Don't Underestimate Authentic Leadership

This past year I was fortunate through my role here at Penn State to complete a Professional Certificate with the Smeal College of Business in Strategy and Organizational Performance. One of my favorite courses in the program was Strategic Leadership which focused on one’s ability to enhance people systems, implement change, and measure performance. As a new leader at Penn State, I knew I had to learn how to navigate the system while at the same time creating a sphere of influence. This course helped to set some framework around my new leadership role through proven theories and practices executed by managers of the past. 

But throughout the course, and the past year, I kept thinking about internal and external expectations around performance, like: do I have the ability to affect the right kind of change and can I set a standard of measuring performance with meaningful data? In essence, how could I become a new and vibrant leader in a sea of 17,000+ employees? It felt daunting yet incredibly exciting. I’ve always pegged myself as a life-long learner, and here I was, learning how to be a leader. So, I jumped on board and took a ride to where I hoped would drop me off in the “land of success”. But on that journey of leadership courses, board positions, team management responsibilities, and mentee experiences, I’ve driven it down to one thing I’ve learned on my own that I think all leaders need to embrace to truly be successful: BE AUTHENTIC.

‘Being Yourself’ is the Key to Successful Leadership – Why is it so Hard?

Hannes Leroy, Assistant Professor at the Rotterdam School of Management, wrote a great article on this subject and I really honed in on it in the midst of all of these academic and professional experiences – he says it’s all about being “authentic”. 

When you think about authentic leadership and being yourself, what does all of that mean to you? What is should mean is: be credible, be real, be relatable. Let’s look at a few examples of when being yourself and authentic leadership work hand-in-hand.

Situation 1: You taut that modern-day leaders should embrace business practices like remote and flexible work. You institute a policy that allows your team to take advantage of working from home or shifting their work hours, but you come in early, stay late, expect them to be on call, and don’t institute new infrastructure to manage remote teams. 

Lesson 1: They try, you fail. So is being authentic walking the talk? It most certainly is. Work alongside your team, not on top of it. Flex your work too, and help all of you communicate better while doing it. 

Situation 2: You embrace honor and integrity in the workplace and encourage people to do the right thing. You readily quote the company’s value statement and constantly hold people accountable to their actions. 

Lesson 2: You’re coming across as holier-than-thou. Be mindful that you aren’t creating distance and fear because your alliance to organizational values is building a wall between you and your colleagues. Demonstrate good behavior for the right reasons, but don’t be fake.  

Situation 3: Senior leadership of your organization institutes a new policy that you and your team knows is not only unfair, but impractical. They come to you with concerns and valid responses for how it should be better implemented. You hear them but don’t explain the reasoning behind the change nor voice their concerns to anyone past you.

Lesson 3: Don’t disrespect your team. Your job is to defend and protect their work, make them feel valued, and explain processes and procedures with enough detail to help them understand a decision.  If you don’t help them, eventually no one will help you. 

So, my #authentic #Leadership #SmealCareerWeek thought is really this: take those leadership courses, institute best practices in the workplace, don’t overthink the outcomes of your own success, relish in the journey, be real, and enjoy yourself! #Leadershipisfun!