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Index Executive Summary2Introduction2Life Story3The Johari Window4Values5Motivation6Conclusion8Recommendations (Personal Development Plan)8References11

Executive SummaryThis Authentic Leadership Report deals with the most significant aspect of the leadership self knowledge. The premise of any success is the journey that the person has undertaken which has made him how he is. This report tells all about my life story along with the lessons and realizations on his path that has given me the leadership qualities. We will also go through the motivations, values, goals and the overall view of my personality with the help of Johari Window. To prepare this report enough primary and secondary research has been conducted to understand the leadership theories along with a good brainstorming on my personal journey. I have also referenced few biographies and autobiographies including that of Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela and Gandhi to understand the practical leadership decision making process and values close to these people.This report will conclude with the note of optimism and the path ahead for me along with the Personal Development Plan that I have made for myself and which I strive to achieve in the set time framework.Introduction There is an artists impression inscribed in the Temple of Apollo at Delphi, Greece, which says - "Gnothi seauton". This is Greek impression for Know thyself. Plato, Socrates, Franklin, Gogh, Mandela or Gandhi every leader possessed one common quality they knew themselves. They knew their weaknesses, which they incessantly strived to overcome; their strengths, which they capitalized and their SOLE purpose, which they never lost sight of- even when put in jail for 27 years, even when declared insane and put in asylum or even when the whole nation stood against or, especially, with them.Authentic leaders and their leadership is aptly put in words as follows -Authentic leaders are genuine people who are true to themselves and to what they believe in. They engender trust and develop and genuine connections with others. Because people trust them, they are able to motivate others to high levels of performance. Rather than letting the expectations of other people guide them, they are prepared to be their own person and go their own way. As they develop as authentic leaders, they are more concerned about servicing others than they are about their success or recognition. (George & Sims, 2007)

Authenticity is acknowledging and using ones weaknesses and strengths.Following are the qualities that an authentic leader must possess: Clear recognition of purpose. The practice of core lifes values. Put all heart in doing the task they set for themselves. Absolute dedication.

Relationship based on integrity, honesty and empathy. Demonstrate self-discipline.(George, 2004)Authenticity has been studied and analyzed throughout the history. Plato, Socrates to Shakespeare, who wrote To thy own self be true. Polonius, Hamlet. (Kruse, 2013)Leadership emerges from a persons life story and not with some born characteristics, talents, top positions or whack on the side of head. The key is in understanding ourselves well enough, its like an ocean you take a dive, after some time it seems like drowning but once youve crossed a certain point you get the clear picture and redemption from the doubts and confusions, this is self awareness. Like musicians or athletes who devote themselves to a lifetime of realizing their self potential, a leader in any field be it corporate or politics, devotes himself to such an ideal. When 75 members of Stanford Graduate School of Business Advisorys Council were asked to recommend the most important capability for leaders to develop, their answer was nearly unanimous: self awareness. (George, Sims, McLean & Mayer, 2007)Authentic leadership demands- practice of framing and remembering ones life story in which the person is protagonist and not a mere observer, even if he has been, development of values and principles aligned to such story, balance of extrinsic and intrinsic motivations and a strong support group that ensures integrity and humble life. This support group is also essential in giving an honest feedback to the leader at the times of crisis and even at the time of high when he is surrounded many yes men. (George, Sims, McLean & Mayer, 2007)

