What Does it Mean to Be an Authentic Leader?
Authenticity. It’s a word we hear all the time. But what does it really mean to be an authentic leader?
For me, it’s been about tapping into and expressing who I am at my core and dialing-back the values and perceptions I’ve absorbed over time from external pressure and others’ expectations. That’s included shedding the focus on solely expressing the “smart Darren”, the “Accenture Darren”, and the “Berkeley Haas Darren.” Sure, that’s part of who I am and I am proud to be an Accenture alum and Berkeley Haas graduate. But what’s even more important is sharing more of who I am at my core. Showing the chill yet fiery side while being more vulnerable with people outside of my inner circle.
While the search for authenticity is often driven by a search for inner peace and calm, I have found that being more authentic has led to something unexpected - More joy paired with greater impact. As I have leaned into my core values and what matters most, I have become more relaxed and have had more fun in all facets of my work – speaking, writing, and coaching. But I have also found that I am a better and more insightful executive coach, trainer, speaker, and adviser to my clients. That part surprised me.
Though I could focus an entire post on the benefits of authentic leadership (Coming soon...), let’s first start by better understanding what being “authentic” means. The term is thrown around loosely in leadership and professional development circles and often becomes a nebulous concept in peoples’ minds. Rather than provide a purely academic definition of authenticity, I have included examples of authenticity in action below based on my own experience.
What Does It Mean to Be an Authentic Leader? A Few Practical Examples.
Authentic Leaders are True to Their Values
As discussed in my book, The Savage Leader: 13 Principles to Become a Better Leader from the Inside Out, the best and most authentic leaders have a solid bedrock of values that drive their actions, decisions, and the way they live their lives. Common leadership values include humility, transparency, growth, being fair, honesty, faith, and more. But it takes more than writing down a list of values for yourself, your team, or your organization. Values come to life in the form of behaviors, both at work and in life. Leaders that tout a strong set of values but don’t live up to them will come across as inauthentic and potentially labelled a hypocrite; all of which can lead to the disengagement of their team and lost motivation. Authentic leaders have a strong set of values and live them every day.
Authentic Leaders Say What They Mean and Mean What they Say
Another characteristic of authentic leaders is they say what they mean, and perhaps more importantly, mean what they say. I’ve seen corrosive leaders hide behind candor as a leadership tenet and to justify putting their teams on blast. Saying “I was just being candid” after delivering harsh feedback is not being authentic. It’s destructive and cowardly. Authentic leaders use candor to deliver developmental feedback to accelerate their team’s growth. Their words also go beyond mere window dressing and contain substance. They stand behind what they say with action and support. Authentic leaders say things like, “I am here to support you” and reinforce it through action; regular one-on-ones (that they don’t cancel last minute), being available on nights and weekends, and focusing on their team members’ agendas in place of their own.
Authentic Leaders Are Vulnerable
As much as we all want to be Batman, Super Woman, or Black Panther, we aren’t. All of us have challenges from our past, areas of development, personal flaws, and other traits that deviate from perfection - or the lives that people show on social media. Authentic leaders are confident being vulnerable with their teams. Not necessarily a full opening of the Kimono type of vulnerability where they share their deepest secrets. Rather, they share concerns, areas of future development, or past challenges they have overcome. Doing so allows their teams to learn more about who they are, encourages them to let down their guard, and shows a sense of humanity that forms the basis of authentic connection with colleagues and team members.
Authentic Leaders Make Best Practices Their Own
Leadership books and courses are stocked full of best practices that leaders are encouraged to apply blindly in their lives and careers. Doing so is perilous as we are all are made up of a unique mosaic of values, strengths, and experiences. Given our uniqueness, why would we take a uniform approach to adopting and applying best practices? The best leaders tailor best practices to fit their own personal style and strengths. For example, rather than applying Elon Musk’s practice of “batching” or “always multi-tasking” blindly and watching as they perform both tasks sub optimally, authentic leaders tailor this best practice to their own style, strengths, and context. They might pair a low cognition task (e.g. organizing their email inbox) with listening to a podcast if juggling tasks isn’t their superpower. Also, as authentic leaders read a leadership book, watch a TED talk, or attend a seminar, they find ways to adapt the best practices that are espoused to fit with their style and preferences. Doing so will allow them to demonstrate the practices more confidently and ensure they apply them successfully. They turn best practices into “authentic practices.”
Authentic Leaders Blaze Their Own Path
Authentic leaders are also known for their willingness to take the road less travelled rather than the conventional path. This applies to how they assess different career paths, how they approach decision making, and how they respond to competitive threats and marketplace shifts. They lean into their values to make decisions that connect with who they are as opposed to the fickle preferences of their peers solely aimed at pleasing and avoiding standing out. It doesn’t mean that authentic leaders are naturally more risk taking. Rather, authentic leaders make choices based on their values, beliefs, and personal North Star.
Authentic Leaders Play to Their Strengths
Another hallmark of authentic leaders is their focus on developing their strengths in place of shoring up weaknesses. Focusing on their strengths shows they have awareness of what they do best to maximize their own performance as well as that of their teams. It also shows they are confident in who they are and perhaps more importantly, who they are not. Accepting areas of strength and walking away from envy for an alternate set of strengths is a sign of both authenticity and confidence. Authentic leaders confidently work diligently to play to and develop their strengths. For example, they make developing their strengths (e.g. communication) part of their annual learning goals. As a side benefit, teams that focus on their strengths are also higher performing as compared to those that don’t.
Authentic Leaders Allow Others to Be Authentic
Authentic leaders recognize the importance of authenticity for themselves as well as for their team members. Authentic leaders apply this mindset to better develop their team members and tailor their coaching to fit with the values, beliefs, strengths, and experiences of their direct reports. Creating a team brimming with authenticity will lead to open expression, more diversity of thought, greater innovation, and foster an environment of confidence and joy given individuals are free to be their authentic selves. This isn’t to say we lose our professional polish under the guise of being “authentic.” Rather, we are free to be the best, most productive, and confident versions of ourselves.
Next Steps
The path to authenticity isn’t a linear path as there will likely be many stops and false starts, unexpected twists, and bumps in the road. The first step is to better understand what it means to be authentic and to gain the motivation and confidence to start down the path toward becoming an authentic leader. Tapping into what matters most and expressing those values as part of an authentic leadership style and brand offers tangible work benefits and creates a pathway toward greater fulfillment and joy. Fulfilling in that we can be who we really are in place of a cardboard cutout construct of who we think we should be.
Are you ready?
If you are ready to start down the path toward becoming an authentic leader, below are a few ways to get started.
Read the Savage Leader Book: My recent book, The Savage Leader: 13 Principles to Become a Better Leader from the Inside Out, contains a section on authenticity including stories from successful entrepreneurs and tips to become more authentic. You’ll also learn to become a better leader from the inside out – one of the keys to becoming more authentic.
Book a Call: Schedule 15 minutes with me to see if you would be a good fit for one-on-one executive coaching focused on helping you become more authentic.
Good luck, I’m rooting for you!