How we communicateâthe words we say and how we say themâhas the profound power to change lives, form connections, and create communities. But many of us struggle to translate our ideas, values, and dreams into words.
In Fearless Authenticity: Lead Better, Sell More, and Speak Sensationally, speaker, TV personality, and radio host Jeanne Sparrow provides a roadmap to unlock your unique value, gain the courage and confidence to connect authentically and fearlessly with your audience.
The process begins with the mantra: Be Brave, Be Free, Be You. With strategic advice and instructional authenticity actions informed by Sparrow's extensive media experience, you'll learn how to identify the unique parts of your perspective, opinion, and experience and how to step into your individual power that will transform your professional and personal life.
Whether you're looking to move forward in your career or make better connections in your life, Fearless Authenticity is an honest conversation about success and personal powerâan easy-to-follow guide whenever there's a team to lead, a sale to close, a speech to deliver. This book is for anyone who wants to stand out, speak up and be heard.
How we communicateâthe words we say and how we say themâhas the profound power to change lives, form connections, and create communities. But many of us struggle to translate our ideas, values, and dreams into words.
In Fearless Authenticity: Lead Better, Sell More, and Speak Sensationally, speaker, TV personality, and radio host Jeanne Sparrow provides a roadmap to unlock your unique value, gain the courage and confidence to connect authentically and fearlessly with your audience.
The process begins with the mantra: Be Brave, Be Free, Be You. With strategic advice and instructional authenticity actions informed by Sparrow's extensive media experience, you'll learn how to identify the unique parts of your perspective, opinion, and experience and how to step into your individual power that will transform your professional and personal life.
Whether you're looking to move forward in your career or make better connections in your life, Fearless Authenticity is an honest conversation about success and personal powerâan easy-to-follow guide whenever there's a team to lead, a sale to close, a speech to deliver. This book is for anyone who wants to stand out, speak up and be heard.
BE BRAVE
Everybodyâs mama told them these same eight words on the first day of school: âBaby, just be yourself and youâll make friends.â Of course, she was right (mamas always are), but she didnât tell me how to do it. To be fair, even if she had explained it to me, it probably wouldnât have done much good. It sounds so simple to say just be yourself, but itâs easier said than done, at any age. Thatâs what this book is all aboutâgiving you a process to find your way to the beauty of your Fearless Authenticity, whether itâs for the first time or getting back what youâve lost of it along your way in life.
If youâre reading this, chances are youâve found the deceptively simple advice to just be yourself challenging in some way. Youâre not alone in that experience. There are a lot of reasons thatâs true for all of us and, sometimes, weâre not even aware of what these reasons are. For me, it was hard to be fearless and express my most authentic self because of who I am and how I came to be.
Iâm adopted, which Iâve always known. It was never a secret. My parents wanted me to know the truth of who I was and that I was chosen, wanted, and very loved. When I was young, that was all I knew. I felt all those things deep in my bones. But as I got older, I started putting things together. I realized that to be chosen in this way, I also had to be given away.
When I realized this truth, I also realized that to be loved and wanted by my family meant another family had to let me go. Even if it was for the best, even if there were the best intentions behind that decision, what it said to me was that I wasnât wanted somewhere, that people who were supposed to love and protect me had chosen not to do that. They rejected me for some reason. In my head, that meant something was wrong with me and that I had to prove myself worthy to even be here, to be loved.
As an adoptee, I always felt like I slipped in through the back door. That if I didnât do things well and show why I should be here, then I wasnât actually worth the effort to anyone. If I didnât get good grades, wasnât good company or entertaining, I wasnât living up to my end of the bargain to justify why I deserved to stay here. That logic convinced me that if the people who were supposed to take care of me decided they couldnât, then whoever took over for them was doing me a favor. I looked at everything with that twisted logic. It made me strive for perfection every day because, if I was perfect, then they had no reason not to love me. I would, of course, get something wrong, but that didnât stop me from playing back conversations and events in my head to make sure I didnât do âsomething wrongâ again. That mindset also led me to apologize for everything when I was younger, whether it was my fault or not. I always told myself I should have known better, done better. I was in essence always walking on eggshells that I created for myself. Back then, I thought it was normal to do all that and feel that way all the time. And when I feel insecure now, I have to consciously choose not to go back to that same behavior, because no matter how damaging it was, itâs still familiar and even reassuring.
