Authentic leadership training helps managers lead from clearly understood personal values. It builds self-awareness, consistency between words and actions, judgement about what to share and what to hold back, the courage to admit mistakes, and credibility with teams who are sceptical of polished corporate messages. Bodhih tailors it to each organisation's culture and leadership level.
- Recommended: 1.5 days in person, or 4 × 3-hour live virtual sessions, plus peer coaching over 60 days
- Level: Intermediate to Advanced · In person · Live virtual · Blended
- Designed with the ADDIE model and customised to your context
- Offered by Bodhih since 2008 to 2,000+ organisations across 7 regions
Also known as: authentic leadership workshop, values-based leadership training, leading with authenticity course, self-aware leadership program
Where and how: authentic leadership training as an in-person workshop in Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata, Ahmedabad and Jaipur; as a live online course; or delivered overseas in Dubai, Singapore and across the Middle East, Asia and Africa.
Last reviewed · Bodhih Training, Bengaluru
Why credibility is the scarce leadership asset of 2026
Employees now read AI-drafted emails, polished announcements and restructuring updates every week. They have become very good at spotting scripted leadership. What they respond to is a manager who explains the real reason for a decision, owns a mistake in the retro and behaves the same way in the corridor as on the all-hands call.
Authenticity is not a personality type or permission to say whatever you feel. It is a set of learnable habits: knowing your values, checking your actions against them and choosing what to share with care. Authentic leadership training turns those habits into daily practice.
SHRM's 2026 research found 40% of CHROs expect transparency in leadership to become more prevalent.
Gallup reports that only 20% of employees worldwide were engaged at work in 2025.
What participants will be able to do
Name what you stand for
Articulate three to five personal leadership values in their own words, with an example of each in action.
Close the say-do gap
Identify where their calendar, decisions and reactions contradict what they say matters.
Share with judgement
Decide what personal information, doubt or emotion helps the team, and what is better kept private.
Own mistakes cleanly
Acknowledge an error, its impact and the fix in under two minutes without self-punishment or excuses.
Deliver unpopular messages honestly
Explain decisions they did not make, or disagree with, without undermining the organisation or themselves.
Invite honest feedback
Build regular, safe routes for the team to tell them how they are really coming across.
Who should attend
- Mid-level managers moving into larger, more visible roles
- Senior leaders whose teams are going through restructuring or change
- Technical experts who lead through expertise and now need personal credibility
- Leaders returning from a difficult period of low trust in their team
- High-potential managers in leadership development cohorts
Program outline
Recommended design, customised to your context after a short needs analysis.
01Your leadership storyModule 1 · 90 min+
- Moments that shaped how you lead
- Patterns you repeat under pressure
- Sharing a short story with a trusted partner
02Values you can actually useModule 2 · 2 hours+
- Moving from a generic list to personal, specific values
- Testing values against real dilemmas
- When your values and the organisation's pull apart
- Writing your leadership commitments
03The say-do auditModule 3 · 90 min+
- Checking last month's calendar and decisions against stated priorities
- Collecting perception data from peers and reports
- Choosing two visible corrections
04Openness with boundariesModule 4 · 90 min+
- Useful vulnerability versus oversharing
- Cultural expectations of leaders in Indian and Gulf workplaces
- Practice: sharing uncertainty during a change announcement
05Mistakes, disagreement and hard messagesModule 5 · 2 hours+
- A clean apology: what happened, impact, fix, learning
- Disagreeing upwards with respect
- Delivering a decision you argued against
- Role-plays with sceptical team members
06Sustaining credibilityModule 6 · 60 min+
- Feedback rituals that keep you honest
- Peer coaching trios for the next 60 days
- Personal credibility plan
Sample training plan: 1.5-day hands-on design
This one-and-a-half-day design turns authenticity from a slogan into visible habits. Leaders trace the moments that shaped how they lead, move from generic value words to personal, testable values and audit last month's calendar for gaps between what they say and do. They practise sharing uncertainty without oversharing, a clean two-minute apology and delivering a decision they argued against. The half day closes with feedback rituals and peer coaching trios that continue for 60 days.
Participants can name their values, test them against real dilemmas and see where their actions contradict their words.
- 09:30–10:00Trusted and not trustedEnergiser
- 10:00–11:00Moments that shaped meReflection
- 11:15–12:15From value words to real valuesBuild sprint
- 12:15–13:00Values under pressureCase clinic
- 13:45–14:45The say-do auditDiagnostic
- 14:45–15:30Openness with boundariesConcept burst
- 15:45–16:45Sharing uncertainty in a changeRole-play
- 16:45–17:30Day 1 reflectionReflection
Participants can own mistakes, disagree upward and keep honest feedback flowing.
