Skip to main content

This past July, Sue Stockdale, Deputy Editor of Coaching Perspectives, called me for an interview on my new book Yours Truly about authentic leadership.  Sue was the First British woman to ski to the Magnetic North Pole and has represented Scotland in track and field athletics. As an executive coach and an author of several books on work psychology, she was interested in the implications of my approach to authenticity for coaching.

 

The interview begins with some personal introduction. Thank you Sue for these kind words:

 

“It was a warm spring day in Madrid when I spoke to her- a relaxed and passionate academic whose personal story embodies all the characteristics of authentic leadership that she espouses to others. Margarita is a psychologist by training and loves philosophy, and grew up in a small town with a humble background and her fair share of adversity. In the workplace, she saw how some people took things for granted, whereas she had to work hard to progress. Having got the opportunity to obtain a Fulbright scholarship to the US, she admired those that were authentic and true to themselves, and did good for others, which inspired her to begin her research to be able to tell their stories.”

Then, we talked about my 3 Hs of Authentic Leadership:

“Mayo, whose research has been published widely, has identified three characteristics that differentiate authentic leaders from others, which are: heart, habits and harmony.  She is keen to encourage coaches to help leaders explore these areas with their clients, to help them identify behaviours that will enable them to become authentic, and remain authentic over time.”

Sue concludes the interview with the implications of authentic leadership for coaches:

“I think that Mayo’s research contains several points of relevance for coaches.  Not only can we encourage our clients to tell their personal stories, and develop greater self-awareness, we can also encourage them demonstrate vulnerability and to think about what they may want their legacy to be within in the organisation.  But we also must look in the mirror and apply these points ourselves, particularly in terms of building trust with our clients, and the degree to which we feel comfortable with showing vulnerability.”

Thank you Sue for a fantastic interview! Read here the complete interview