Thatâs how I started down the slippery slope of not always being fearless or authentic. When youâre always trying to validate yourself and show everyone that you deserve a place in this world, you end up saying or doing things to toe some imaginary line that someone else set, instead of toeing the line you know is true and right for you.
That slide slowed down when I finally found a label for what Iâd been missing. To name a thing is to know a thing, right? When I was able to name Fearless Authenticity, life and work made more sense. I saw what my value was, what I had to offer the world and others, and stopped trying to explain or justify what I wanted, needed, and was good at when it wasnât ever going to make sense to them. I stepped into the power of my own unique experience and skills without apology. I was unequivocally not sorry.
At that point, with all the advice Iâd gotten and used, everything Iâd learned so far, my experience of how I came to be clicked into place. I did have something to offerâthat show-offy little girl who thought she always had the answers finally had some. I knew my value and ability to tell stories well, both mine and othersâ, and do it in a way that connects with audiences of all kinds for different usesâleadership, sales/marketing, speaking, and more. And I knew I could show others how to do the same to help them reach their goals, especially in their work. Knowing that helped me think bigger about the work I was already doing when I started my business. Until then, I had limited myself to what I knewâmedia coachingânever realizing the full value, application, and potential for all my skills. So, I stopped thinking small and put deliberate intention into delivering the full impact of what I was already offering.
By naming Fearless Authenticity and clearly defining the way I approach it, I began to fully see the value in myself. (Iâll help you find your value in chapter 2.) Iâve always seen my value through my work, because what Iâve done for a living has mostly been an extension of how Iâve always justified my presence. If someone couldnât see my value, I would try my best to convince them and, sometimes, I succeeded. So exhausting and unnecessary. The shift away from that didnât happen overnight, though. (Iâm still working on it. For instance, writing this book has been the biggest challenge and commitment of my lifeâand I often felt like the biggest fraud doing it, even though I was so excited about it. That voice that draws faulty conclusions would ask me: âWho do you think you are to write an entire book? You can write a speech or a bit but thatâs it.â But I shut that voice down with whatâs next.)
When I first named Fearless Authenticity, I also created a mantra to keep me focused and grounded in it: Be Brave, Be Free, Be You. Be Brave is first because it makes the other two possible. Taking a chance means Being Braveâfearless even. Being fearless doesnât mean having no fear; it means you acknowledge whatever youâre afraid of and move forward anyway. And putting your authentic self and talents out there into the world without a mask takes courage. Be Free because to fully step into your own power, you need to first throw away all the expectations, judgments, and roles that others (and you) have put on you and that youâve felt obligated to fulfill. These burdens may even be weighing you down or holding you back. Once youâre free of all that, you can choose what you accept, ask for, and accomplish on your terms (which is also scary, so please refer back to Be Brave as needed). And Be You because you are the gift. You know your value, worth, and gifts and can let others know about them and share them as you see fit. When you can take steps every day to Be Brave, Be Free, Be You, then youâre walking on your path to Fearless Authenticity.
I want to be crystal clear that Fearless Authenticity is for you. Itâs not for other people, even if you use it to sell yourself to others in order to get what you want and need. Itâs really about you knowing and making that connection inside your-self, for yourself. Itâs a knowing that goes so deep that you never ask if you âdeserve it,â because you do. You know and believe without question that you have whatever you need inside you. Because if youâre questioning it or always looking for external validation or whatever your struggle is (and we all have them), nobody can convince you otherwise, and you certainly wonât be able to convince anybody else. Unless . . . unless you luck out, somebody sees your potential, and decides to give you a shot. However, making the most of that takes you right back to the first thingâyouâve got to believe in yourself!
The purpose of Be Brave is to push through fear to create and solidify belief in yourself. It can be daunting to keep the faith when you know youâre up against big oddsâand othersâ doubts. Thatâs why Iâm in awe of my friend and acclaimed Chicago mystery author Tracy Clarkâs unwavering faith in herself and her abilities. She knew practically from the womb that she wanted to be a writer.