Life Story 2010 to 2012: My academic story starts from 2010 when I took admission in Aerospace Engineering Program in Manipal University. There I spent two long years. I started pursuing that program because my father had always wished for me that. Since it was not my desire to pursue that program therefore I lacked motivation and desire to actually put my efforts into it. As a result, my marks plummeted and the graph of my academic performance touched a new low. I had always been a top student throughout my academics but now I was barely passing the examinations. This turned into downward spiral and I further lost my motivation to learn or improve. I stopped attending classes and lectures and this lead to adoption of many bad habits including complete disorganization and irresponsible behavior in all the spectrum of my life. In short, I was facing failure and there was a huge need to bounce back or stay doomed for a long period. May12: This was the month of rising back to good life. I decided to quit the Aerospace Engineering Program and restart the academics on a good note. I convinced my father that I was not at all interested in that program and would end up being miserable if I become one. He understood and consented me to take my own decision. Sept.12 This month witnessed a new beginning of my academic journey. I joined Middlesex University BA Business Management program. This was my choice and I was pretty proud, confident and enthusiastic in pursuing it with my all heart. As evidenced by the result, first class results in 1st and 2nd years, I was doing fine.In 2nd year I was appointed as teaching assistant for statistics and economics.In 3rd year I was appointed as captain of Middlesen Cricket team.By then I had sorted my life and its priorities bold and clearly. My biggest motivation has always been achieving my clear defined goals and making my parents proud. In the college the desire to excel in studies and sport has always been my inner driving force.My Johari Window:Johari window is a technique used in understanding and gaining self awareness, personal development and improving communication and trust.My Johari Window is as follows:Open AreaBlind Area

Known by me & othersUnknown by me but known by others

Good communication skills,Enforcing my opinions on others, &

Time Management, &

Multitasking.Bad Listener.

Hidden AreaUnknown Area

Known by me but concealed from othersNot known by me or others, Unrealized Area

Emotionally Distant to avoid vulnerability.

