What Do Authentic Leaders Do?

Episode 1

On 14th March 2011, a briefing meeting was planned in the Situation Room of the White House for President Obama and his national security team. The purpose of the meeting was to share the latest intelligence gathered about an intriguing compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan. A reclusive suspect of interest lived there but only grainy, unclear satellite images of him were available. Also for discussion were the different options available to strike that compound.

The meeting concluded that the only feasible option to get the suspect was a covert airborne raid by the US special forces. At the end of the meeting, the president asked Vice Admiral William B. McRaven, in charge of the U.S. Joint Special Operations Command in Afghanistan, who had just concluded the military side of the briefing, "Do you think you can pull it off?" And this is what author Chris Wallace has captured about the episode in his book, Countdown Bin Laden:

McRaven could have said yes. No problem. Special forces are badasses who can do anything. But McRaven wasn't going to bullshit the president. That wasn't who he was. He was going to lay it all out there -- the good, the bad, the ugly. He said he's only "sketched out a concept." He wouldn't know the answer until he picked a team, put together a game plan, and ran through some rehearsals. McRaven told the president, "What I can tell you is if we get there, we can pull off the raid. But I can't recommend the mission itself until I've done the homework." President Obama smiled and said, "Let's do the homework then." The next meeting was fixed for two weeks later. [Read at the end of this article what happened at the next meeting]

Introduction

Being authentic doesn't mean giving a free run to the shadow side of your personality. If you're impatient, short-tempered, controlling, self-centered, pessimistic, distracted, rambling and the like, being authentic doesn't mean brazenly putting on a display of your shortcomings and justifying them under the guise of authenticity. Similarly, being authentic also doesn't mean just being a plain-speaker without considering its emotional impact on others, or on the consequences to the collective mission of the group.?

Authenticity definitely includes being truthful at all times and acknowledging who you are, but that's just a starting point. Authenticity also includes an empathetic 'others' focus which entails transparency with others. Authenticity is difficult because it challenges the dogma of political correctness even while it expects business savvy and social skills to achieve strong results. It calls for saying and doing what's right, but also for having a genuine compassion for people and the desire to take them along.

Authentic leadership is about being brutally honest with oneself, being consistently transparent with others, practicing emotional intelligence, displaying ethical conduct, and finally delivering great results. The last part on results is a crucial element of authentic leadership. It ensures that the authentic leadership style never becomes an excuse for underperformance by the leader her/himself. But rather, it gets seen by others as a style that gets better results and is worthy of emulation.

Any formulaic approach to leadership style is risky. But for the sake of demystifying the concept, this article attempts to break down authentic leadership into a simple formula with five components. Further, the clear behavioral practices under each component tell what authentic leaders do.?

The simplified formula of authentic leadership is this:

It is important to note that all the components of the formula are connected with each other in a multiplicative relationship. When they are practiced in conjunction, they increase each other's power exponentially -- thereby elevating the power of authentic leadership. But, on the other side, even if one of the components is missing from the mix i.e., if any component is attributed a value of zero, it reduces the whole output of the formula to zero. This relationship signifies that a leadership style can only be called authentic if it has all the five components present, and present with a value more than zero.

Now let's see how authentic leaders put each of the five components into practice.

Honesty with oneself

• As a starting point, authentic leaders are completely truthful to themselves. They have an accurate sense of, and play according to, their strengths and shortcomings. While they continuously work hard to minimize their personality-related blind spots, they acknowledge that those can't be entirely eliminated. And hence they factor this uncertainty into how they think of themselves.
• Authentic leaders know what their limitations are, and what comes naturally to them. While they may want to improve themselves in a few areas, they don't mimic anyone else's style, or don't operate in a way that is not aligned to their inner voice. For example, if they are quiet or reclusive, they wouldn't attempt to put on a show of being garrulous or gregarious. Authentic leaders are comfortable in their skin because if they weren't so, not only would they feel miserable, but also be seen as a failure by others.
• Authentic leaders admit to themselves, and to others, their foibles and failures. When things go wrong, they proactively take ownership of their part of the blame. However, their authenticity demands that they take only as much blame as is rightfully due to them.
• They read the writing on the wall as it really is. They don't do any wishful thinking or reality distortion. They don't attempt a data-hunt to backfit to an argument or a logic they have already decided upon. They are the counterexample to what Mark Twain derisively said, possibly with unauthentic leaders in mind, "Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please."
• Authentic leaders are humble about the forces beyond their control, and the situations beyond their influence. Given the usual tendency of leaders to claim undue level of credit for success, authentic leaders specially admit the role of luck when the outcomes are more favorable than due.

Transparency with others

• Just as authentic leaders are truthful to themselves, they are also truthful and transparent with others. They operate with the philosophy that knowledge multiplies when it is shared, and that the process of sharing knowledge helps the recipient as much as it does the supplier. So, rather than hoarding information they disseminate it widely, and excepting for privileged and confidential data, they democratize data within their team.
• Authentic leaders say exactly what they mean, and say it to everyone, everytime. They implement Mark Twain's sagacious advice, "If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything." In doing so, they minimize their mental-load, and free up their time for more value-added contributions. Additionally, in order to be effective with their messaging they don't beat about the bush. They make their points without bells and whistles.
• When it comes to having difficult conversations with their juniors, peers or seniors, authentic leaders don't feel shy. Nor do they sweetroll feedback in order to make it palatable. In fact, metaphorically, authentic leaders are known to carry a mirror everywhere which they hold before everyone.
• Authentic leaders admit when they are unsure while making decisions in ambiguous situations. They acknowledge that not every decision they will make will be borne right, but they also stay committed to taking the best possible timely actions.
• While they give due credit to their team, they also hold their team accountable. For doing so, authentic leaders set clear expectations from their team, and don't hesitate to be seen as demanding.

