How Authentic Leadership is the New Normal
I came across an article from Harvard Business School Online the other day and some of its key takeaways resonated with me strongly and hopefully will help aspiring leaders of the future as well. In our current evolving world where companies are shaping up differently at different times, at different scales, in different forms, one thing stays consistent - People. And when I mean people, I mean the leaders we look up to, the managers that help us feel safe, and the peers around that make your life just a tad better.
And for today’s reflection, I’ll be zooming in on Leaders. What’s an authentic leader, and why are they starting to trend in today’s society? An authentic leadership style is driven by motivation, perseverance and transparency to employees, peers and the overall environment. The article captured the main essence of it and I’m going to break down the traits that resonated with me the most, summarising them into 3 points of the 5 traits:
Source: https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/authentic-leadership
The Commitment to bettering themselves
To me, this is the most critical trait of all, where a person is constantly learning and is committed to keeping up with evolving times, and unlearning & relearning essential skills to stay relevant. When you see a leader who constantly learns new things, are curious about new spaces that he/see may not be savvy in but is willing to attempt or learn the ropes, he/she has the mark of an authentic leader. Why? Because he / she is still growing, which means that the knowledge he/she acquires will be of advantage to you too.
Why this is important? For a leader to be willing to be humbled & acknowledge that they’re not the best in everything, it provides a ‘real’ side to them for not just their peers but also their reports, providing a safe space that protects, and allows their members to continue evolving alongside them.
And not just for leaders, I fundamentally believe that learning and growing is the only way to upkeep for everyone, & the moment you feel like your environment doesn’t allow you to do that, it may be time to shake up the horses a little bit, whether internally or externally.
They’re Mission-Driven (which in turn inspires Faith)
If your leader is in it just for the books & records, I’d tell you straight off that you’re in the wrong place to grow. Yet, a lot of leaders I’ve seen are not able to provide that clarity and affirmation for their members, resulting in them losing faith in what the original mission’s supposed to be.
Trust me when I say that it IS hard to continue keeping the mission driven mindset and attitude 100%, all leaders are only humans. However, if you’re able to proactively remind not just yourself, but the people around you, that their is a collective mission for everyone, and everyone plays a part to make it work - it’ll eventually stick with them.
Yet, many leaders still express it the wrong way which may in turn add stress to their members versus motivating them. It may be the tonality, it may be the choice of words used etc, it differs. So, the right balance is crucial, and it’s on the leader to be able to find that middle ground to inspire the members through actions as well, and not just words.
And when that happens, he/she becomes an influential leader in the team not because he/she’s the boss, but because of the authenticity that he/she brings to the table, inspiring the rest of the members to follow the collective mission.
They Cultivate Self-Awareness
Every leader who aspires to inspire, will have a sense of self. What does that even mean? That means being able to acknowledge that they are not perfect, and they know what they need to constantly work on to better themselves as a leader.
The ability to look beyond themselves as “I’m the best and I can’t be wrong” will aid every aspiring leader to work on both their strengths and development areas. As with all members in a team, really. Something that I always focus on my team members, is ensuring that I know their strengths and weaknesses, so that we’re able to work on them together as a team.
The more self-aware a leader is, the better an environment he/she can create for themselves and their teams to grow. And this applies both internally for personal development, and also externally on how people will look at you and your teams.
I hope this little reflection and sharing will go a long way, as with how I’m constantly inspired through reading great insights like this article!