I had a terrific experience last week attending the Extreme Leadership Certification program presented by author Steve Farber in San Diego. On the first day, we heard the full program as participants with Steve and master facilitator Dianne Kenny, presenting. The next day, we learned how to present the program ourselves; spending many hours on the finer points of facilitation and the important concepts to share. We were each assigned a portion of the workshop to prepare, practice and then present to the rest of the group, as well as to Steve and Dianne, on day three.

Although we were all presenting from the same workshop materials and all heard the same ideas and tips from Steve and Diane, each of us presented very differently. Yet, when it came time for feedback, each one of us heard a lot of positive coments (intermingled, of course, with some suggestions for improvement!).

How could our presentations be so different yet also be so good?

Because we were united in our mission, authentic in our passion, sincere in our beliefs, and enthusiastic in our delivery.

Each of us were highly committed to the Extreme Leadership message and our complete heart was in the work. Each of us also have different personal styles, different life experiences to draw from, and different audiences that we will target. And each of us, though very diverse, used our own authentic voice in our presentations.

One of my favorite comments heard often through the day was,

“You do you real well.”

The lesson in this is that it is OK for you to approach your work differently than someone else might. It’s OK for you to suggest a different point of view. It’s OK for individual members of a leadership team to share the same vision in a different way. The bottom line is that it’s OK for you to be you. Actually, not only is it OK to be the real you, it is preferred.

Be real. Speak from your heart. Use your authentic voice.

The world really needs you to do you real well.