âI took every class and learned everything,â she said. âI knew I had that foundation. And, of course, Iâm stubborn as all get-out. I had a choice: I can either keep going and see how far I could go with it and hopefully get where I needed to go. Or I could stop and then I would sort of regret that, because I knew this was me. This is what I wanted to do.â
She now has two award-winning crime series set in Chicago, each featuring a doggedly determined Black female detective. However, it took twenty years, a three-inch- thick file of rejection letters, and an unrelenting desire to get there.
âYou have to believe in what youâre doing,â she told me. âYou have to have stick-to-itiveness. . . . You have to have this sort of internal fire that stays bright all the time. And whether people come at you with hoses, trying to put that fire out, it doesnât work because . . . you know what youâre about at that point. Thereâs no secret formula to it. You just have to keep on going.â
Tracyâs rightâthere is no secret formula. I think we all wish there was oneâsome magical potion that could make our dreams come true. Thatâs why we love and believe in fairy tales so much. And yet, those stories of our childhood also told some unavoidable truths of life. Even Cinderella knew that you canât skip the work. And the work takes Being Brave . . . brave enough to do whatâs necessary to honor your authentic self and gifts. As long as you are making an effort to move forward and examining how things are working for you, youâre on a journey to becoming yourself or, more accurately, remembering yourself. I love how author Emily McDowell summed it up:
âFinding yourself is not really how it works. You arenât a ten-dollar bill in last winterâs coat pocket. You are also not lost. Your true self is right there, buried under cultural conditioning, other peopleâs opinions, and inaccurate conclusions you drew as a kid that became your beliefs about who you are. Finding yourself is actually returning to yourself. An unlearning, an excavation, a remembering of how you were before the world got its hands on you.â
Clients often ask me, âHow do I know who I am?â I find this question comes up at different stages in peopleâs lives, usually during some change in life. One of those junctions is when someone has children who are ready to leave the nest. Parents will wonder: âWait, now, who am I? Who am I separate from being this personâs mother or father? Theyâve turned into a grown human and Iâve done my job. So, who am I now?â Theyâve become lost in their parental duties, just like we lose ourselves in our jobs or our other relationships.
But even when we get lost, weâre always answering that âWho am I?â question in a way thatâs relevant for the moment. Be Brave enough to be intentional about it. When you find yourself in one of those transitional times, wondering who you are, look for the clues to who you were and what you were doing right before the transition began, because thatâs how you made it to this point. Then also look to who you want to be and what you want to do in the next phase after the transition. Letâs say the transition is a promotion of moving on to a better job with more responsibilitiesâwho were you and what did you do in your last position that led to this new opportunity? How did you relate to your coworkers? How was your approach to your work unique? Then look into your future and decide how you want to answer those same questions when you move on from this new position. Who we are is always evident in the way we move through life, trying to do our best: at work, with family, and by/for ourselves. You are already on your Fearless Authenticity journey; youâre on your way to becoming that and doing the thing you were put here to do, whether or not you know it or are doing it intentionally.
We get so confused and mentally separated from our authenticity and purpose because we believe what society tells us about the things it wants from us instead of what we want for ourselves. And other people have individual expectations that tell us the things they want from us. Thereâs nothing wrong with any of that on the surface. The problem happens when our interpretations of all that get twisted into faulty beliefs about ourselves, and we change to fit those expectations in a way that is better for them than it is for us. We confuse what we think about ourselves and what we need to be based on what other people want and need, and that blocks our vision of who we truly are. But we were always here. This Fearless Authenticity journey is about Being Brave enough to stand up to those faulty beliefs and get back to ourselves.
So, how do we find our way back?
A. Youâre already doing it.
B. You can make it more transparent and intentional by actually saying, âWait a minute! Iâm reclaiming this territory that other people have encroached on.â That means breaking away from fulfilling roles others have defined for you, releasing yourself from othersâ expectations that donât align with yours, and liberating yourself from othersâ judgments, especially those that keep you from what you know is right for you. Being Free is choosing all those things for yourself as you see itâand leaving all the judgment, especially of yourself, behind. When you choose to Be Free, it looks a lot like having healthy boundaries. Think of it this wayâyouâve got people on your lawn like itâs a picnic, taking up your space with their shit. Now itâs time for you to kick them out so you can have your own picnic the way you want.