Open Area- This includes my good communication skills, efficient time management and ability to multitask. By multitasking I mean the ability to handle the pressure and achieve multiple goals rather than succumbing to the circumstances. This is evidenced by the instance that when I was going through the lowest point in my life in 2012 and everything seemed like falling apart, I bounced back with a decision to start over as per my desire and within an year I wasnt just doing good in academics but also in extra curriculum activities including but not limited to sports.Hidden Area- is that I stay emotionally distant from people to avoid vulnerability. This has its own pros and cons. The positive side is that I am not dragged easily by the emotional turmoil that most of the people of my age group go through because of their experiences in relationships. However, the authentic leaders have the indispensible quality of connecting and empathizing with people. I am striving to strike a balance between my aspiration to stay emotionally strong while making genuine connections with people and develop my strong support group, which essentially checks my integrity and keep me grounded, as all the authentic leaders have.Unknown Area- This is my blind side and includes fallouts like opinion enforcing and being a bad listener. The essential quality of leader is that he is a great listener. The best leaders are proactive, strategic and intuitive listeners. There is an old saying its impossible to stick your foot in your mouth when its closed. (Myatt,2012). A great leader is a great listener. (Whetton & Cameron, 2002)As I have been made aware by my peers about these issues I have already started following a strict adherence to one of the Benjamin Franklins golden principles Silence Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation. This shall make me avoid enforcing opinions, and help me to be a good listener and more peaceful. ValuesTry not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value.- Albert EinsteinValues are the embodiment of what a person stands for and what is the basis of behavior of the person. It serves as the basis of judgment about what is important to the person and whats not. In real life a leader has to often choose between more than one right path rather than a right or a wrong path, at that time values serve as the guiding force. Plato thought that values like justice were eternal ideas. (Tom, 2007)Values are mental processes that are both cognitive emotional. They combine cognitive representations such as concepts,goals, and beliefs with emotional attitudes that have positive or negative valence. For example, the values associated with life and death require the mental concepts of life and death and also the emotional attitudes that view life as positive and death as negative. (Thagard, 2013)In my journey from an undesired academic course to the most desired path of academics and its results, I have realized the importance of clear core values of an individual and that the true realization of potential and personal happiness could be achieved only with the actions aligned to such set values like Mahatma Gandhi had ahimsa i.e. non-violence. My values are mentioned as follows:Health: In eastern cultures body is regarded as a temple. I have set this value to stay physically, mentally and emotionally fit throughout my life. This I have been practicing and plan to practice through sports including cricket and swimming, normal exercise and yoga including meditation and avoiding the harmful substances and keeping the balanced diet.Eat not to gluttony Benjamin Franklins Principle (Franklin, 1996)Karma: Ill do to others how I expect should be dealt with me. As the eastern philosophy says what youll do will come back to you. This will keep in check my relationship with other people and environment. And being true to this value Ill lead with equal respect to all the team members be it in a business organization or any other walk of life.Serve & elevate family: Family is the root from which I get all the strength and motivation and stand tall even at times of defeat. They have stood by me all the time and they understand me as I wanted to be understood. My highest ideals are my parents and I want to serve and support them and be with them. Growth through introspection There is no end to knowledge and a lifetime is short to improve ourselves. I have committed myself to lifelong learning and improving myself. This I am doing and plan to do by investing in myself through conferences, seminars, self education through biographies, autobiographies, management books and other great books. Role Model My role model is an Indian cricketer Yuvraj Singh, who has experienced the glory of winning world cup and then he fought and defeated cancer and then bounced back with more strength than before. Not just he is a great sports man, he is also quiet active in his philanthropic endeavors and helps many cancer treatment non profit organizations.Motivations:"The term motivation refers to factors that activate, direct, and sustain goal-directed behavior... Motives are the "whys" of behavior - the needs or wants that drive behavior and explain what we do. We don't actually observe a motive; rather, we infer that one exists based on the behavior we observe."(Nevid, 2013)There are many theories that explain the factors that motivate us to act:Instincts: These are in born and cant be changed. This is the basic behavior of a person. Drives and Needs: Biological drives or needs like sleeping, drinking, eating. We are driven by these needs until we are alive.Arousal levels: To maintain their subjective level of arousal people perform various activities and based on this they may be risk aversive or risk takers. For example, people with low arousal levels avoid taking risky decisions, whereas the person with high level may get easily bored and frustrated with non-challenging tasks. (Belch, 2004)Motivation is divided into two categories: Extrinsic & Intrinsic. Extrinsic motivation is the driving force which acts outside the individual such as money, material, appreciation, recognition etc., whereas intrinsic motivation is one which arise within the individual and includes desire to lead, be a solution provider, a funny person etc. I have observed brainstormed and researched a lot about this and have found out that following are my major motivations: Extrinsic:Financial well being: Currently one of the important motivations of my life is financial well being. There are three levels which I have set to achieve. First is financially breakeven, second is financial independence and third is absolute financial independence. These three levels have been defined keeping in view the Tony Robbins book Money: Master the game. I keep reading books on financial independence, financial literacy and financial journals to broaden my knowledge.Deadlines: This is the motivation in disguise of deadline. The nearer the deadline