Frequently Asked Questions

What does ALF executing its mission look like in action? What's an example?

To execute its mission, the Authentic Leadership Foundation offers personal growth or Principled Decision-Making (PDM) training programs for EVERYONE…both youth and adults. However, the primary focus for the Foundation is currently on Catholic, Christian, and other like-minded private high school students. 

We (leaders) are the sum of our decisions. The goal is to train educators and students to make principled decisions, build character, and understand their missions to achieve authentic leadership. Their PDM training path aims to improve personal growth, leadership, and school culture. ALF offers a plug-and-play program with an emphasis on accountability for personal growth for both youth & adults utilizing a community of support.

How and from where did this training originate, and by whom?

First, we had to acknowledge a status quo of “leadership lip service.” Leaders often spend too much time on immediate issues such as strategy, and business development rather than on growing team members. Also, many consultants offer theoretical advice on this key responsibility but fail to help in practical application. 

Second, we had to learn some hard lessons. ALF's co-founder Darren Smith experienced failures in revolutionizing project delivery and improving healthcare construction due to the missing element of personal growth (principled decision making) in order to meet heightened project team expectations of collaborating after investing in leadership & team-building techniques. People don't want to follow a technique though. They want to follow an authentic leader. Authentic leaders have the missing element of personal growth; they are equipped to lead an integrated life (professional, spiritual & personal growth). In Latin, integritas means 'whole'. Authentic leaders bring their whole selves as you'll see below.

Building Authentic Leaders at scale through schools sounds like a lofty goal. How do you plan to achieve this?

While we have programs in place with ALF team members training youth and adults directly, a school-based PDM training program will ultimately be delivered by the schools’ own faculty with the help of a community of support behind them. The Foundation will, simply, train the trainers, and moving forward the institutions will license the curriculum and instruction materials on a per-student basis.  

License fees will continue to fuel the program’s growth, and further development of the curriculum using the same authentic feedback loop approach and KPIs that each person is trained to leverage, for their own personal growth.

“Leadership Training” has been around for decades. What makes the Foundation different?

Of all the other “leadership training” programs out there, most of which are techniques aimed toward the corporate space, follow the “leadership lip service” status quo mentioned above. Perhaps the most significant factors that distinguish the PDM program from the others are: 

• Most leadership training is professional growth (getting (school) work right). The ALF program is not professional growth or spiritual growth (getting right with God), it's personal growth (getting yourself right). We believe personal growth is the missing piece to achieve authentic leadership and in turn, an integrated life, and the success you desire (greatness).
• Most programs are either formative or practical. Uniquely, our principled decision-making training is both, meaning the ALF leadership training is a moral activity (principle-based) unlocking leadership accessibility to the many, not the few, regardless of age, education or socio-economic condition.
• As mentioned, we are the sum of our decisions and leaders are expected to make them, even in hardship. Instead of techniques, we focus on practicing the 3 fundamental PDM processes for personal growth through which principled decision-making (PDM) becomes a part of who we are and second nature.
• We set measurable, KPI-based outcomes. Rather than a one-and-done program delivery, this training becomes, especially for youth, an eternal journey of making an impact that becomes fused with their educational experience, and even their school culture.
  >  For adults at the school, it's part of the Hiring, Training & Accountability (HTA) for mission process. Specific, measurable goals are set (homework for youth, performance reviews for adults) and outcomes are reviewed and gauged on a regular basis with a mentor or executive leader at the school. 
• We have a community of support (both online and in-person) to share successes, accountability, and keep each other moving.
  

The unique result is adults in the school concretely modeling & showing youth how to achieve authentic leadership, an integrated life (achieving wholeness - professional, spiritual, and personal growth) and together, achieve the success they all desire (greatness).

Lastly, ALF is the only non-profit we know of that can directly help the other non-profits you're invested in as well as help you and your family. For example, we have a donor that won't sit on a Board or donate unless the non-profit's leadership completes the PDM training.

Have a Question that Remains Unanswered?

Drop an email to Darren Smith - Darren@AuthenticLeadershipFoundation.org, or book a call with him using the link below! 

If you're not ready to talk, we get that! If that's the case, we invite you

•  to keep learning about ALF, 
• experience the PDM training yourself
• or come to an event to meet the community.