Authentic Leadership

What does it mean to be an “authentic” leader? Well, I’ll start by saying that in this arena – leaders go first. That’s me #unfiltered. No photo shoot, no makeup, just me in my office in my cozies.

Authenticity requires us to be willing to be seen – for our brilliance and our flaws. For our strengths and our weaknesses. It asks us to be experts in our own experience and respectful and curious about the experience of others.

I worked with a fundraiser whose voice changed so much when they spoke to donors that they seemed like a different person. Their sense of self-importance and belief in their invincibility was palatable. One of our largest donors complained about it. The donor could hear that this fundraiser was putting on a persona and delivering a message as opposed to being themselves and having a conversation.

It was painful to watch and hear. By the time we worked together, this fundaiser had been in the role for many years. My authenticity and vulnerability made them uncomfortable. They saw it as weakness. I worked to build trust with this person so that feedback offered would come from a safe place. However, the minute I attempted to provide specific feed-forward – the gentlest comment about them “in the work” as opposed to the mechanics of the work itself – I saw a wall emerge, a mask go on and what can only be considered a campaign begin to discredit me.

Through it all – not once did I have a genuine conversation with anyone I worked with. Not once was there a conversation that was not others sitting in judgment of me and my work. Casting aspersions. Being self-righteous. Suggesting I was defensive. Bullying me to adopt their point of view on a massive case of mission drift at a time when the organization itself was trying to rebuild.

Not everyone likes vulnerability and authenticity. As leaders, our role is to create workplaces that employees experience as kind, collaborative and ultimately allow greater productivity. Workplaces where employees are challenged, respected and valued for who they are…not simply what they do.

Too many of our workplaces fail to support, nurture, respect and value employees, in particular, those who work in #fundraising. Let’s change that.

#authenticity #humanresources #management