Authentic leadership

Leaders as indi­viduals are all very different people. Any prospective leader who attempts to em­ulate all the charac­teristics of a specific leader may not succeed. The one essential quality you must have to lead is to be your own person, authentic in every regard. The best leaders are autono­mous and highly independent.

Those who are too responsive to the desires of others are likely to be persuaded by competing interests, quick to deviate from their course, or unwilling to make difficult decisions for fear of offending. Leader-heroes make headlines. Therefore, executives at all levels try to follow prescriptive recipes of imitating these business gurus and sometimes some leading politicians. It becomes all about leaders not leadership. “But leadership is a relationship. Without followers it does not exist. This is an important distinction.”

Developing your unique

leadership style

To become authentic, each of us has to develop our own leadership style, consistent with our own per­sonality and character. Unfortunate­ly, the pressures of an organisation push us to adhere to its normative style. But if we conform to a style that is not consistent with who we are, we will never become authen­tic leaders. Great world leaders had very different styles. Yet each of them was an entirely authentic human being. There is no way you could ever attempt to emulate any of them without looking awkward. The same is true for business lead­ers. What counts is the authenticity of the leader, not the style.

Nonetheless, it is important that you develop a leadership style that works well for you and is consis­tent with your character and your personality. Over time you will have to sharpen your style to be effective in leading different types of people and to work in different types of environments. This is integral to your development as a leader. Authentic leaders modify their behaviour to respond to the needs of their followers and the situations they encounter while simultaneously remaining true to who they are.

Being true to the person you were created to be means accepting your faults as well as using your strengths. Accepting your shadow side is an essential part of being authentic. The problem comes when people are so eager to win the approval of others that they try to cover their shortcomings and sacrifice their authenticity to gain the respect and admiration of their associates.

Bill George has determined through many experiences in leading others that authentic leaders demonstrate five qualities: under­standing their purpose; practicing solid values; leading with heart; es­tablishing connected relationships; and demonstrating self-discipline. Acquiring the five dimensions of an authentic leader is not a sequential process; rather, leaders are develop­ing them continuously throughout their lives.

Understanding your

purpose

Many people want to become leaders without giving much thought to their purpose. They are attracted to the power and prestige of leading an organisation and the financial rewards that go with it. But without a real sense of purpose, leaders are at the mercy of their egos and are vulnerable to narcis­sistic impulses. There is no way you can adopt someone else’s purpose and still be an authentic leader. You can study the purposes others pursue and you can work with them in common purposes, but in the end the purpose for your leadership must be uniquely yours.

To find your purpose, you must first understand yourself, your passions, and your underlying moti­vations. Then you must seek an en­vironment that offers a fit between the organisation’s purpose and your own. Many leaders search for years to find the purpose of their leadership. It is relatively easy to state your purpose early in life, but much harder to develop passion for it. Passion for your purpose comes when you are highly motivated by your work because you believe in its intrinsic worth, and you can use your abilities to maximum effect.

Practising solid values

Leaders are defined by their values and character. The values of the authentic leader are shaped by personal beliefs, developed through study, introspection, and consul­tation with others – and a lifetime experience. These values define their holder’s moral compass. Such leaders know the “true north” of their compass, the deep sense of the right thing to do.

While the development of fun­damental values is crucial, integrity is the one value that is required in every authentic leader. If you do not exercise complete integrity in your interactions, no one can trust you. According to Max De Pree “When leaders indulge themselves with lavish perks and the trappings of power, they are damaging their standing as leaders.”

Leading with a Heart

Sometimes people are referred to as being “bighearted.” What is meant is that they are open and will­ing to share themselves fully with others, and are genuinely interested in them. Leaders do that, they have the ability to ignite the souls of their employees to achieve greatness far beyond what anyone imagined possible.

Some leaders behave as though they have no compassion for anyone. It is your life experiences that open up your heart to have compassion for the most difficult challenges that people face along life’s journey. Many leaders ignore people who are experiencing the full range of life’s challenges: poverty, hardships, and difficulties.

Developing your heart means following your own path and being open to all of life’s experiences. It means being in touch with the depths of your inner being and be­ing true to yourself. It requires that you know who you are, your weak­nesses as well as your strengths. “It is in developing compassion that we become authentic human beings.”

Establishing enduring

relationships

The capacity to develop close and enduring relationships is one mark of a leader. Unfortunately, many corporate leaders believe their job is to create the strategy, organisational structure, and the processes. Then they just delegate the work to be done, remaining aloof from people doing the work.

The detached style of lead­ership will not be successful in the contemporary times. People demand more personal relation­ships with their leaders before they will give themselves fully to their jobs. They insist on having access to their leaders, knowing that it is in the openness and the depth of the relationship with the leader that trust and commitment are built. Authentic leaders establish trusting relationships with people through­out the organization as well as in their personal lives. The rewards of these relationships, both tangible and intangible, are long lasting.

Demonstrating

self-discipline

Self-discipline is an essential qual­ity of an authentic leader. Without it, you cannot gain the respect of your followers. Authentic leaders must have the self-discipline to do everything they can to demonstrate their values through their actions.

Leaders are highly competitive people. They are driven to succeed in whatever they tackle. Authen­tic leaders know that competing requires a consistently high level of self-discipline to be successful. Achieving operational effectiveness is an essential result for any leader, but it alone does not ensure authen­ticity or long-term success.

Becoming an authentic leader involves many years of hard work, some pain and suffering, and the wisdom that comes from experi­encing life at the fullest. It is only in the “wilderness” and “crucible of life” that we develop into authentic leaders.

Authentic leaders have a steady consistently confident presence. In­tegration takes discipline, particular­ly during stressful times when it is easy to become reactive and relapse into bad habits. Leading is high-stress work. The higher you go, the greater your freedom to control your destiny but also the higher the degree of stress.

Authentic leaders are constantly aware of the importance of staying grounded. Besides spending time with their families and close friends, authentic leaders get physical exer­cise, engage in spiritual practices, and often return to places where their roots. “All are essential,” Bill George will conclude, “to their ef­fectiveness as leaders, enabling them to sustain their energy and fulfilling their destiny.”

BY CAPT SAM ADDAIH