi Pomerantz.  All rights reserved.

Comments (3)

Hey, wow…thanks to @BDecker on Twitter for pointing out this great top ten list created by @dougpetch on his blog. Check it out here!
http://www.dougpetch.com/blog/doug/good-leaders-and-great-leaders#comment-292

Good list of leadership traits. Awareness as having an accurate perception of the ‘political’ realities of a situation is especially well stated.
You might consider adding a 5th A, though – Accountability. A great leader is accountable to his or herself, to other individual stakeholders and to the organization.

You’re so right, Doug! Accountability is a great A to add. Thanks for lending your thoughts! See you on Twitter. 🙂

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