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The Art of Authenticity
Book

The Art of Authenticity

Tools to Become an Authentic Leader and Your Best Self

Karissa Thacker
Wiley, 2016
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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Analytical
  • Applicable
  • Inspiring

Recommendation

In this new age, you must do more than manage your career. You must act bravely and with “authenticity” in all social arenas. This requires developing an understanding of each social milieu that surrounds you. When you act authentically, you embrace different aspects of yourself depending on your context. Authentic leaders go beyond self-awareness to “selves awareness,” which takes discipline, application and skill. Executive coach Karissa Thacker details how to recognize and inhabit your authentic selves in her comprehensive, insightful leadership manual. She describes the journeys and transformations that develop your authenticity and includes helpful “workouts” at the close of each chapter. getAbstract recommends her methods to senior executives, managers and all professionals who would like to maximize their abilities through productive self-examination.

Summary

“Authenticity”

Through history, people have reflected on the meaning of authenticity. Generally, they took the concept to mean the desire to live according to a personal set of values and beliefs. Has that definition changed? Well, the world around you has changed. In the past, an authentic life often meant doing the same thing every day. When industry dominated the economy, jobs and even careers were predictable.

Since 2000, six trends have shaped how people work: the popularity of smartphones; the advent of social media; the rapidity of marketplace change; the deflation of hierarchical systems; generational shifts at work; and a problematic job market, including layoffs and downsizing.

Today you must do more than supervise your own career. You must act bravely and authentically. Authenticity captures the spirit of the 21st century. For instance, your clients and customers demand authenticity from the products they buy and the companies they patronize.

What Makes You Different?

Peter Drucker once described a world dominated by “average knowledge workers.” In his article “Managing Oneself,” he suggests that workers should know their strengths...

About the Author

Karissa Thacker, who holds a doctorate in psychology, founded Strategic Performance Solutions Inc., a management consulting and executive coaching firm. She is an adjunct professor in the MBA program at the University of Delaware’s Lerner School of Business.

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