Ramon Estrada explains authentic leadership through Howard Schultz's story: how personal hardship shaped his values and drove him to build Starbucks. Authentic leaders know their true north, build trust through consistent behavior, and attract allies. Estrada contrasts 20th-century status-focused leadership with 21st-century purpose-driven leadership rooted in self-knowledge and emotional intelligence.
Hi everyone, my name is Ramon Estrada, and I help leaders to grow their organizations through creative and innovative approaches. Today I'm going to talk about how to become an authentic leader. We will go over what is authentic leadership, the qualities of an authentic leader, so you can become one and impact your world And the world of others. I'm gonna start with a story, the story of Howard Schultz. Maybe you have not heard about him, but I'm sure you have heard of Starbucks. Winter 1961, while Howard was living in Brooklyn, New York with his family, he heard his mother yelling at him from the 7th floor in the apartment. His father had an accident. Because of this accident, his father lost his job and all the healthcare benefits of the family. His mother could not work because she was 7 months pregnant. Imagine that. What I want to highlight here is the importance that Howard gave to his dream. What dream was it? To build a company his father would be proud to work in. This really reflected his values. This reflected his intrinsic motivation For building a new organization. Of course, there is a whole story about how Startup developed, the idea, where it came from, how the business unfolded, but where I want to go here is to understand how our personal lives, and the context, and the circumstances of our lives can really affect the decisions that we make, and actually it can help us to be proactive and not reactive, not thinking as a victim but thinking as a leader. So where am I going with all this, and how does this relate to authentic leadership? Authentic leaders know their lives and understand their purpose in life. They value the uniqueness in their lives, their stories, all their wounds and maybe their hopes, bringing them to the present in order to create a more wonderful future. So my question to you is, what can you say about your life? Have you been focused on having or on being? This is extremely important because if you have been focused on having, on achievements, then you're also putting your main focus on external validation. And it's really important to understand who you are and what you bring to the game of life. So this is the first step, to understand your story, who you are, and what you stand for. And by being in this way, you will be more authentic. And with authenticity, you develop trust. Why? Because people can really see who you are. You will interact with them in different situations in the same way because you're showing your true self. And guess what? Trust is the basis for all human interaction, for all organizations. Would you buy a product from a company that you do not trust? Actually, many of your decisions are trust-based. By knowing who you are and where you want to go, it's like what Bill George says, or calls the true north. This true north is like a magnet, something that pulls us from where we are and takes us to where we want to go. And actually, the importance of this is that this, let's call it magnetic force, also attracts other people, attracts people that are more in resonance with our vibration, with our dreams. And that's how we start generating new allies, new relationships that really empower us and pushes us into the direction where we want to go. So this takes us to our second step, which is building trust around you, your organization, your brand, and all your actions. Authentic leadership as a concept was explained by Bill George like a difference from the leadership of the 20th century and the leadership of the 21st century. The authentic leadership is mostly purpose-driven, It's not driven by a great charisma or great words. It is more valued by what the person, the leader, stands for. And actually, if you think about it, it's more intrinsically motivated. It's not by what the leader wants to achieve, and maybe within himself or herself, it's just full of lies, full of noise. Which kind of leadership would you prefer? An authentic leader in the 21st century The focus is on global vision instead of just thinking locally in his or her community. And actually, what motivates an authentic leader is the best of the group, the best of the institution, instead of his own or her own interests. And actually, if you think about it, most of the past leaders, they were thinking about their curriculum or their LinkedIn profile, and an authentic leader He or she cares more about learning from the crucibles of his or her life's experiences. And the greatest strength that an authentic leader has is the emotional coefficient instead of their IQ. Becoming an authentic leader does not come from day and night. It takes some time, and actually it's a journey, a journey that Bill George describes in 3 stages. The first stage is the journey towards leadership. It's taking the time to realize that you are the hero of your own story, that you are no victim, that most of the decisions that you have taken have led you where you are right now. It's understanding the milestones of your life, who were you with, and realizing your strengths, And your weaknesses. The second stage is the development of our authentic leadership. It's taking the time to do a further analysis, to develop self-awareness into the understanding of our values, and which values really helped us and support us towards our goals, and which ones did not. And this takes us to the third stage, where our true north meets the world. And by doing this, we realize that we want to do something else in the world. We want to create an impact in our lives, in the lives of others, in our organizations, in our teams, in our families. Authentic leadership is realizing that we are the authors of our lives. Actually, as you can see, it requires courage to go back and understand our pasts. But you cannot imagine all the value that it comes from generating a new future and running without friction towards it. Leaders are not born, leaders are made by their decisions. And if you are more authentic, you will have more impact in the world, and of course you will be happier. You will discover joy, you will discover that your actions really have an impact in the world. I hope that you liked this video on authentic leadership. And to help you to find your true north, I will be generating every week more videos on leadership, creativity, innovation, emotional intelligence, and much more. So please subscribe, and I see you next week. Take care.
