Why authentic leadership should begin with self-awareness
Dr. Johanna Pagonis has always known that leadership is more than a title. As the founder and CEO of Sinogap Solutions, a leadership consulting firm, she has built her career on a central belief: authentic leadership begins with self-awareness and a commitment to people first.
Entrepreneurship was in her family long before she launched her own company. Her mother, a strong-willed, determined woman, ran a hair salon in Athens before immigrating to Canada. Dr. Pagonis admits that some of her independent streak may have come from her. Still, her path to entrepreneurship wasn’t immediate; she spent years building a career across the nonprofit, corporate, and government sectors before realizing her true calling.
However, the higher she climbed, the more she felt her work drifting away from her true purpose. The moment of clarity happened one night when she woke from a panic attack, shortly after putting her name forward for a senior director role with the Alberta government. “Everyone said, ‘It’s yours to lose,’ but I knew at that moment, this was not the life I wanted,” she recalls. She withdrew her name from consideration, created an exit plan, and in 2019 began building Sinogap Solutions. By early 2020, she left her government role for good. Five years later, she’s running a thriving practice that helps organizations create workplace cultures rooted in empowerment and resilience.
At the core of her work is a philosophy shaped by her PhD research on managerial development: the best leaders are not defined by technical expertise alone, but by emotional intelligence—the ability to understand yourself, regulate emotions, show empathy, and build trust. “Authentic leadership,” she explains, “is fearlessly reflecting on who you are, aligning with your purpose, and working to serve others.”
This belief inspired her to create the “Leadership Compass,” a framework designed to help leaders stay anchored in purpose and guided by values, especially during times of uncertainty. Vision provides direction, and emotional intelligence supplies the tools to get there.
Her consulting work has taken her into industries from government to nonprofits to construction firms. No matter the setting, the same challenge appears: organizations invest heavily in technical training but rarely in leadership development. “Being a great [employee] doesn’t automatically make you a great leader,” she says. “Organizations need to equip their people with the skills and confidence to have critical conversations, create psychological safety, and truly empower others.”
These days, Dr. Pagonis is eagerly seeing two shifts reshape our conversations around leadership. The first is the recognition of psychological safety in the workplace—the idea that employees should be able to speak up without fear of reprisal. “It’s what differentiates a so-so team from an exceptional one,” she notes. The second is the rise of artificial intelligence. While she sees AI as a powerful tool to help leaders prepare for difficult conversations and make more informed decisions, she is quick to stress that it can never replace the human element of leadership.
Her message for entrepreneurs and executives is clear: stop trying to be the star of the show. “Great leaders empower others to shine. If you’re stuck in the weeds doing everything yourself, you can’t see the horizon. Leadership is about vision and having the courage to trust your people to help you reach it.”
Places To Be
See this month's local flavours, products, and services.
