Dr. Andy Garrett

What does Authentic leadership look and feel like to you? In my experience - the leaders that I have been most impacted by - and who brought out my best work, greatest commitment and effort, and empowered me to be most creative and innovative - were Authentic leaders! In this interview with Albert Lee and Cleverkey Consulting Group, Inc. - we discuss why Authentic leadership is the most powerful form of leadership - and we cover specific action steps that can be taken to dev...elop Authenticity in your work culture. I hope you find this valuable - and actionable! And please let us know if there are questions or topics that we can address in a future interview - that would be practical and helpful for you and your business?? #leadership #authenticculture #authenticleadership #leadershipcoach #culture #business #personalgrowth #employeeengagement #thrive

I have been partnering with my good friend Albert Lee - CEO of Cleverkey Consulting Group, Inc. (a consulting company that has helped 4 separate businesses to go from start-up status - to a billion dollar evaluation - putting them in rarified unicorn status) - in creating content that specifically addresses some of the personal development issues and challenges that businesses owners, leaders, and workers are facing in our present day circumstances. We have previously address...ed how to achieve Work-Life integration (the idea of Work-Life balance is outdated - and should be reconceptualized through this lens - which is much healthier and more practical). This 2 part series talks about what skills leaders, employees, and businesses should be focusing on developing - in order to optimize their potential for success. We have several more topics cued up (like - *how to be an Authentic leader - and why this is clearly the most effective leadership style *understanding the impact that uncertainty can have on your business and workers - and what you need to do to rise above it *how to become more resilient - how to develop a resilient culture - and why this is critical to your success and happiness and we are getting ready to complete an interview on how to effectively work with people who have different beliefs than you do - and thrive in the process! I honestly feel incredibly grateful to be collaborating with Albert - and I feel very proud of the content we are putting together (and especially proud of why we are doing this!). Having said this - we are definitely a work in progress - and we continue to learn with each interview - believing that each successive interview is better than the one before (from our first interview - to our most recent - I think you will see huge improvements in our video, audio, and interview process). I hope you will take a look - and we are already starting to get questions filtering in that we are incorporating into our interviews - so - please send us some questions - or ideas for future topics - and we would love to give you our best response - emphasizing feedback that is accurate, proven, and actionable!!

This is turning out to be a really powerful series (and we are having a lot of fun in our creative process). Can’t wait to release our first collaborative video (we have 4 recordings cued up so far - and each topic is super timely and practical). We look forward to getting your input - and receiving some insight regarding other topics we can cover for you!!

When a man’s why is strong enough - he can bear almost any how Friedrich Nietzsche Self motivation becomes easier when we see our choices as affirmations of our deeper values and goals (otherwise known as a purpose!).... If you want some practical guidance and tools to discover the Why inside of you that will amplify your greatest strengths - and provide a buffer for the inevitable challenges that you will encounter on your journey to living your best life - then I invite you to join me this Thursday:

I hope you will join me this Thursday for a free webinar that provides a proven and practical framework to discover your Why. We will be providing some powerful tools and exercises that I have been using with my coaching clients that have consistently led to life changing and affirming results. This is such an important time to get really clear on what you stand for! When you can identify the cause that lies within you - that aligns with your strengths, your passion, your u...nique life experiences, and the impact you want to have on the people and issues that matter most to you - it amplifies the best aspects of who you are - and it can empower you to push through obstacles and challenges that you had previously thought were dead-ends. And when you can consistently access this powerful Why inside of you - so that you show up from moment to moment - and to each interaction with clarity of purpose - it will establish a compound effect of Authentic Growth that is revolutionary! #personalmastery #selfawareness #authenticleadership #purposedriven #thrive

The most common regret that people express at the end of their life - is that they didn’t live a life true to themselves. I believe that this regret stems from people not knowing who they truly are - and what they stand for (and because they haven’t clearly defined their answers to these questions - they tend to look outward for validation, approval, and their sense of self and success). However - I have seen over and over again - that when you get clear on who you are and ...what’s most important to you - everything else flows more organically outward from having a secure sense of self and purpose. #selfawareness #personalgrowth #authenticity #purposedriven #thrive See more

When I work with my clients to help them develop their customized Authentic Growth Blueprint - I have an exercise that helps my clients set priorities (as they show up in how they spend their time, money, and energy) - so that they can get off the hamster wheel of always feeling busy and like they are constantly trying to catch up to a lifestyle and identity that isn’t providing them with the overall quality of life and relationships they truly desire. And when they begin... filling their time with activities and interactions that remind them of what their best self and best life - should look, act, and feel like - and then they step into that version of their self and life in their daily work, relationships, and experiences - they can clearly and confidently say that they stop feeling busy, disengaged, distracted, and/or anxious - but instead - they feel energized, fulfilled, engaged, content, and inspired! They have peace of mind in knowing that they are living on their terms; staying connected to their highest priorities; and that they focused on creating and establishing the quality of relationships, impact, and life that is totally aligned with their Authentic identity and purpose (i.e., their Authentic Growth Blueprint!). #thrive #purposedriven #authenticity #bestself