- 09:30–10:15The clean apologySkill drill
- 10:30–11:15A decision you argued againstRole-play
- 11:15–12:15Feedback rituals that keep you honestGroup challenge
- 12:15–13:00My credibility planAction planning
Every session’s activity, timings, outputs and materials, plus pre-work, a 90-day reinforcement plan and how impact is measured. Free, emailed to you instantly.
Recommended: 1.5 days in person (day 1 09:30–17:30, day 2 09:30–13:00), or 4 × 3-hour live virtual sessions, plus 60 days of peer coaching. A sample design: every Bodhih program is customised after a short needs analysis.
How long is authentic leadership training?
The recommended design is one and a half days in person, a full day and a morning, followed by 60 days of peer coaching in trios. It also runs as four live virtual sessions of three hours each with private reflection time and stable breakout groups.
What activities are included in authentic leadership training?
Leaders map the moments that shaped them, turn generic value words into personal behaviour statements, test them against real dilemmas, audit their calendar for say-do gaps, brief a team on uncertain news, rehearse a clean apology and deliver a decision they argued against.
How we deliver it
Reflection with structure
Guided journalling, story work and values exercises give time to think, followed by concrete commitments.
Honest peer input
Small, stable trios give each other direct feedback throughout the program and continue as coaching circles afterwards.
Real dilemmas
Participants bring live situations where values, pressure and politics collide, and work them through with peers.
Rehearsal on camera
Short recorded practice of a hard message or apology lets leaders see how they come across and adjust.
Tailored versions
For senior leadership teams
A version run with an intact team, building shared commitments and practising candid conversations with each other.
For leaders during restructuring
Focus on delivering difficult news, uncertainty and decisions they did not choose, while keeping trust.
For technical and GCC leaders
Built for engineers and specialists who lead through expertise and want a more personal, visible leadership presence.
How we measure impact
We apply ADDIE's Evaluate phase through a mix of self, team and peer data. Leaders complete an AssessAll pre and post assessment, and can add a 360° pulse on trust, consistency and openness before the program and again at day 90. Peer coaching trios log progress on each leader's two visible corrections. A 30-60-90 day follow-up with the leader's own manager reviews what has changed in the team's experience, and an individual development plan keeps the practice going.
Pair this program with AssessAll, Bodhih’s AI assessment platform, for pre- and post-program skill measurement.
Frequently asked questions
What is authentic leadership?
Authentic leadership means leading in a way that is consistent with your genuine values, with clear self-awareness and honest communication. Authentic leaders explain their reasoning, admit mistakes and behave the same way in different settings. It is not about sharing everything you feel; it is about being trustworthy and consistent.
Can authentic leadership be learned?
Yes. Authenticity rests on habits that can be practised: reflecting on your values, checking actions against them, asking for honest feedback and choosing what to share. Our authentic leadership training builds these habits through structured reflection, peer coaching and rehearsal of real conversations, followed by 60 days of practice at work.
How can a leader be authentic without oversharing?
Ask whether sharing helps the team understand, trust or act. Uncertainty about a decision, a lesson from a mistake or why something matters to you usually helps. Personal struggles unrelated to the work, or venting about peers, usually do not. Participants practise making this judgement with realistic scenarios.
Should leaders admit their mistakes?
Usually, yes. A clear, brief admission that names the impact and the fix tends to build credibility, while hiding mistakes erodes it when they surface. The skill is to own it without excessive self-criticism or blaming others. The program includes practice in delivering a clean apology to a team.
How do leaders build credibility with their teams?
Credibility comes from doing what you say, explaining decisions honestly, following through on small commitments and treating people consistently. Teams notice patterns more than speeches. Our say-do audit helps leaders spot where their calendar or reactions contradict their words, and choose two visible changes.
What is the difference between authentic leadership and transparency?
Transparency is about sharing information, such as the reasons, data and trade-offs behind a decision. Authentic leadership is broader: it covers acting on clear values, behaving consistently and choosing with care what to share. A leader can be transparent about facts yet inconsistent in behaviour. The program builds both, so openness is backed by a steady say-do record the team can see.
How long is authentic leadership training?
Our recommended design is one and a half days in person or four three-hour live virtual sessions, with peer coaching over the following 60 days. For senior teams, we often run it with an intact leadership group. Bodhih designs each version with the ADDIE model after a short conversation with your HR and business leaders.
Is the program available outside India?
Yes. Bodhih runs in-person programs across India, the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia, Australia and New Zealand, and Africa, with master trainers travelling from Bengaluru. Live virtual cohorts work well for leaders spread across countries and time zones. Examples and role-plays are adapted to local workplace norms, including expectations of hierarchy and how openly leaders are expected to speak.