Speaker 1: Helping leaders motivate their people to a higher level of
Speaker 1: performance through strong human relations, team building, and golajieving. This
Speaker 1: is the seven Minute Leadership Podcast with your host Paul
Speaker 1: fella Aledo.
Speaker 2: Hello everyone, and welcome to the seven Minute Leadership Podcast.
Speaker 2: It's episode five forty nine. Picture this. A leader walks
Speaker 2: into a room. People sit up a little straighter, They
Speaker 2: listen a little closer, not because of the title on
Speaker 2: this person's badge, but because of the way this leader
Speaker 2: has shown up day after day. This isn't charisma, It
Speaker 2: isn't luck. It's something deeper, something earned. What people are
Speaker 2: experiencing is authentic leadership, and it rests on four unshakable pillars. Integrity,
Speaker 2: account ability, empathy, and vulnerability. These four pillars form the
Speaker 2: foundation of every leader who leaves a mark on their team.
Speaker 2: They are the quiet structure behind consistent trust, consistent respect,
Speaker 2: and consistent performance. When these pillars are strong, everything else
Speaker 2: becomes easier to carry. And when they go weak, everything
Speaker 2: around you starts to wobble. So let's walk through them,
Speaker 2: one by one. Through a story that might feel familiar.
Speaker 2: A few years ago, I worked with a leader named Mark.
Speaker 2: His team had talent, energy, and ambition. The problem was
Speaker 2: they didn't have trust. Deadlines were slipping, communication was hollow.
Speaker 2: People were showing up physically but not mentally. When I
Speaker 2: met with if Mark, he blamed it on workload, staffing,
Speaker 2: and pressure from above. The truth was the foundation was
Speaker 2: cracked and he didn't see it yet. Over the next
Speaker 2: few months, we rebuilt the team through the four pillars
Speaker 2: of authentic leadership. This transformation was remarkable. The story I'm
Speaker 2: going to share with you mirrors what many leaders experience.
Speaker 2: Pillar one integrity. On Mark's team, people felt like decisions
Speaker 2: changed based on who was in the room. Standards floated,
Speaker 2: expectations drifted. Integrity isn't about perfection. It is about consistency.
Speaker 2: It is your words matching your actions, even when it
Speaker 2: costs you something. We started small. If Mark said he
Speaker 2: would follow up by Friday, he did. If he promised
Speaker 2: a new schedule, he delivered it on time. When he
Speaker 2: realized he had been unclear, he didn't defend it. He
Speaker 2: corrected it. Week by week, the noise faded. People stopped
Speaker 2: wondering if he meant what he said. Integrity tells a
Speaker 2: team they can exhale because the leader's foundation won't shift.
Speaker 2: Beneath their feet. Pillar two accountability. Accountability is not punishment,
Speaker 2: it is ownership. It is the ability to say this
Speaker 2: result is mine, good or bad. The turning point for
Speaker 2: Mark came when he walked into a staff meeting after
Speaker 2: a project fell apart and said, this one is on me.
Speaker 2: I should have seen the pressure you were under, and
Speaker 2: I didn't, and nobody expected it. That moment unlocks something powerful.
Speaker 2: When a leader owns their part, the team starts owning
Speaker 2: theirs too. They step up because the leader did first.
Speaker 2: Accountability spreads through a team like wildfire in the best
Speaker 2: way possible. It inspires people to raise their standard because
Speaker 2: they see the leader raising theirs. Pillar number three is empathy.
Speaker 2: Workplaces crack when people feel invisible. Empathy is the pillar
Speaker 2: that strengthens connection. It does not mean you agree with
Speaker 2: everything or soften every decision. It means you understand what
Speaker 2: someone is feeling before you move forward. I asked Mark
Speaker 2: to set aside ten minutes a day to truly listen,
Speaker 2: not to fix something, not to direct someone, but to understand.
Speaker 2: One of his employees later told me, I started working
Speaker 2: harder because it felt like he finally saw me. Empathy
Speaker 2: is a leadership multiplier. When people feel seen, they participate
Speaker 2: with more intention. In Pillar four is vulnerability, and I'll
Speaker 2: tell you this is the one that scares leaders the most.
Speaker 2: Many fear it signals weakness. In reality, at signals courage.
Speaker 2: Vulnerability is the pillar that tells your team I'm human,
Speaker 2: I'm learning, and I trust you enough to say so.
Speaker 2: During a busy season, Mark admitted that he didn't have
Speaker 2: all the answers and asked his team for help. Instead
Speaker 2: of losing confidence in him, they gained more. Vulnerability created ownership, creativity,
Speaker 2: and commitment. Teams follow leaders who are real, not leaders
Speaker 2: who pretend. When all four pillars started working together, something
Speaker 2: shifted almost overnight. Tension dropped, communication improved, people re engaged.
Speaker 2: The schedule challenges didn't disappear, and neither did the workload.
Speaker 2: But the team carried it differently because the leader carried
Speaker 2: it differently. The foundation was finally solid. If you want
Speaker 2: to use this today, here is your quick self check.
Speaker 2: Give yourself a score from one to five on each pillar.
Speaker 2: Integrity do your actions match your words even when nobody
Speaker 2: is watching? Accountability do you own outcomes without deflecting? Empathy?
Speaker 2: Do you understand before you judge, and vulnerability. Do you
Speaker 2: let your team see the real you? Your lowest score in
Speaker 2: those four is your growth edge. Strengthen that pillar and
Speaker 2: watch your entire leadership structure rise. Authentic leadership isn't built
Speaker 2: through charisma, talent or loud confidence. It is built through
Speaker 2: the steady weight of integrity, accountability, empathy, and vulnerability, practiced
Speaker 2: day after day. Build these pillars and people won't follow
Speaker 2: you because they have to. They will follow you because
Speaker 2: you've earned their trust in a way that lasts. So today,
Speaker 2: take a moment and write down one action you can
Speaker 2: take in each pillar before the week is over. One
Speaker 2: move in these areas can create more momentum than a
Speaker 2: month of complicated strategies. Leaders who master the four pillars
Speaker 2: don't simply lead teams. They shape cultures that stand strong
Speaker 2: no matter what comes their way. This has been the
Speaker 2: seven minute Leadership Podcast, and I thank you for listening.
Speaker 1: For more, Paul Fell of Alito Podcasts, visit paulfellowalito dot com.