'Values-Driven Authentic Leadership' Shares Essential Lessons From Leaders

Values-Driven Authentic Leadership: Essential Lessons from the LeadershipWWEB Podcast Series was born of the wisdom and experiences of leaders throughout industry and academia.

The new book, co-authored by Andrew Braham, professor of civil engineering; John English, vice chancellor for research and innovation; and Matt Waller, dean of the Sam M. Walton College of Business, answers the question, "What does it mean to be an authentic leader?"

Drawing on conversations with a wide range of professional leaders, including several Fortune 500 CEOs, the authors identify six key opportunities for leadership growth: having a mentor, being in a group, knowing yourself, navigating transitions, being a mentor, and values and company culture.

Braham and English discussed the book with Waller on his Be Epic Podcast. In the podcast, they reflect on the many interviews they conducted on their shared podcast, LeadershipWWEB, that formed the basis of Values-Driven Authentic Leadership. Their first interview was with former U of A chancellor John White, who also wrote the foreword to the book. Subsequent podcasts featured former CEOs of Walmart and Tyson Foods, the current CEO of J.B. Hunt Transport Services and dozens of other industry- and academic-leading luminaries.

"All the leaders that we interviewed really seemed like they understood their strengths, their challenges, their opportunities to improve," Waller said. "All of them depended on mentors to gain self-awareness."