Authentic Leadership Style
Authentic leadership is an approach to leadership that emphasizes building the leader's legitimacy through honest relationships with followers which value their input and are built on an ethical foundation. The authentic leader acts upon his or her values and beliefs, and inspires others to do the same, is committed to know and develop oneself. Are you committed to developing yourself; know your motivations and the purpose of your leadership? Read this article to know more about authentic leadership style and discovering your authentic self.
What is Authentic Leadership?
“A person cannot make hard decisions, hold unpopular positions, or stand tall for what he believes unless he knows who he is and feels comfortable in his own skin. I am talking about self-confidence and conviction. These traits make a leader bold and decisive, which is absolutely critical in times where you must act quickly, often without complete information. Just as important, authenticity makes a leader likable, for lack of a better word. Their realness comes across in the way they communicate and reach people on an emotional level. Their words move them; their message touches something inside. When I was at GE, we would occasionally encounter a very successful executive who just could not be promoted to the next level. In the early days, we would struggle with our reasoning. The person demonstrated the right values and made the numbers, but usually, his people did not connect with him. What was wrong? Finally, we figured out that these people always had certain phoniness about them. They pretended to be something they were not - more in control, more upbeat, more savvy than they really were. They didn’t sweat. They didn’t cry. They squirmed in their own skin, playing the role of their own inventing. A leader in times of crisis can’t have an iota of fakeness in him. He has to know himself - and like himself - so that he can be straight with the world, energize followers, and lead with the authority born of authenticity”. – Jack Welch in Winning
What is clear from the comment of Jack Welch produced above is that no one can be authentic by trying to imitate to be someone else. One can learn from others’ experiences, but can you be successful by just trying to be like them? Your followers will trust you only when you are genuine and authentic, not when they see you as an imitation, replica of someone else. Leadership has many voices and has many styles. Authentic leadership is all about being what you really are and not trying to emulate somebody else.
The authentic leader acts upon his or her values and beliefs and inspires others to do the same. He can stand tall for what he believes, he knows who he is and feels comfortable in his own skin. He can be straight with the world, energize followers, and lead with the authority born of authenticity. Authentic leaders avoid self-deception by fiercely examining their behaviors and decisions, genuinely asking for feedback on how to improve performance. They are committed to know and develop themselves.
Characteristics of Authentic Leaders:
1. Authentic leaders genuinely desire to serve others through their leadership
2. Authentic leaders are interested in empowering their followers
3. Authentic leaders are more interested in developing people and leading to make a difference
4. Authentic leaders lead with purpose, meaning, and values
5. Authentic leaders build strong relationships and networks of collaborative relationships
6. Authentic leaders are consistent, reliable, and strong
7. Authentic leaders are dedicated to personal growth and learning
8. Authentic leaders are aware of their strengths, limitations, the perceptions of others toward their leadership, and how they impact others
9. Authentic leaders are transparent, perceived as genuine and sincere
10. Authentic leaders set consistent and high standards for moral and ethical conduct
11. Authentic leaders ask for help, solicit opinions and viewpoints before making an important decision
12. Authentic leaders build credibility and win the respect and trust of followers
13. Authentic leaders act in accordance with deep personal values and convictions
Book to Read/References:
True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership by Bill George and Peter Sims (2007)
Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value by Bill George
Related Links
You May Also Like
-
Appreciative leaders encourage contributions from those around them and facilitate the discussion to mutually solve problems. Understand the concept of Appreciative Leadership and learn about tools to create and ask powerful questions - that lead to new discoveries and possibilities. Instead of focusing on what’s wrong in the workplace, learn about, and build upon what works. Learn in this article the art to apply appreciative inquiry to specific situations and challenges at your workplace.
-
What are the functions which a leader does to establish as a leader? What are the activities undertaken by them to become great leaders, rather revolutionary leaders? The most important tasks done by a leader in all situations are defining the vision, mission, and goals, leading the team, administrative functions, motivating followers, decision making and conflict resolution, and continuous development.
-
Frederick Winslow Taylor started the “Scientific Management Movement”, and attempted to study the work process scientifically. Scientific management, also called Taylorism, was a theory of management that analyzed and synthesized workflows. It is a system for increasing the efficiency of manpower to its maximum potential and streamlining production to improve efficiency. This article explores this theory in more detail.
-
There are four major factors in leadership called Leader, Follower, Communication, and Situation. The success of the leader is dependent on how the leader is effectively able to communicate and motivate followers to perform desired tasks using the appropriate leadership style best suited for the given situation. Interdependencies and dynamics of these four factors of leadership must be considered by a leader to be effective.
-
Leadership has been defined in different ways by different sets of scholars. In very simple terms leadership can be defined as the skill of a person to influence an individual or a group for achievement of a goal in a given situation. One can use different dimensions and perspectives to define leadership. Through the evolution of leadership thought, leadership has been defined in various ways discussed here.
-
A good leadership style is something that every effective leader must have in order to succeed, but identifying what that entails or does not entails might be difficult to understand. Most of the research on leadership focuses on the exemplary, best practices, and positive attributes of effective and successful leaders. This article talks about a new approach to learn leadership using lessons from bad leadership. That is the lessons to be learned by examining leaders who have not effectively exercised their power, authority, or influence.
-
This style is characterized by leaders making decisions for others and expecting followers to follow instructions. The directive leader is adept at giving instructions, setting expectations, and establishing timelines and performance standards. However, it is possible for the same leaders to display both directive and supportive behavior as per the demands of the situation.
-
Power is the ability to exercise influence or control over others. Leadership involves authority and it is very important for leaders to understand what type of power they're using. The 5 Types of Power in Leadership are Coercive power, expert power, legitimate power, referent power, and reward power. Authority is the right to command and extract obedience from others. It comes from the organization and it allows the leader to use power.
-
Laissez-faire is a style of leadership that affords the group members a great deal of independence. Tasks are delegated to the group members and they are responsible to see the project through to fruition. Research has shown that this style of leadership leads to the lowest levels of productivity. This article explains this style and covers the implications of having a hands-off approach and the situations where this style could be effective.
-
Facilitative Leadership is all about involving the employees in the decision-making process at all levels enhancing their sense of ownership, responsibility, and motivation. Facilitative leadership style uses a number of indirect communication patterns to help the group reach consensus and build commitment for the decision taken. To be effective in modern organizations, managers need to become facilitative leaders, learn what it means to be a one.
