Now is the Time for Authentic Leadership

Authentic leadership is a relatively recent leadership construct based on the issue of integrity.?According to the theory of authentic leadership, to be a truly great leader you must demonstrate authenticity and trustworthiness.?It is no good being one person in the workplace and a completely different person outside of the workplace.?Your personality will be inconsistent, and your team will find it hard to trust you, there will be a disconnect, either consciously or subconsciously.

Sometimes leaders have to take risks and if you live by a particular set of values, you may have to take a risk to be true to those values.?All great entrepreneurs and leaders are risk takers and have strong leadership skills and strong brands. For example Richard Branson and Jo Malone both have strong personal brand values based around their own personalities.?Both Branson and Malone are clear about their leadership role within their chosen business fields and not swayed by the opinions of others.?They are risk takers and by not playing safe they have often made the biggest difference to their businesses.?Working for leaders such as these, creates a loyal workforce that buys into their leader’s vision and creates a brand legacy that is bigger than the individual and has prevailed once they move on.

So what are the key attributes of an authentic leader?

1. Authentic leaders do what they say they are going to do. If you look at great authentic leaders, they put the mission and the goals of the organisation ahead of their own quest for power, money, or ego.?They are completely consistent; results driven and always have an end goal in mind.
2. Authentic leaders are self-aware and genuine.?Authentic leaders are well aware of their own strengths and also their limitations. They show their real selves to their followers and do not act one way in private and another in public.?They are happy to admit to their mistakes and they don’t hide them out of fear of looking weak.?They surround themselves with good people.
3. Authentic leaders show their emotions. And because of this, they are able to really connect with their team. Because of this they share their thoughts and feelings with the people around them.?They are very direct, and this is often critical to successful outcomes.?By contrast directness without empathy is cruel and leader without empathy fails to understand and value their team.
4. Authentic leaders are risk takers.??They challenge themselves constantly and are not afraid to take risks to achieve their goals.?They will look to continuously develop themselves and will step outside their comfort zone to get results.
5. They leave a legacy.?Authentic leaders build a legacy by adding value to everyone that they deal with and leaving the world a better place in the process.

In order to be an authentic leader, always bring your true self to work and encourage your team to do the same.?As a leader don’t be afraid to be vulnerable and show emotions. Be passionate about your work and fiercely support your team and always remember to share your vision and take them with you.?If you can do this, you and your team can achieve great things together.