This need to stake a claim for freedom happens to all of us, whether we had a supportive upbringing or one that was lacking. Renowned spoken word artist Malik Yusef grew up on Chicagoâs South Side, and his creative spirit was ignored as he struggled with dyslexia while his three brothersâ talents were nurtured.
âThe majority of the residential resources went to my brothers,â he said. âI was not poured into . . . I wasnât paid attention to, and things you donât pay attention to, you donât edify . . . but I always had it in me. I sought freedom [through] creation. I didnât need tools around me. I could create in my mind.â
And create he did, as a poet, rapper, writer, composer, director, deejay, activist, and producer, winning eight Grammys, several Emmys, a Tony Award, and a Peabody Award, while directing and starring in multiple movies, TV shows, and documentaries. All that to say, he finally convinced himself that his art was worth sharing, and he overcame other peopleâs limited expectations for him.
âI look at everything as an opportunity, because when youâre trying to escape a situation, you have to kind of investigate all thoroughfares. And thatâs how it came . . . I love the freedom it [art and creativity] provides.â
I was the same way, even though I had a very different upbringing filled with support and love. Part of the reason I struggled with my writing is that I didnât think I had a story worth sharing before I started writing this book. But Iâve come to realize we all have a story to tell. You donât know whatâs unusual about your story, because itâs your story and youâve been living with it, so thatâs what you know. If you compare it to what you see on TVâwell, thatâs not real, even if itâs presented as âreality.â And if you compare it to other peopleâs lives, you only know what theyâve told you and thatâs rarely the whole story. Or if you compare it to what you see on Instagram or any social media platform, well, I think you know thatâs just what they want to show you.
The person I present to the world is always a real piece of me. But itâs taken me into my fifties to be that whole person most of the time. My journey is ongoing, and Iâll continue to be on it because Iâll continue to change, learn new things, even with my adoption story. I dealt with it in my twenties in therapy, healing those first layers after my mama died. But as I got older and experienced more, like the loss of my father and facing my birth mother with some tough questions, I realized that trauma was affecting me in new ways and had new things to teach me about myself, which deepened my understanding of Fearless Authenticity and how I share it. I thought that all I had to share was as simple as my origin story. I found that it isâand it isnât. Itâs so much more.
In a similar way, as you grow in your gifts, youâre going to move closer to the essence of what theyâre supposed to be about and how youâre supposed to use them in that moment. So, get comfortable with change and uncertainty. Easier said than done, I know. What you do well at one point in your life, you will do better later. Or, what you thought you had dealt with already, may come back to teach you something new. Being Free means being unencumbered or unattached to how things have been, so you can recognize when things begin to change and welcome that instead of resisting it. Change is inevitable if you want to growâyou canât have one without the other. To get success or whatever you want, you have to make space for it. Iâm sharing this with you now so you can start looking for some of these things in your own life as we move through these chapters.
BE YOU
This is where it starts for you in your Fearless Authenticity journey. Just look at who you are. Look at where you came from. Interrogate yourself and your beliefs. Why do you believe what you do about yourself, your abilities, work, money, success, love, the world, and the way it works? What do you believe is possible or impossible, and who first told you that? You owe it to yourself to question everything. You may find, as I did, that all you believe to be true may not actually be soâand it could be even better. We all have an origin story; itâs what guides us through life, even if itâs just playing in the background. That story and how it came to be helps us understand where we belong, shows us we are enough, and teaches us how to be fearlessly ourselves and come out on top.
Isnât that what we all want? To fit in; to find our community and be successful? The pandemic sabotaged our ability to feel connected; to feel like weâre a part of something besides fear and chaos; it infringed on our capacity to be our best, most honest, true, and unique selves. We were so busy trying to stay safe and healthy, we forgot who we really are, what we really want, and how to express that.
While COVID made me question some of my life choices, I wasnât completely out of my element. Iâve had to adapt my whole careerâfrom a prospective agent telling me Iâd never earn as much as a white man, to getting fired for insubordination from my first job as a radio copywriter, to quitting a good reporting job because I had accomplished all I wanted to in that job and was frankly bored, to getting fired again from a TV job I lovedâbut all that catapulted me into starting my own business, and here we are.
