Knowing Your Authentic Self
When the 75 members of Stanford Graduate
School of Business’s Advisory Council were
asked to recommend the most important capability
for leaders to develop, their answer
was nearly unanimous: self-awareness. Yet many
leaders, especially those early in their careers,
are trying so hard to establish themselves in
the world that they leave little time for selfexploration.
They strive to achieve success in
tangible ways that are recognized in the external
world—money, fame, power, status, or