Kelly Vohs

It’s not clear to me why these two traits seem to be hard for leaders to do well. My gut tells me it all circles back to ego.

Just be who you are. All the time. You won’t be perfect. Show your weaknesses.

Don’t play favorites. You will have people you naturally gravitate too but don’t treat them differently as it relates to information, compensation, or anything else.

Maybe you are afraid they will see you for who you really are…well isn’t that a good thing? Are you afraid that they might realize you don’t know everything? Well, you don’t. They know it. You know it. Stop pretending.

You are responsible as the leader but you aren’t responsible for having all the answers. You are only responsible for all of the decisions.

Are you afraid that they might see that you have emotions, you get mad, you get sad, and you are scared sometimes? I don’t know about you but I go through all of those emotions every day several times a day. Sometimes I cycle through them in a few seconds. I have my issues. If you know me, you know that. That’s humanity. Don’t pretend they don’t happen to you too. Remember we are all in this together. This life thing doesn’t happen alone.

Stop being afraid to be who you are. Stop worrying about how you ‘present’ to the world. Dress the part. Be a role model. Act in a way that inspires others. Absolutely. But be real. Maybe the real you doesn’t fit what you do or where you do it. Change that. Start there. Don’t try and change who you are. You better be focused on making you better every day. Every single day. 1% a day. But you can’t and won’t change who you are. So don’t try. You may have to manage who you are. You may have to manage the demons inside but find the place where you can be you in the most authentic way possible. And have the courage to just be you. No pretenses. No facades. If they don’t like it, they are either wrong or you are in the wrong place…maybe both ;).

We aren’t entitled to tomorrow so live today in the most real way possible and when your number is punched hope they say that you were fair, treated everyone with respect, and you always had their best interest at heart. You weren’t perfect but you always did your best to make the people and places you touched better.