What Is Authentic Leadership? 7 Lessons from Podcast Guests
What Is Authentic Leadership? 7 Lessons from Podcast Guests
By Lori Adams-Brown
In a world filled with noise and pressure, authentic leadership rises as a refreshing alternative—one that centers purpose, empathy, and integrity. On the A World of Difference podcast, I’ve had the privilege of interviewing powerhouse leaders across industries who are redefining what it means to lead well in today’s complex world.
Here are 7 powerful lessons from these guests that reveal the heart of authentic leadership.
1. Let Mission Drive Your Leadership
🎙 April Díaz – CEO & Leadership Coach
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“Holistic leadership has to involve the whole person. And so if you are not expanding your internal capacity, you will not get the external results that you actually want and you will not do it successfully and sustainably over time.”
April Díaz works with changemakers navigating burnout and breakthrough. She reminds us that real leadership begins with a clear mission. When you’re driven by purpose, your team gains clarity and resilience—holistically.
2. Challenge the Systems That Keep People Small
🎙 Dr. Beth Allison Barr – Historian & Author
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Dr. Barr exposes patriarchal structures in church and culture that silence women. Authentic leaders don’t uphold harmful traditions—they challenge them. She calls us to build environments of belonging where everyone has a voice.
3. Healing Is a Leadership Skill
🎙 Dr. Chuck DeGroat – Therapist, Author & Professor
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We can’t lead others to wholeness while ignoring our own wounds. Chuck DeGroat offers insight into the inner healing necessary for leading with compassion and groundedness. Authentic leadership starts within.
4. Expand Your Vision of Who Belongs at the Table
🎙 Tricia Montalvo Timm – Board Director & Author
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Representation and belonging are game changers in leadership. Tricia shares her journey as a first-gen Latina in Silicon Valley and how embracing her story created space for others. True leaders create room for authenticity and innovation.
5. Speak the Uncomfortable Truths
🎙 Tia Levings – Advocate & Author
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Tia’s story of escaping religious extremism is a powerful reminder that truth-telling is an act of leadership. Even when it’s uncomfortable, authentic leaders speak up—for themselves and for others.
6. Name Injustice and Lead with Integrity
🎙 Rev. Dr. Heather Matthews – Pastor, Professor & Author
📺 Listen to this episode
Heather Matthews equips leaders to confront sexism and reshape systems that do harm. She brings spiritual depth, academic rigor, and pastoral heart to the conversation. Integrity requires leaders to act, not just empathize.
7. Lead with Empathy and Global Perspective
🎙 Karen Hall – Media Executive & Podcast Host
📺 Listen to this episode
Karen Hall shows that emotional intelligence and cultural humility are vital. Having worked across borders, she knows that listening well and leading with heart can build trust faster than credentials ever could.
Final Thoughts
Authentic leadership isn’t about perfection. It’s about self-awareness, values, and courage. Whether you’re leading a team, a boardroom, or a classroom, these seven leaders show us that real influence begins with being real.
👉 Subscribe to A World of Difference to keep learning how to lead with impact and heart. And if this post spoke to you, please share it with someone who inspires your own leadership journey.
Lori Adams-Brown
Podcast Host &. Executive Producer
Lori Adams-Brown is Director, Global Talent Development in a Silicon Valley tech company. She hosts the top 5% global podcast A World of Difference, where she interviews authentic leaders about their unique differences and encouraging us all to make a difference around the world together. She is an international speaker and consultant with over 20 years of global management work experience from living and working on 3 continents. She sits on the Silicon Valley Executive Board of How Women Lead and on the board of Justice Revival in Washington, D.C.
Raised in international schools in Costa Rica and Venezuela, and having lived and worked in Southeast Asia for 20 years, Lori has led cross-functional global teams to do everything from tsunami relief to community development to business. As a former international relief & development leader, she has led distributed global teams in multiple countries where she learned to speak six languages. She has spoken to audiences in Singapore, Venezuela, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Brunei, and all over the US. She holds a BA in both Sociology and Spanish and a Master of Arts in Intercultural Studies.
Her happy place is sipping a flat white coffee and having a deep conversation while enjoying either a beach or mountain vacation with the love of her life, Jason, their urbanite TCK teens, and rescue dog.
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