Aymee works from a theory and developmental model of Authentic Leadership that was just introduced in 2003 by two distinguished Gallup Leadership Fellows, Bruce Avolio and Fred Luthans. Leadership can take on two forms: 1) the ability to lead yourself (Everyone is their own CEO) and 2) lead others. First you have to know yourself before you can effectively lead others. Aymee first helps individuals gain a great understanding of authentic selves then supports them in espousing their values in more formal leadership positions.

Authenticity is regarded by positive psychologists as genuine, reliable, trustworthy, real and veritable. (Avolio & Luthans, 2003) Harter (2002), an expert on authenticity, states that the owning of one's own personal experiences (thoughts, emotions, or beliefs, 'the real me inside') and acting in accord with the true self (behaving and expressing what you really think and believe) is the core of authenticity.

Luthans and Avolio have applied authenticity to leadership and they "…define authentic leadership in organizations as a process that draws from both positive psychological capacities and a highly developed organizational context, which results in both greater self – awareness and self-regulated positive behaviors on the part of leaders and associates, fostering positive self- development." (Avolio & Luthans, 2003, p. 243) Avolio (2005) also defines authentic leadership in one of his most recent books, Leadership Development in Balance: Made/Born as, "Authentic leadership means to know oneself, be consistent with one self, and to have a positive and strength-based orientation toward one's development of others. Such leaders are transparent with their values and beliefs. They are honest with themselves and with others. They exhibit a higher level of moral reasoning capacity, allowing them to judge between gray and shades of gray." (p. 194)

This is a very timely definition of leadership. Since we are living in the age of information, leaders are more careful of how they speak, behave and act because a person can say one thing in a meeting and another behind closed doors and it can be on the internet the next day. (Avolio & Luthans, 2003) In other words, leaders have more at stake now since information is exchanged so readily and freely now. So if one is inauthentic it can destroy their legitimacy and trust from the leader's followership.

Authentic leadership sprouted from the positive psychology movement because the authentic leader embodies and espouses PP values. Luthans and Avolio (2003) described distinguishing features of authentic leaders as self-awareness, positive self-regulation, and positive psychological capabilities, and positive self- development. Self-awareness includes the knowledge of one's emotions, values and beliefs along with an accurate assessment of one's strengths and weaknesses. Moreover, authentic leaders are guided by explicit and conscious values that enable them to operate at higher levels of moral integrity. (Luthans & Avolio, 2003)

Individual

Aymee works with the authentic leadership development (ALD) model. She uses positive psychology assessments combined with the ALD model to help her clients be authentic leaders.

Executive Coaching –
Aymee develops fast-tracker leaders and high performers. Often executives need a sounding board to discuss challenges, opportunities and their perspective. Aymee helps executives and managers to step away from their day-to-day routine and effectively strategize on how they can reach beyond where they are currently with themselves and their followers.

Professional Development Coaching –
Is similar to executive coaching and is offered at all levels within the organization. Aymee helps to identify developmental skills and coaches her clients to obtain those skills be it psychological or professional skills. Aymee aids her clients in combining their "perfect selves" with their "perfect job" where she uses a special Job Characteristics Model in the process.

Career Development/Transition Coaching –
Are you stuck and unhappy in your current position? Did you wake up one day and say "What am I doing with my life?" or Do you want to identify your calling in life? Career coaching helps individuals to utilize their strengths, to see where they may have blind spots and to identify a course of action.

Group Coaching

Is your team at work effective? Is everyone on your team feeling fulfilled and happy? Do they feel like they work together perfectly, without skipping a beat?

If you answered no to any of the above questions, you might want to ask yourself, "If everyone on my team was happy, what would be different?"

It has been scientifically proven that happy employees are more innovative, creative, are nice to others, have low absenteeism, experience higher job satisfaction and consistently score higher on performance reviews. Who wouldn't want that?

Aymee helps teams identify the team strengths, build an action plan and set goals for how to be the "perfect team", set up positive norms and helps them in the transition.

Aymee is available for a one time team visit or for an ongoing contractual relationship to ensure lasting results.