the more I find myself efficient. This means two things I need to be more self disciplined and I can perform well under pressure. Deadlines are what put the fear of not making on the time. It acts as a deterrent force to not fail. A reasonable fear and anxiety boosts up the performance and enables the person to work harder than the normal.Responsibilities: My responsibilities towards my family, academic institution, society, nation and environment are the major driving force towards my hard work and efforts to achieve my goals. This is my motivation to leave all the places including institutions, associations, town, state or country better with my contribution than it was when I joined or arrived there.Success: Besides responsibilities I consider myself as an ambitious person. The need to win makes me sweat with a smile. It is in my habit to enter any competition with the spirit to win rather than playing along. The want to win the competition I choose has always been my motivation to put all the effort towards it. At the end of the day what matters is whether I have succeed or not.Recognition: Rather than carrying a false attitude of not caring I prefer to acknowledge my want and motivation of getting appreciated and recognized on the projects or tasks I put efforts on. Besides getting awarded and entrusted with significant responsibilities like captain of cricket team makes me more enthusiastic and motivates me to put in more efforts.Intrinsic:Leading: Leading others has always been my biggest intrinsic motivation. This motivates me to run that extra mile which separates leaders from followers. I have always taught the difficult academic concepts t my classmates during my school and for that I had to put extra effort in preparing my subjects well but leading with the intention to help and lift others has invariably made the task easier. I still have this as a motivating factor to pursue my goal and lead others along the path to achieve it.Helping others: This motivation factor is connected to the above factor. Larry page, co-founder of Google, was asked to think of the idea which could positively impact at least one billion people 10 years down the line. In my view, the impact of my actions is what matters the most to me. By impacting and helping maximum number of people I would be able to consider myself as the one who actually made a difference by being alive.Being true to my beliefs and values: Rather than getting delusional and getting noised out by the opinions, principles, beliefs and wants of others, I want to decide my own path and tread it alone and live with its consequences. My personal beliefs, values and truth should be my sole direction setter of my life.Being with people I care about: This is the group of people who stand by a leader through thick and thin and from whom he can expect an honest feedback and unconditional love. The same is also reciprocated by a leader. This provides him the emotional strength that is vital as it has been recognized even by the management science as emotional intelligence or emotional quotient.Personal Growth: Personal growth and constant learning have been the story of my life, and the motivation on which I take pride and want to continue and grow throughout. To learn new things, to uproot the weaknesses, to improve myself in every possible way health, financial, spiritual, emotional etc. is my earnest desire. The essential quality of a leader is thats he never stops to learn. Be it any business tycoon or an athlete or professor everyone strives to improve their knowledge with constant reading and learning habits.Practicing Creativity: Creativity is like a pipe which inflows new innovative ideas and new and simpler ways to do things, the only thing that obstructs its inflow is ourselves (Catmull, 2014). Creativity focuses on the simple yet effective solutions, it is the only art which has no specific guidelines. With the creative bent of mind a person can lead any path and help provide solution even to the fields he is not expert in. With the enough practice of creativity it can be utilized in every path a leader may take politics to business. Creativity drives my decisions. And constantly practicing is my motivation and ambition. ConclusionTo conclude this report I want to acknowledge that this project has been an eye opener, unlike other projects where the goal is to seek answers from the books and internet tools while being the student as a medium, this project has made me to look within myself and seek the answers while making the academic books or internet as a medium. In this report I have endeavored to ask the question from myself which were always unasked. Through the extensive use of primary and secondary research, besides the managerial leadership modules, lecture notes, seminar resources, books, journals and other internet resources I have compiled my best answers to my knowledge. This research project has made me more enthusiastic and sure about myself and has given me the chance to seek my peers honest opinion about myself as mentioned in Johari window. All the above-mentioned facts are based on my life story and evidenced by the same.From the beginning of my journey as a student who was stuck in an undesirable path because of his parents wish, who had low grades, low morale and was facing failure and dealing with his bad habits to the person who has proved himself that he can bounce back and take his responsibilities squarely on his shoulders, who can do good in academics and at the same time be a captain of his favorite sport, who can critically analyze himself and acknowledge his own weaknesses, mistakes and still can think to achieve the highest ideals of his life by clearly stating in his values, principles, motivations, responsibilities and highest aspirations. Authenticity is not just about being honest and showing integrity when its convenient, its real test is saying your truth even when you dont know how the consequences may turn out, and authenticity demands courage and readiness to be absolute vulnerable. Taking note of above, I can confidently say that I have the potential and qualities to be an effective authentic leader. Recommendations: Personal Development PlanA Personal Development Plan is a form of self-managed learning that is owned by individual and enables a strategic approach to setting learning and development goals. Being a continuous goal it is often divided till the future point of time up till which a goal can be set and achieved with no major change. Personal development plan will indicate that I will continue to develop my authentic leadership for the next two years. This PDP has been developed on the basis of SMART principle i.e. Specific Measurable Achievable Realistic Time BoundI have attached one governing principle to each goal in order to remember these goals and their motive in a concise manner. Here is my 2 years Personal Development Plan:GoalWhy?Governing PrincipleDeadlineRealistic Actions

