True North, Emerging Leader Edition, 3rd Edition

1YOUR LIFE STORY

The reservoir of all my life experiences shaped me as a person and a leader.

—Howard Schultz, CEO, Starbucks

The journey to authentic leadership begins with understanding yourself: your life stories and crucibles. The life stories of the 222 leaders we interviewed cover the full spectrum of experiences, including the impact of parents, teachers, coaches, and mentors; support of their communities; and leadership in team sports, scouting, student government, and early employment. Many leaders were influenced by difficult experiences, such as personal illness or illness of a family member; death of a loved one; or being discriminated against by peers.

These leaders found their passion to lead through their unique life stories:

• None were born as leaders.
• None had innate characteristics, traits, or styles of a leader.
• None succeeded by emulating other leaders.

Rather, by being their authentic selves, they became great leaders, using their gifts to help others. This could happen only if they first understood themselves and their life stories.

All great myths pay tribute to the winding journey of the human condition. For instance, Homer's Odysseus spends a decade traversing the world before he comes to know himself. Though each journey is unique, the patterns are similar. Life involves suffering and hardship. We learn as we struggle and stumble along the way. Through these encounters, our character is formed. We gain wisdom, and we find clues about how we can ...