Cultivating Authenticity in Others

Leadership is certainly a big buzz word and has been for many years. Thankfully so, because as we grow as individuals, and as companies around the world increasingly become less cookie cutter in their structure, leadership styles and practices must also adapt to encourage growth.

You’ve heard of the many popular types of leadership styles, from autocratic and bureaucratic, to laissez-fair, transactional and authentic. There truly are a ton out there.

Naturally, some are more effective than others, but it’s the tough order-giving leadership styles like autocratic and bureaucratic that are becoming a relic of the past, as are their rigid hierarchical organizational structures.

For example, the autocratic (or authoritarian) leadership style is one of the oldest methods. It’s incredibly controlling and best for military, so unless your goal is to be a drill sergeant, it’s best to leave that one alone.

How you lead is being determined by so many factors, and many are beyond your simply choosing a style that works best for you personally.

The truth is, more and more companies are recognizing the fact that their employees are people, not robots. They’re acknowledging that employees require more to thrive, and these companies are creating work environments that speak to this.

The Forbes 2019 Best Places to Work lists companies that Glassdoor.com has identified via research and data analysis. Bain & Company, Procore Technologies and Boston Consulting Group led the top 5. Meanwhile, at #34, Microsoft seems to be leading in nurturing inclusion for its employees. Lindsay-Rae McIntyre, Microsoft Chief Diversity Officer, shares this: “Over the past few years, we’ve deepened our commitment to building a more inclusive environment through programs like unconscious bias training, expanded parental leave, immersive experiences like Dialogues Across Differences, and the continued support for and growth of our eight Employee Resource Groups and 40 Employee Networks.”

Leaders are going to have to rise to the occasion to meet these types of needs or be left behind. Being an authentic leader is a start.

In 2003, Bill George’s book Authentic Leadership made the term mainstream. By definition, an authentic leader has authentic purpose and passion, values and behavior, relationships and connectedness, self-discipline and consistency, and heart and compassion. It is a leadership style that is in line with core values, personality and character.

Hubspot, in their article “What's Authentic Leadership, & How Do You Practice It” defines it as:

Authentic leadership is a management style in which leaders are genuine, self-aware, and transparent. An authentic leader is able to inspire loyalty and trust in her employees by consistently displaying who she really is as a person, and how she feels about her employees' performance. Authentic leadership is the single strongest predictor of an employee's job satisfaction.

To that end, I’d like to think that the leaders who will thrive next year will create space for thoughtful, genuine conversations about issues impacting their employees to happen safely and sensitively within the workplace. Those that can listen with empathy will build lasting trust among their teams and foster a more interdependent and collaborative working environment.

When this happens, the end result should be that we will move from being authentic leaders to actually cultivating authenticity in others.

This is a natural progression, especially if you subscribe to theories such as “iron sharpens iron” or “like attracts like.” If an authentic leader is truly herself, she can only draw authenticity out of her employee as well. Remember, authentic leaders are all about building relationships and cultivating connectedness. If they are successful, their employees should do the same with whomever they work, and a chain reaction should continue from there.

While being an authentic leader is desirable and highly effective, be aware, it is a full-time job in itself. There really is no down-time, no hiding and no putting on a happy face for the sake of your employees. You must be real and being real includes showing all that you are. If you’re unhappy about progress on a project, it should be quite okay to professionally express your displeasure because you would have also been expressing your joy about wins.

You would have been communicating all along about your fears and confidences in your team to do the work assigned, and they would have been along the ride with you. Being authentic requires focus and is very demanding. It is also incredibly satisfying and rewarding for yourself and those you lead today and in the future. Let’s keep making moves to be authentic leaders who cultivate authenticity in others.