When a leader gets clear on who they are, and brings that to how they lead, something powerful always happens!
Not only do they unlock their own potential, they send a signal to those around them:
“It’s safe to be real here. It’s safe to lead from who you are.”
And that’s where the ripple begins.
The First Wave: Leading from the Inside Out
The leaders I coach are often grappling with more than strategic complexity. They're dealing with identity. Pressure. Legacy. Fear. Ambition. And often, underneath it all, a simple question:
“Am I bringing the real me to this work - or just the version I think is expected?”
When leaders reconnect with their values, strengths, and personal leadership story, they begin to lead from a deeper, more aligned place. Their decisions become clearer. Their presence becomes steadier. Their influence becomes more authentic.
That’s the first box to tick - self-awareness meets intentional leadership.
The Second Wave: Role Modelling for Your Leadership Team
But it doesn’t stop there.
When senior leaders lead from this place of clarity and alignment, it creates permission for others to do the same. It shifts the culture of a team from performance and posturing to purpose and presence.
Suddenly, it's not just about hitting the target. It's about how we hit the target - and who we are while doing it.
I’ve seen this shift firsthand. One executive I work with started showing up with more honesty and vulnerability in team meetings. Within weeks, his direct reports began doing the same. Conversations got richer. Feedback became more meaningful. Accountability didn’t drop, it deepened.
Real leadership is contagious.
The Third Wave: Scaling Culture, Not Just Strategy
How do we move from individual impact to organisational transformation?
This is where the real work begins - and where I love to partner with clients.
We start by coaching the executive team. Then we work with their leadership teams to embed the mindset, behaviours, and relational trust needed to scale this approach. Finally, we ripple it through the extended leadership group - across functions, layers, and even regions.
It’s not a one-off workshop. It’s not just a program.
It’s a deliberate, human-centred strategy to unlock the full potential of the organisation - from the inside out.
And it works.
The Research Is Clear
Real leadership isn’t just good for culture. It’s good for business.
Gallup has found that organisations with highly engaged employees see:
- 23% higher profitability
- 18% higher productivity
- 81% lower absenteeism
- Up to 43% lower turnover in high-turnover organisations
When leaders lead with emotional intelligence, authenticity, and purpose, it boosts:
- Psychological safety (key to innovation)
- Collaboration across silos
- Agility in decision-making
- Employee commitment and discretionary effort
Leading from who you are → builds trust and alignment → which fuels engagement → which drives performance and profit.
This isn’t soft. This is strategic.
Your Role in the Ripple
So if you’re a leader reading this - ask yourself:👉 Have I done the work to get clear on who I am and how I want to lead?
👉 Am I role modelling that to my team, or falling into the trap of leadership autopilot?
👉 And is my organisation actively creating the conditions where this ripple can grow?
Because culture isn’t built from comms campaigns or posters on the wall. Culture is built in conversations. In decisions. In meetings. And especially in the way leaders show up, day after day.
When Real Leadership is championed at every level - from the executive to the emerging leader - it becomes the culture. It becomes the norm.
And that’s when the magic happens.
#RealLeadership #LeadershipImpact
#CultureTransformation #MichelleSalesLeadership #LeadFromWithin
#LeadershipDevelopment
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