Inspiring Your Authentic Week

Posted: 17 Mar 2008 07:05 AM CDT

When I work with people to help them to articulate their life's purpose one of the questions I ask is "what are your talents?" When I ask this question I also have to state one of my very small number of rules that: "modesty is completely banned."

Modesty is a form of dishonesty.

There is something about the way that most of us are brought up and /or educated that means that we find honesty very difficult.

We have all sorts of beliefs that we will upset people if we are too honest or we will disadvantage ourselves if we are too honest.

The reality is that we have learned to lie and we have not learned to tell the truth.

Telling the truth is a skill and an art as well as a discipline.

The first place to start is to be honest with ourselves, to be honest about our feelings, our purpose and our direction in life. To be honest about what and who we want to spend our time and energy on. To be honest about what we are great at and to be honest about where we need help.

Once we can have this kind of internal honesty we can start to work out how to communicate our truth to others in the most positive possible way.

I had a wonderful boss when I was at Razorfish. He never fired anyone, but he never allowed someone who was not contributing to the team to stay a day longer once this had become clear.

He would sit down with them and in a very calm and loving way discuss their direction, dreams and aspirations. At some point in this conversation they would come to the realisation that their future and the direction of the company did not align and that they had better opportunities to pursue elsewhere. (I never had this meeting so, my understanding of the process only comes from those who did.)

The same process can also apply to relationships which have begin to diverge and almost any other situation.

It can only be through uncompromising honesty with ourselves and others that we can find peace and happiness.

I have written another short and easily digested e-book that is a step by step guide to articulating your life's purpose and turning it into a way of life. This is the core of my work and I am now giving it away to you.

Part of the reason for this is to spread the word - both of my work and of the potential that we all have.

Part of the reason is an act of creative destruction to push me on beyond what has become a relatively comfortable and easy way of working for me, to whatever comes next.

To download your free copy of "What Is Your Purpose, Know it, Live it. Visit www.authentictransformation.co.uk

I would also encourage you to share the link with anyone who you feel may be interested in finding peace and happiness in their life.

If you have not seen it already, please also take a look at my Inspiring Authentic Leadership Blog.

If you are in the business of leading people, formally or informally, you might like to subscribe to the blog to pick up on the latest thoughts.

Please contact me if you feel I can contribute to your leadership either of your own life or of others, through coaching, an event or consulting.

As a further inspiration this week I would like to share this remarkable video clip of honesty in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgyuYHXqlO4

with love

nx

neil crofts - coach, consultant, facilitator
Authentic Transformation - join the evolution
UK mobile 07775 658534
UK office 0845 6800648
Spain mobile (+34) 606 204 994
neil@authentictransformation.co.uk
www.authentictransformation.co.uk
Leadership has a harder job to do than just choose sides. It must bring sides together.
Jesse Jackson