The art of leading with authenticity
How to reconnect with purpose in your career
How many times have you felt that your job looks “right” to others but feels empty to you? Some professionals follow socially validated paths—the stable job, the expected promotion, the project that “gives visibility”—but one day they wake up with the feeling of living someone else’s life. This disconnection is no accident; it’s the result of ignoring a fundamental question: How do I feel doing this?
In corporate environments, it’s easy to get trapped in approval dynamics: hitting the quarterly number, achieving a rating, or impressing the committee. But when all our decisions are driven by external validation, authenticity dies. Creativity, innovation, and purpose fade when work becomes just a script to follow.
That’s why answering the question “How do I feel doing this?” might sound poetic, but it’s highly strategic. Leading with authenticity, making decisions that resonate with you, and allowing teams to connect emotionally with their work generate more sustainable results than any KPI.
So, how can you listen to how you feel while doing what you do? Applying emotional awareness to leadership and decision-making involves a few things, such as:
Listen before you decide: Just like a musician tunes their ear before playing, observe and respect your emotional intuition before acting.
Filter the noise: Learn to differentiate external pressure from what truly drives impact and meaning in your work.
Redefine success from within: Replace external validation with the satisfaction of the creative process and the learning that comes from doing.
Act from authenticity: Decisions aligned with your purpose are born from inner commitment, never from obligation.
In a world full of metrics and comparisons, your competitive advantage can be something as simple—and as powerful—as regaining the ability to listen to your intuition and act with authenticity. And if you can inspire the same in your teams, connecting progress metrics to purpose… please, write to me because I want you on my team.