The Authentic Leader and a yoga mat
Be with all the wobbles
After more months than I'd like to admit, I revisited an old friend yesterday: my yoga mat. I'm still a fan of the Peloton classes and it was a blissfully beautiful morning in Arizona, so I took my practice outside. The instructor spoke about showing up authentically to the mat and leaving ourselves open to every wobble and imbalance we experience throughout class. It's been a solid six months since I've done yoga, and to be honest, I'm mildly surprised I didn't wobble myself over and fall into the pool.
While she spoke about authenticity, it made me think about this as a leadership style. Brene Brown brought this concept, along with vulnerability, to the forefront with her studies and publications, but from a defined leadership perspective, it's still relatively new. The writer Bill George says, “They [the authentic leader] have a clear idea of who they are, where they are going and what the right thing is to do. When tested…they do not compromise their values, but rather use those situations to strengthen their values.” Although authentic leadership would appear to be easy to define, it's one of the types that is the most complex and difficult to characterize.
In my pyramid pose, as I tried to breathe and straighten my leg, the parallels clicked. From the outside, yoga—or leadership—can look simple. Just a few steps, and you’re “doing it right.” But the truth shows up in the practice itself. Each time, it feels different. Each encounter, each conversation, calls on a slightly new version of us.
We might return to the same pose or the same people, but the work is never identical. What matters most isn’t perfection—it’s choosing to show up authentically and breathing through the wobbles. .
Take time to celebrate the wins no one sees…