Operating with emotional intelligence

• Authentic leaders routinely reflect on their mental makeup, and self-regulate their emotions. They don't hide their flaws and weaknesses, but also don't allow the display of their natural-self at work to be an excuse for anything short of ideal behavior.
• Authentic leaders win the complete trust of their team members, and create an environment of openness and mutual trust amongst everyone in their team. They role model all behaviors that create psychological safety in the team so that everyone can have an open dialog, and can put forth their ideas.
• Authentic leaders make objective and facts-based business decisions. When it comes to making decisions about their team members, they do so fairly and apolitically. The trust they've built, combined with their social skills, allows them to convey tough decisions to people, and to gain acceptance for those decisions.
• It is because authentic leaders have empathy for others that they may adapt their script to the audience. But even in doing so, they unequivocally deliver their core message without dilution. And while their script may be adaptable, they don't change their narrative to suit their convenience.

Displaying highest standards of conduct

• Authentic leaders practice the principle of WYSIWYG: What You See Is What You Get. With authentic leaders, people know there are no hidden agendas or latent motives. In fact, there's never anything to read between the lines.
• Authentic leaders lead by example. They not only say what they mean, but also do what they say. And they practice themselves, what they preach to others so that there's no dichotomy between what they expect from others and what they expect from themselves.
• Authentic leaders accept their mistakes proactively, and openly. And they do so with a feeling of personal regret, not with a sense of entitlement or executive privilege.
• Authentic leaders admit what they don't know, or when they don't have an answer. They don't suffer the pressure that a leader should know everything, and they are humble enough to ask for help.
• The behavior of authentic leaders is uncompromisingly respectful and consistent in every situation, and with every person. Authentic leaders don't practice this behavior only when convenient, or when a compulsion -- it is the only way they conduct themselves irrespective of a person's place, power or position in the team.

Delivering superior results

• Authentic leaders apply the same yardstick of performance to themselves, as they apply to others. In fact, in the spirit of leading by example and creating an environment of trust, they are more demanding of themselves, and push themselves harder before they push others.
• When they set expectations and goals for their team members, they successfully trudge the narrow path on the one side of which there are reasonable-explainable stretch goals that are motivating, and on the other unbelievable-unjustifiable outlandish goals that appear detached from reality. Authentic leaders never hesitate to challenge the usual and ordinary, but while doing so, they always stay practical.?
• So that their style is seen as credible and dependable, authentic leaders are more results-driven than others. Their authenticity is purposeful -- it is with the intent of smoothening their own path to success, and to take along those who are capable and aligned with the value of authenticity. Far from being an excuse for below par performance, authentic leaders use their authenticity as a tool for chiseling a high-performance culture where team members save their energy from speculation and second guessing, and channelize it for the accomplishment of their collective mission.

Conclusion

As the simplified formula and the behavioral practices have shown, authentic leadership goes beyond 'saying what you mean, and doing what you say.' It involves care and compassion for others while maintaining a behavior that serves as a role model. Authentic leadership is not a contrarian, rabble-rousing, controversy-stoking, putting-others-down brand of maverick leadership. Rather, it is a deeply honest, humble, self-punishing, lifting-others-up brand of courageous leadership.

Authenticity is an operating style which brooks no half measures. An authentic leader is authentic in every moment, or is never an authentic leader. And a leader is authentic if s/he jointly practices without exception, all the five components of authenticity viz, honesty with oneself, transparency with others, acting with emotional intelligence, displaying the highest standards of conduct, and finally, to make it all count, delivering superior results.

Episode 2

At the next meeting with President Obama on 29th March 2011, Vice Admiral William B. McRaven presented a mission plan. In attendance was the most high powered team that could be assembled in the U.S. -- the national security team including the Secretary of State, the Defense Secretary, and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. At the meeting, the president was at his astute best as the supreme commander of the U.S. military. He asked several probing questions to Admiral McRaven, and gave a few frank directions. At the end of the presentation by Admiral McRaven, the president is supposed to have yet again asked him, "Can you do the mission, Bill?" And this is what author Chris Wallace has captured in his book, Countdown Bin Laden, as to what happened next:

McRaven said he didn't know yet. It was still just a concept, a sketch. But he said he'd put together the assault team and start running rehearsals, and he would be ready with his response after training for the mission for three weeks. In the unnerving presence of the highest ranking officials in a big stake meeting, McRaven could have said, "Yes sir, Mr. President. No problem." But he didn't. Instead, McRaven said he didn't know, but promised to come back later with an informed answer. McRaven didn't bullshit the president. In turn, President Obama, who wasn't ready yet to approve the raid but knew that the team should prepare as if it was a go, encouragingly said to McRaven, "I think you have some work to do."

On 1st May 2011, the raid at the compound in Abbottabad was carried out successfully by the Navy SEAL Team 6, and the world soon learnt the outcome of Operation Geronimo.