All any of us want deep down is to be ourselves and to know that those with whom we have a working relationship are the real deal, what to expect from them and that we can trust them.
The Corporate Metamorphosis – It’s 6:00am Monday morning and you’re washing away the last thoughts of the weekend when you were a mother, a father, a partner, the laugh of the party, the bookworm, the sports coach for the local kids’ team. You set your hair in stone, select your corporate power suit, and then in the time between waltzing out your front gate and marching through the revolving glass door, the transition’s complete; you’ve morphed into the corporate you, your corporate avatar. Subconsciously, you manage your avatar, carefully removing unfortunate traces of personality that conflict with the corporate image you wish to project – the image you believe is expected of you and most guaranteed for success.
News Flash – this image is a waste of valuable time and energy. It’s the real you they want, and it’s the real you that is the best manager you can be.
Authentic Leadership
Authentic Leadership is not disguising yourself to suit a role, it’s using your strengths and weaknesses to connect openly. A centuries-old awareness, the ancient Greeks knew the importance and value of Authentic Leadership: Socrates words, “Know thyself”[i], implored us more than 2000 years ago to learn/discover all we could about ourselves on the path to our ultimate destination.
Leadership success is derived from, open and honest relationships, genuine appreciation and valuation of the input of followers, and commitment to ethical management. Authentic leaders build trust and engender employee engagement through the relationships they build with their team.
“Authentic leaders are self-aware and genuine. Authentic leaders are self-actualized individuals who are aware of their strengths, their limitations, and their emotions. They also show their real selves to their followers. They do not act one way in private and another in public; they don’t hide their mistakes or weaknesses out of fear of looking weak. They also realize that being self-actualized is an endless journey, never complete.”[ii]
Great leaders transition from weekend to weekday seamlessly, not fearing vulnerability, failure or even success.
What Characterises an Authentic Leader?
Authentic leaders lead to their fullest potential, maximising the value in relationships and looking forward to a future with shared success. Authenticity is no simple achievement, and carries no guarantee of great leadership, but is well worth the effort. You need first to understand yourself before you can play to your strengths.
Authentic leaders:
- put team goals ahead of their own personal aspirations. The team’s success is their success. When the group wins, the leader stands on the podium alongside team mates.
- act with their heart and intuition. They are comfortable with and not afraid or ashamed to display their emotions.
- tell it like it is, but with empathy. They’re willing to give you the real, sometimes tough message, but leave you knowing where you stand.
- focus both on present and future goals, weathering the storm now with the vision to look to the calm seas and potential ahead.
- have strong self-awareness, critically considering the impact of their behaviour on others.
“He was always impatient and quick to anger. When people brought bad news, he would attack the messanger.so people stopped telling him things. He had no idea he frightened people.
She videotaped him in action and then replayed the tape for him, pointing out the effect his habitual forbidding facial expression had on people. It was a revelation: “when he realised how he was coming across, he got tears in his eyes, ”…[iii]
Recently I undertook the Life Styles Inventory (LSI), a review of my leadership behavioural and thinking styles. The LSI revealed my opinion/perception of my leadership behaviours/thinking patterns was very close to that of my reports, peers and managers, telling me my behaviour is authentic, the real me. It doesn’t automatically make me a great manager. I could behave like a complete prat, know it and have my team know it. That would be authentic. And I wasn’t free of opportunities for improvement by any means, but I am aware of them and have ideas/actions for improving my patterns of behaviour and thought.
Sorry – There’s No Leadership Blueprint
When developing personal relationships with other people, as a friend or a partner, we take the time to get to know the real them. We develop rapport, mutual trust, and identify and align our values. We team with them. The most effective personal and working relationships are formed on this basis.
There is no perfect leader or leadership blueprint. There are, however, many great leaders, with many and varied characteristics that reflect their individual personalities.
“During the past 50 years, leadership scholars have conducted more than 1,000 studies in an attempt to determine the definitive styles, characteristics, or personality traits of great leaders. None of these studies has produced a clear profile of the ideal leader. Thank goodness. If scholars had produced a cookie-cutter leadership style, individuals would be forever trying to imitate it. They would make themselves into personae, not people, and others would see through them immediately.”[iv]
You know what? It’s more than ok just to be you. Please share your thoughts in the comments section.
[i] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Know_thyself
[iii] Goleman, D 1999, Working with Emotional Intelligence, Bloomsbury Publishing, London
[iv] http://hbr.org/2007/02/discovering-your-authentic-leadership/ar/1
