Overview

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Most leaders are trained to perform confidence, project certainty, and keep personal reactions out of the room. But when leadership becomes a costume rather than a genuine expression of who you are, it quietly erodes trust, drains your energy, and disconnects you from the people you are trying to lead. Guided by Dr. Sweta Chawla, leadership coach and creator of the Natural Leadership Model, you will examine the motivations and habits that drive your current leadership behavior, identify the five characteristics of authentic leaders, and practice the communication and self-awareness skills that make authenticity a daily practice rather than an aspiration. You will work through realistic scenarios involving self-security, vulnerability, deep listening, and navigating discomfort so that your leadership style is grounded in who you actually are. By the end of this course, you will apply authentic leadership principles to real workplace situations, using self-awareness, purposeful communication, and a defined personal leadership style to build trust and sustained impact with your team.

Syllabus

Recognizing the Cost of Inauthenticity

You already know that showing up as someone you're not is exhausting, but the professional cost goes further than fatigue. In this module, you'll examine what inauthenticity actually costs a leader and make the case for why genuine self-expression is a practical leadership skill, not a luxury.

Stepping into Authentic Leadership

Knowing authenticity matters is one thing. Knowing what it actually looks like in practice, and why it is so hard to sustain, is another. In this module, you'll define the five characteristics of authentic leaders, examine the perceptions that make authenticity feel risky, and build a working understanding of leadership that goes beyond title or task so you can begin closing the gap between who you are and how you lead.

Embracing Your Leadership Style

Every leader has a style, but not every leader has examined where that style comes from, what it costs them, and whether it is still serving them. In this module, you'll use Goleman's six leadership styles to identify your dominant approach, examine the shadow traits that can accompany it, and build a practical framework for evolving your style in ways that are grounded in your genuine values rather than in what you think leadership is supposed to look like.

Creating Connections

Authentic leadership does not stop with how you understand yourself. It shows up in every conversation you have. In this module, you'll examine what it means to be genuinely present rather than merely appearing engaged, practice the discipline of deep listening as a leadership tool, and develop the clarity of communication that allows your team to trust what you say and why you say it.

Expanding Self-Leadership Skills

Authentic leadership is not a destination you arrive at. It is a practice you sustain, and sustaining it requires learning to stay present with discomfort rather than defaulting back to the familiar performance. In this module, you'll deepen your understanding of what authentic self-leadership looks like in practice, examine the specific discomforts that make authenticity hard to maintain, and build a personal framework for continuing to grow when the easier option is to stop.

Committing to Authentic Leadership in Practice

Authentic leadership is most useful when it becomes a daily practice rather than a course you finished. In this module, you'll consolidate the self-awareness, communication, and style work from this course into a concrete commitment you'll carry into your next leadership conversation.