274: Leonard Kim: How To Ditch The Act & Let The Real You Show Up

Recognized by Forbes as a Top Marketing Influencer, Inc. Magazine as a Top Digital Marketer and Top Youth Marketer, Entrepreneur as a Top Personal Branding Expert, and Adweek as one of their Socially Strong Entrepreneurs Every VC Should Be Following, Leonard Kim has quickly established himself as a key influencer in the world of marketing and personal branding.

Leonard went from being almost homeless to becoming a personal branding expert with a social media following of well over 500,000 people, and his content has been read over 10 million times. He’s been featured in a large list of publications, including Mashable, Inc, Entrepreneur, Forbes, Fortune and more. All of this he accomplished using the principles he now teaches to others.

Leonard’s TEDx Talk, Why You Should Let Your Fears Guide You, has been internationally recognized as one of the best TED Talks by Forbes, Inc.Magazine, and Mashable. He is managing partner of InfluenceTree, where he and his team teach you how to build your brand, get featured in publications and growth hack your social media following.

Leonard Kim is a returning guest of the Leaders Of Transformation Podcast. In his first interview, Episode 49, he shares the keys to building your brand by writing online articles.

In today’s conversation with us, Leonard discusses his new book, Ditch the Act: Reveal the Surprising Power of the Real You for Greater Success, which he coauthored with Ryan Foland. We explore the power of vulnerability, the 5 levels of exposure, and how to own and safely expose who you truly are and form more meaningful relationships with your audience, family and friends.

Leading the way, Leonard shares vulnerable examples from his own life, how exposing his challenges has directly resulted in greater impact and financial success, more fulfillment and deeper connections, capturing the attention of followers and top media outlets and publishers alike.

Key Takeaways

1. Loneliness, depression, and anxiety have become an epidemic because we’ve forgotten to be human with each other.
2. There are different masks we feel we have to wear for every different situation, i.e. work, dating, and on social platforms – each allowing only certain aspects of ourselves to be shared.
3. Most people who have 2 or 3 different personalities are admitted to a hospital, and yet we are carrying around 20 different personalities and trying to stay sane.
4. It’s always hardest to be the first one to share and be vulnerable.
5. Leading with your skeletons provides you with a bulletproof armor.
6. There is no greater privilege in the world than to have the love, compassion, empathy and support of others.
7. No matter where you bury your skeleton, no matter how far deep you bury it, it’s going to re-emerge and haunt you at some point.
8. Only when things are in the light are we able to address them and fix them

Episode Show Notes: https://leadersoftransformation.com/podcast/business/274-leonard-kim-ditch-the-act 

Check out our complete library of episodes and other leadership resources here: https://leadersoftransformation.com

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