If you try protecting people from their pain, you lack respect for the integrity and future development of the individual. Abraham Maslow #personalgrowth #personalmastery #selfawareness #authenticleadership #purposedriven #characterdevelopment #thrive #authenticity

Life is never made unbearable by circumstances, but only by lack of meaning and purpose. Viktor Frankl #selfworth #personalgrowth #personalmastery #authenticleadership #purposedriven

Our answer to The Who am I question (the most important personal growth question we can answer!) - can only be adequately answered by looking within ourselves and discovering what motivates us, what do we care about, what is our view of what it means to be a good/great/successful person, and what virtues - or character strengths - have we developed as a byproduct of our interaction with our environment (these are the strengths that matter most - our character strengths). #personalgrowth #selfawareness #purposedriven #authenticity #thrive #selfleadership

As I was building a course that provides a powerful and proven framework for establishing Authentic identity, purpose, and community - the concept of virtue kept coming up in my research on Authentic Exemplars (influential and impactful individuals who lived extraordinary lives). I realized that I needed to better understand the practical side of virtue - so, I did some digging and this is what I found: 1. Virtuousness is associated with human beingswith flourishing and mor...al character (Ryff & Singer, 1998), with human strength, self-control, and resilience (Baumeister & Exline, 1999), and with meaningful human purpose and transcendent principles (Emmons, 1999). Desires or actions without human effects are not virtuous. In other words - virtue is related to being a morally excellent person who creates significant positive social impact and benefits. 2. Virtuous behavior is remarkable in regards to what motivates such action. For example, kindness, gratitude, and/or courage expressed in search of external recognition or personal gain, are not Authentically virtuous. Another way of stating this, is that virtuousness is its own reward and is not expressed with the intent of obtaining any external benefit or advantage (i.e., payment, approval, status, etc). For me - this really helped me think about being virtuous and Authentic in more practical terms - and putting this knowledge into practice has made a huge difference in my quality of life (as I hope it does yours!!). #authenticleadership #authenticity #thrive

What is necessary to change a person is to change his awareness of himself. Abraham Maslow #personalgrowth #purposedriven #authenticity #selfawareness #selfleadership

One of the truths that I believe about Authenticity - is that when you truly feel secure in your identity - you can be comfortable, confident, and secure around people who don’t share your exact beliefs or ideas (they may not ultimately be the type of person you want to have in your inner most sanctum - but - you can appreciate and honor other people’s beliefs - unless of course they are clearly harmful or destructive - without feeling threatened by them). #authenticity #presence #personalgrowth #selfawareness #characterdevelopment

On a group coaching call the other day - a discussion started about feeling driven by a clear sense of purpose - and a question was brought up regarding whether purpose necessarily needs to be connected to how we serve and impact others. A few people indicated that they felt it wasn’t necessary to have your purpose driven by having a positive social impact. They brought up examples of athletic pursuits, business goals, and educational accomplishments that were primarily dri...ven by self-interest. In thinking about this - I could come up with several examples of when I felt motivated and driven by a pursuit of goals where the primary benefit was self-serving. As I thought about this further - it seemed clear that you could be driven by a purpose that was independent of a social benefit. However, I then brought up the idea that a purpose that is driven by having a positive social impact - is transcendent in a way that the self-serving purpose isn’t. I brought up a story I had heard about Muhammed Ali - where he was constantly aware of - and focused on establishing his legacy - which he knew was much bigger than his athletic accomplishments - and was really about the number of lives he could impact! So, I ask you - what’s driving your purpose? #purposedriven #socialimpact

Purpose is a stable and generalized intention to accomplish something both meaningful to the self and of consequence to the world beyond the self. William Damon Having a consistent sense of purpose in your life is absolutely critical to living the good life! ... In fact, we know that when someone lacks a sense of purpose in their life - they will begin to deteriorate psychologically, spiritually, and even physically. In one study on life expectancy - researchers found that having a consistent life purpose (i.e., a reason to get out of bed in the morning) - could add approximately 7-10 years to your life!!). And when your purpose is intrinsically motivated (about becoming a better version of yourself; building meaningful relationships; having a positive impact on the people and causes you care about most; and developing mastery in a skill or role that you care deeply about) - it will not only lead to a longer life - but - it will help you establish your best possible life!! #bestself #authenticity #personalgrowth #purposedriven

True self-esteem is not, however, the same thing as thinking you can do no wrong. People with true self-esteem have a sense of whether behaviors are right or wrong because true self-esteem is accompanied by integrated values and regulations. Such individuals evaluate their behaviors, but their feelings of worth are not riding on those behaviors. Edward Deci - writing about Authenticity and Self-Determination theory #authenticity #purposedriven #authenticleadership #characterdevelopment #personalgrowth #thrive #corevalues