After each of those turning points, I called my daddy (Iâm a daddyâs girl, if Iâm being authentic), and he would always say: âJeanne, people are gonna do what they do, but that has nothing to do with you. You canât change that. The only thing you can do is just keep doing what youâve been doingâbeing yourself and showing up every day."
Thatâs Fearless Authenticity in a nutshell from my daddy. He lived Fearless Authenticity every day.
More on him in a bit. First, letâs focus on you. How do you show up every day as yourself in your world? And if you donât have a clue, donât feel bad. Let me tell you about a client who was struggling to find her true self and how we worked together to realize her full potential.
Rachel was referred to me by her boss, an alum of the MSc (master of science) program where I teach at Northwestern University. He asked me to coach her for a new leadership role, because he said she always seemed hesitant or scared to speak up.
âBut when she does,â he said, âwhen she shares her opinion, itâs amazing and it really helps me to think about what it is that I need to do.â
His goal was to elevate her to a chief of staff role. At that point, she was an executive assistant but definitely doing higher level work already.
When I talked with Rachel, she said she felt like everybody was so much more experienced than she.
âOf course they are,â I said. âTheyâre executives. Theyâve gotten to that point. But youâve actually done the work that your organization does; you want to help young people who are caught up in the system or have mental health issues and create a safe space for themâthatâs why youâre working here. How many of the people who run the organization have done that work? You bring a whole different perspective.â
After we had worked together for a while, she realized what she had to offer to people who she thought were far more successful than she, people she was intimidated by, and she understood what she had to do.
âI just need to be me,â she said, âand see where I fit into this organization.â
I had a similar challenge when I first started in radio. And let me tell you, finding my authentic self behind a microphone wasnât easy at first. Remember that perfection thing I thought I needed as a kid? That kicked in, and I tried to be word perfect on the air. The pursuit of perfection has been something Iâve been trying to unlearn for most of my adulthood. I thought that being perfect would solve any shortcomings, when, in reality, even if perfect were possible, it still wouldnât be perfect for somebody else. Everyone has their own version of perfect.
One of my first radio bosses told me, âYou need to loosen up a little bit and be more like the woman I hear when I talk to you in person.â He told me that if I was going to have staying power, listeners needed to remember me. And the only way that would happen was if they got to know the real meâmy perspective, my opinions, my personality, my knowledgeânot just some perfect-sounding or sexy voice coming through their speakers that could be switched with any other voice that sounded the same. He gave me a choice and I made it because I wanted to last.
I learned pretty quickly that even if I didnât feel comfortable sharing all of me, some version of my real self had to show up and share my unique perspective. When I got my first regular on-air radio gig in Chicago, I was doing traffic reports for morning and afternoon shows. For the first few months, I was scared to death that one of the hosts would ask for my opinion because I didnât want to say anything that would offend anybody or get me in trouble. Then I got paired with Danny Bonaduce (child star on The Partridge Family, lots of scandals and drugs, but heâs good now) on a talk station and all that perfection had to go out the window.
I know, it sounds crazy and impossible now, but it ended up being exactly what I needed to come into my own. I think the programmers on that station were trying to create a dynamic like that between Howard Stern and Robin Quiversâyou know, pair the proper, educated Black girl with the loud shock jock, white guy and let the shenanigans ensue. Danny may have been walking on the edge, but like Howard, heâs super-smart, funny, and quick, so he was easy to talk to and a challenge for me at the same time, because I had to match that energy. Unlike me, he wasnât worried about being perfect. Far from it. He just wanted to win. It was the first time doing talk radio for both of us, so we had a lot to learn about the formatâand about working with each other. We had a great producer who helped us figure out our rhythm and dynamic. My job/role quickly became âvoice of reasonâ and âkeeping Danny in line.â This worked fine for me, since in comparison to his, my life was very tame. I couldnât believe some of the stuff that would fly out of his mouth. He was always pushing the envelope with everything, including crazy questions about my personal life. One day, he pushed a little too far and I let him have it on-airâdamn near cursed him out and was just shy of breaking all the FCC rules. The phones lit up. He loved it and told me he knew I had it in me and was waiting (and poking and prodding) for that side of me to show up on-air. What surprised me the most was the listener response. It tickled them and they all wondered how I let him get away with so much before checking him.
