Authentic Leadership: How to Lead with Nothing to Hide, Nothing to Prove & Nothing to Lose

by Dan Owolabi

Authenticity … The One Thing That Transforms Everything

Imagine a world where you wake up, ready to lead with genuine confidence. You rarely feel insecure. You never pretend, perform or act like you have it all together. You are simply secure in who you are, and strong enough to influence others.

This isn’t crazy. This is Authentic Leadership.

Dan Owolabi has practiced and taught Authentic Leadership for over a decade. Here he shares the timeless principles of Authenticity through inspiring storytelling, sound research and practical examples.

The most effective leaders have nothing to hide, nothing to prove and nothing to lose. They know how to battle insecurity and lead with influence by growing through four stages:

Understand Yourself
Lead Yourself
Understand Others
Lead Others
It’s not an accident that Authentic Leaders are magnetic, confident, and resilient leaders. And you can become one too!

Genres: Leadership, Nonfiction

170 pages, Paperback

Published May 22, 2020

Reviews

[Tessa Kenyon · Rating 5 out of 5]

LOVE LOVE LOVE!! This book was so good and really helped me realize what I must do to become a leader!!

[Katie Troyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not your traditional leadership book! Dan's book makes many great points on how to be an authentic leader but also leaves room for the reality that, we won't always get it right. The book leaves me feeling like I had a good talk with a friend instead of an intense leadership training.

[Molls Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Authentic Leadership lays out what it means to be a an excellent leader. It helps you not only see how to lead others, but how to lead yourself. This book helped me to recognize certain things in my own life that need to be corrected about myself before I can rally people together. It encourages me to stay true to what I believe while deepening relationships and listening to others. Highly recommend if you are in a leadership role - or really any kind of role.
-Sincerely, a stay at home mom.

[Peter Graham Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book. Owalabi's storytelling pulled me in right away, and his honesty about his own insecurities made it so relatable. The chapter on conflict especially stood out; it gave language to things I’ve felt but never quite named. I never loved conflict, but was always told it was necessary, but this chapter made me feel the weight of it. I wish I had this book in my early twenties, but I’m just as thankful for it now.

[Marko Low · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must-read, especially for those starting their leadership journey. It's rife with an intermingling of moving examples from the author's life and broader examples from genres you don't always see cited in leadership material. The value of this book is in the doing. It is also an easy read for a new but busy team of leaders who want to unify around a common ethic.

[Kahea Clark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved his blend of using Christian Principles to connect what it takes to be an Authentic Leader. This book was not what I expected but I came away pleased with its content and takeaways. There are great life lessons that he contextualizes to help sink his main topics. I believe any reader of his will walk away better equipped and more confident to lead with authenticity and enthusiasm.

[Sarah Drasner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was so good! Told well, with so many great pointers.

[Jaire A. Byers · Rating 2 out of 5]

Was just fine. I was able to empathize better with managers who do me dirty, I guess. My main lesson is that bad managers are just insecure, which I already knew.

[Joey Aquino · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good messages; I feel like personally I’ve already applied them. That doesn’t make the book less useful.

[Tiffany Nottingham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pg. 13 The Gap
The space between the hard reality of who you are and who you wish you were.
The difference between your real character and your perceived character.

The gap between the perception of who you are and who you really are is where insecurity thrives. If you've ever felt a persistent feeling of uncertainty, anxiety, and self-doubt, you know how quickly it kills your confidence. You know what an insecurity gap feels like. You may have a wide gap or a narrow gap, but it's the unaddressed gaps in your life that cause many of your worst choices.


Authenticity should never mean 100 percent transparent in every area of your life. Transparency at the wrong time can be reckless and irresponsible.

Transparency versus Authenticity