Being a Good ListenerThe essential condition of being an effective leader and learner is having the quality to listen and value others opinions.Speak not but what way benefit others or your self. Avoid trifling conversation.This is to be practiced for the next six months, i.e., till November, 2015.To participate in debate competitions and practice the Socratic method of debate.

Not rudely and blunlty refuting the opinions of others but using the words "in my opinion" or "I believe" before contradicting to others.

No matter how smart a person thinks he is, he cannot generate all good ideas - listen to others.

A leader needs to know the best the wants, demands and motivations of people.

Being more conscious towards my healthA healthy body is the reservoir of healthy ideas.Eat not to DullnessThis is to be implemented from now on and to be practiced till the end of two years after which it will be reviewed keeping in view the health position at that time.Eating more raw food, at least 25% less than my current diet but more frequently, 3-4 litres of water, at least 1 hour of sports and exercise for minimum 5 days a week and minimising the consumption on junk food.

Self DisciplineSelf discipline is the key to achieve any great thing in life. (Catmull, 2014)Resolve to perform what you ought. Perform without fail what you resolve.This is to be practiced for two years from now with the strategy mentioned in the next coloumn and after that period the strategy will be reviewed.Decide the reward and keep the reward ready that Ill get after my task it could be an episode of your favorite sit-com, or time to favorite hobby. (Sourabh, 2015)

An indispensible quality of leader is that he is self motivated and self disciplined.

Learning about Business & InvestingTo broaden the knowledge of business and to gain the edge over my peers.Knowledge is power.Reading 2 books in a month.This will lead to reading 48 books in the period of 2 years from now.

These books will include books on business management, investing, investing strategy of the greatest investors of all time, economics of the business, business valuation and management. International Journals, publications of international bodies and staying up to date with the financial news.

Practicing CreativityTo bring the simple yet effective solutions and gain the understanding of fundamental design of things rather than getting delusioned by the complexities.The biggest rebellion is creativityTwo goals of 1 year eachWriting down 10 any theme based ideas daily on a waiter's pad for next 2 years.

Reading "Whack on the side of mind" & "The Artist's Way" books in next 6 months and exrecise the tasks given in them.

In the 2nd year attending webinars, reading biographies and books of the most innovative and creative people including - Nikola Tesla, Albert Einstien, Michelangelo, Elon Musk and likes.

References1. George, Sims, McLean & Mayer, 2007https://hbr.org/2007/02/discovering-your-authentic-leadership2. Kruse, Kevin. (2013); What is Authentic Leadership?http://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2013/04/09/what-is-leadership/3. George, Bill. (2004); Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Valuehttp://www.amazon.com/Authentic-Leadership-Rediscovering-Secrets-Creating/dp/07879752814. Myatt, Mike. (2012) Why Most Leaders Need to Shut Up andListenhttp://www.forbes.com/sites/mikemyatt/2012/02/09/why-most-leaders-need-to-shut-up-listen/5. Whetten, D. A., & Cameron, K. S. (2002).Developing management skill6. Thagard, Paul. (2013). What are values?https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/hot-thought/201304/what-are-values7. Nevid, J. (2013). Psychology: Concepts and applications. Belmont, CA: Wadworth http://psychology.about.com/od/mindex/g/motivation-definition.htm8. Sourabh (2015). DISCIPLINE : DO FUN, BE ALEGENDhttps://beingwarrior.wordpress.com/2015/04/13/discipline-do-fun-be-a-legend/9. Franklin, Benjamin. (Print 1996). The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin. http://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-Benjamin-Franklin-Thrift-Editions/dp/0486290735

10. Sinek, Simon. (2011). Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to take Actions. http://www.amazon.com/Start-Why-Leaders-Inspire-Everyone/dp/1591846447/ref=zg_bs_2675_9

11. George, Bill. (2007). True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadershiphttp://www.amazon.com/True-North-Discover-Authentic-Leadership/dp/0787987514

12. Rath, Tom. (2007). Strengths Finder 2.0http://www.amazon.com/StrengthsFinder-2-0-Tom-Rath/dp/159562015X/ref=zg_bs_2675_1

13. Andrzej A. huczynski and David A. Buchanan. (1985, 2007). Organizational Behaviour. England: Pearson Education Limited.

14. Hal Belch (2004). Motivation and Emotion. United States of America: Social Studies School Service.

15. Cover, R, Stephen. (2013) The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

http://www.amazon.com/The-Habits-Highly-Effective-People/dp/1451639619/ref=zg_bs_2675_3

16. Cllins, Jim. (2001). Good to Great http://www.amazon.com/Good-Great-Some-Companies-Others/dp/0066620996/ref=zg_bs_2682_8

17. Catmull, Ed. (2014). Creativity, Inc.: Overcoming the Unseen Forces That Stand in the Way of True Inspirationhttp://www.amazon.com/Creativity-Inc-Overcoming-Unseen-Inspiration/dp/0812993012/ref=zg_bs_2682_13

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