Thatâs when I learned from firsthand experience that connecting with an audience is mainly about sharing myself and the lens through which I interpret things. It doesnât really matter how what I say comes out, as long as itâs real. The people out there who get me are my audience, even when Iâm sharing them with others. From that moment on, I wasnât scared to say what I had to say or share something about myself (to an extentâI was far from fearless or fully authentic but I was on the path). That audience connection I made then and learned how to maintain has always been important in the media business, but now, more people have realized it is important for everyone, no matter what you do.
The reality is, if youâre just some cookie-cutter version of the title you have or job you hold, then thatâs not really about you. Youâre not bringing anything new to the conversation. But if you can bring all of who you are, your full authentic selfâall the different identities, qualities, background, and experiences youâve hadâif you can say, âThis is what I think and thatâs where I stand in that,â then you just made a big step forward for yourself and made the world a better place, too.
Part of bringing your whole self to a situation is also knowing when itâs time to go. When I walked away from a full-time TV job in Chicago, some people questioned my sanity. They couldnât understand why I would give up something others would give anything to have. But I knew in my head and heart that I needed to try something new. I kept thinking, This canât be all there is. So, I left NBC and freelanced until I finally got my dream job hosting my own TV show on WCIU-TV.
In our professional lives, weâre often waiting for somebody to offer us what we want. We want people to read our mind. Instead, you have to be bold enough, you have to be brave enough to trust that you know what is right for youânot what others think is rightâand take the leap.
I have been paid to be fearless so many timesâstood on stages in front of thousands of people, risked making a fool of myself trying something new like riding an elephant at the circus, swinging from a trapeze in a theater, or playing with a snake for a reptile show and somehow letting it get into my shirt on live television (and yes, thereâs video that you may be able to google). Donât get me wrongâI was scared but I still showed up. There were a few things I turned down because it didnât feel comfortable to me (pinup photosâI know, go figure), but itâs my nature to try new things, so whether I was intentional and asked to do it (elephant in the circus), was offered or challenged to do it (trapeze), or it just happened on its own (snake in my shirt), I realized that I had to keep doing me, trusting my gut, and being true to myself. And you know what? Itâs worked out. Thirty-some years later, Iâm still here. I found my people who built on that foundation along the way (or they found me) and I did my best to sidestep those who wanted to tear it down. Iâve gone from radio to television and back to radio again. Iâve told so many amazing stories, helped lots of people, met all kinds of celebrities, and won seven Emmy Awards.
As I did all that, people would ask me to speak, consult, coach, and I was eager to share my experience, all while I was still on my way to finding what it really meant to be Fearlessly Authentic for me. I feel like the more you know about yourself and the more you can share about yourself to the point that youâre comfortable, the more value you can bring to others (weâll dig into finding your value in the next chapter).
You need to be able to tell people your worth and how they can benefit by telling your story. When you are very clear about what you do, how itâs good for other people, and why you love itâthat will be communicated in every single thing you do, even if you never say one actual word about it. When you are clear, your whole body communicates it, and you radiate the Fearless Authenticity of being comfortably, undeniably you.
Thatâs what I learned from my daddy, whose fearlessly authentic self continued to show up even after his dementia worsened in early 2020 and I had to move him into a nursing home in our hometown at age eighty-two.
I was filled with dread, but he settled right in. A couple weeks later, my cousin, who lives near the nursing home, called. She said, âGirl, I just came back from seeing your daddy.â
It was barbershop day in the home and my dad was waiting with the other men for it to open. When the announcement was made, she said one guy in a wheelchair was struggling a bit so my dad flipped up the brakes on his chair and wheeled him down the hall. âIt was like your dad was in a parade, waving and smiling at the people in the hall. He was a superstar; he found his purpose for being there.â
I was crying tears of joy, because in that moment I knew my dad was in the right place, and he was serving his audience with aplomb.
