Authentic Leadership: Alan Marshall II x UrbanFaith
Have you ever felt like you didn’t fit in because of God’s call on your life? Tired of the boxes for living faithfully that institutions and society have put on us? Want to be authentic and impactful in the work that you do? Alan Marshall II wrestled with these questions for years and found a solution in releasing his inner weirdo. His new book Unleashing Your Inner Weirdo: A Journey to Authenticity shares the wisdom, research, and encouragement believers need to embrace their unique and God given gifts and callings. UrbanFaith sat down with Alan to talk about his book and his journey. The full interview is above, excerpts from the interview are below. More about the book is below.
Allen:
My first question for you is given that you have all this experience in ministry and in business and you know, civic affairs, what made you want to write this book? What inspired you to write “Unleashing Your Inner Weirdo?”
Alan
I think the fact that I’m weird. The fact that I end up being in my head an anomaly but then realizing that other people may be just as weird as me. To think about a person who came from being a Jehovah’s Witness to travel in the world and preach the Gospel to a person who had no political or business experience ending up jumping into a hundred-million-dollar deal all because I heard from the Lord and just decided to run with what he was giving me. To do that is weird in this day. But I believe that each and every person has their gifts and their talents. That they have something about them that makes them special, something that makes them unique. And oftentimes what I find when I’m consulting with people is that they hide their weirdness. They hide some of their best abilities because they don’t know how others are going to receive them. And so, this book is about unleashing your inner weirdo coming out and hearing the voice of God and running with what he’s giving you.
Allen
You contend that believers should have a different motivation a different why. Can you talk a little bit about what that why is and why it’s important?
Alan
First we go to scripture right. The Bible says that that [Jesus] is the vine, and we are the branch and apart from him we can do nothing right in him. In Him we move and have our being. So Jesus is not the source of our why, your why is going to be perverted. It’s just how it works. Your why is going to have mission creep in it. You’re going to end up going into something that you should have probably never really [done]. But when Jesus is the center of your why he then informs what you need to do how you need to move. I was sitting with my publicist the other day and we were eating lunch, and she says like tell me a little bit about yourself like what is your niche? What sets you apart? What causes you to do stuff that like I just don’t see other people doing? And I simply said to her I hear from the Lord, and I do it. That’s it. I understand that my why is to make impact throughout this next generation throughout this generation of Millennials and Gen Z. That is my why right. And it motivates me to travel and speak and invest my time in writing books and different things like that. That is my why. And when I ask the Lord how to do it, he gives me plans to put in motion and to fulfill. You know I think of some of the greats and say I’m actually really simple. I hear from the Lord, and I do what he’s telling me to do.
Allen
What wisdom or what advice would you give to young leaders you know in whatever sphere they might be in people who are considering ministry or people who are considering business what advice would you give on how to be an authentic leader for folks who are coming up after you?
Alan
I would say the first thing I would say is one figure out who you are and a lot of times you know that’s said and it doesn’t seem that simple but there are ways that you can do that. Get mentorship that is that is willing to be transparent open and honest with you if they can do that that’s helpful. The second thing I would say is go take personality tests. Personality tests have helped me greatly especially like the disc assessment, some strength finders, personality attachment, the enneagram, all those things will help you figure out who you are but they also help you figure out who others are. Sometimes there’s just a disconnect in communication. So I would say if you want to learn to lead in authenticity and work in authenticity, simply take the time to figure out who you are and how to communicate that to others. I think that that’s not only sound advice it’s important advice because mentorship is one of the things that I feel like the generation coming after us and our generation really needed and didn’t get a lot of. But making those connections can make a huge difference.
In the changing world of ministry and leadership, the demand for authentic leaders has never been more vital. “Unleashing Your Inner Weirdo: A Journey to Authenticity” is a book intentionally designed to empower ministry professionals and Christian leaders with the tools and insights to lead with authenticity. This book is comprised of seven chapters that navigate its audience toward understanding and embracing their unique God-given attributes and developing an impactful and authentic leadership style.
