Page 205 - Appreciative Leadership

178 Appreciative Leadership

TABLE 7-1
SEVEN PRACTICES FOR BEING TRUE TO YOURSELF

1. Do what you love, with people you respect.
2. Follow your dreams.

3. Work to your strengths.
4. Express your creative spirit.
5. Make value-based decisions.
6. Keep your word.

7. Be relationally responsible.

Do What You Love, With People You Respect

Being true to yourself means knowing who and what makes you happy,
who and what gives you joy, and who and what brings out your best.
Music legend Tina Turner asked, “What’s love got to do with it?” When it
comes to leadership, the answer is, “Everything.” The path of integrity is

a path of love. When you love your work and the people with whom you
work, it shows. This is true for every kind of work in the world. When

we say that someone is a “master” or “masterful,” we mean that they do
what they do with love. A master builder loves the process of design,

loves the materials, and loves standing back in awe of the final result. A
master teacher loves her students, loves life, and loves the subjects of her
teaching. She takes joy in the process of human development. A master
engineer once told us, “You just don’t understand: We engineers who
love what we do actually think we can build a better world than God!”

PAUSE Think about people you consider masterful:

• How do they demonstrate their love for what they do?
• How do they treat the people with whom they work?

• How do they demonstrate their care for people and resources?
• What do you most appreciate about them?