Daddyâs irrepressible charm even showed up in the emergency room when he caught COVID-19 a few months later. His nurse told me when I called, âHeâs doing great, and surely I donât have to tell you, but he is just the sweetest, nicest man.â
I was a bit surprised, but I really shouldnât have been. Daddy was just working his magic again. Heâd found a way to work the room, even in the ER. Really, Daddy? It was so on point, so on brand, so fearlessly, authentically Spro (my dadâs nickname).
That was the last time I saw my daddyâs magic at work. I lost him a few days later. Though heâs gone in body, I know his spirit is with me always.
What Iâve come to know since his death is that he was teaching me another lesson in his final days. He proved to me that no matter where you areâin a hospital isolation room during a pandemicâand no matter who you are in relation to all those people around youâan elderly patient with dementiaâyou can still make a difference in peopleâs lives, just by being yourself. Your truly beautiful, fearlessly authentic self. You show people who you are, what you have to offer, even when it seems like you have nothing and you need their help.
My father showed me that being your authentic self is the essence and the value of what we are on this planet to accomplish. If my dad can have that kind of impact after dementia had ravaged his brain and while he was struggling to breathe with COVID, thatâs evidence that nothing could erase the most valuable thing about himâhimself, his fearless, authentic essence that he gave freely to others.
And if he can do that, we all certainly can. No matter whatâs going on, what weâre dealing with, no matter where we are. Our authenticity is already there inside us, waiting to be revealed and fulfill our purpose. We only have to be fearless and share that gift with the world. When we do, the world returns the favor and opens up to us in ways we could have only imagined.
BE BRAVE, BE FREE, BE YOU
AUTHENTICITY ACTION
Questions to ask yourself:
⢠Be BraveâAsk yourselfâwhat can you be brave
in doing today? Perhaps in trying something
youâve been afraid of trying or afraid of failing
at?
⢠Be FreeâWhat can you let go of or reveal
about yourself that could become an
advantage in reaching your goals?
⢠Be YouâWhen have you not shown up as
yourself and why?
In Fearless Authenticity, Jeanne Sparrow presents an empowering framework for living and leading with self-awareness, purpose and resolve. Drawing from her decades of experience in broadcasting, media, and coaching, Sparrow demonstrates how authenticity is a strategic asset in leadership, communication, and relationship-building. She guides readers in uncovering and expressing their unique value with clarity and confidence. Grounded in real-world insights, the book showcases Sparrowâs expertise in helping individuals and organizations harness authenticity as a pathway to success.
The book challenges readers to embrace their true selves and align their actions with their deeper purpose. Cultivating âFearless Authenticityâ is hard work, and it can lead to meaningful connections, building trust, and promoting lasting fulfillment in both life and work.
The book is well-structured and highly engaging, centered around three core principles: âLive It, Tell It, and Sell It.â Sparrow integrates personal anecdotes and hard-earned lessons from her experiences as a media professional, caregiver, and consultant. Each chapter offers practical exercises and thoughtful insights to help readers cultivate self-awareness and build on their strengths. Sparrow emphasizes the importance of aligning our actions, words, and nonverbal cues with our true intentions. By developing a deeper understanding of our values and strengths, we can show up with greater confidence, clarity, and consistency in every area of life.
The author also highlights the power of storytelling as a vital tool for connection and influence. Stories create emotional resonance, making messages more memorable and meaningful. Whether sharing a personal experience or communicating a complex idea, how we tell our stories can deepen relationships and inspire action. Another key takeaway from the book is Sparrowâs redefinition of âsellingâ as the practice of helping others recognize your value. Rather than focusing on persuasion or performance, she emphasizes understanding othersâ needs and offering something genuinely meaningful. Sparrow encourages readers to lead with intention and build authentic, mutually beneficial relationships through active listening, thoughtful questioning, and a spirit of service.
âFearless Authenticityâ is a good read for those seeking counsel on personal and professional growth through embracing their true self. â Leaders, entrepreneurs, and professionals looking to enhance their communication, leadership, and sales skills will find actionable strategies to connect authentically with their teams, clients, and audiences. Sparrowâs insights will resonate with those who want to uncover their unique value, tell compelling stories, and create meaningful connections. â