Captaining your own leadership

Leadership starts with not turning your back on those under you.

Ben Kinsella

The Silhouette

During the last 50 years, leadership scholars have conducted thousands of studies in an attempt to develop a reliable “cookie-cutter” leadership style. So far, none have been successful. And this couldn’t be better news. We want members of society to lead while being themselves, not while pretending to be someone they aren’t.

And that’s where my advocacy for authentic leadership is situated. Our innate abilities to pick up on dishonesty have been called to use way too often. Subconsciously, we pick up on the mismatch between people’s underlying intentions and the external image they attempt to create. Indian philosopher Swami Vivekananda once said: “We are what our thoughts have made us ... words are secondary. Thoughts live.” Thoughts themselves are enough to allow followers to see through a ruse. It is the congruency between the external and internal that builds the foundation for authenticity.

So that brings up the question, what is genuine leadership? The simple definition, although potentially a cliché, is to be yourself. One cannot lead authentically while trying to imitate someone else. To really gain the trust of our followers, we have to be true to ourselves and to our purpose. Amgen CEO, Kevin Sharer, worked for years as GE CEO Jack Welch’s assistant, and witnessed the conflicts stemming from false personalities first hand. He commented: “Everyone wanted to be like Jack. Leadership has many voices. You need to be who you are, not try to emulate somebody else.”

According to Michael Hyatt, there are five marks to authentic leadership: insight, initiative, influence, impact and integrity. Insight is a vision to the future. From a leadership perspective, this entails having the ability to look at complex situations, gain clarity and determine what to do based on what actions lead to particular outcomes.

By initiative, authentic leaders go first, lead by example and never stop to wait for the unwilling. The leader’s influence can be analogous to influenza. Real leaders are contagious. They draw people to their visions and values, move people to act, and create a ripple effect throughout the population.

Impact is about making a difference. Authentic leaders create real, lasting change. Without this step, the leaders haven’t led anything anywhere.

The fifth and most important mark of authentic leadership is integrity, which, in essence, demands a high moral standard. Adolf Hitler was, in a sense, a great leader who excelled in the areas of insight, initiative, influence, and impact. But he lacked this most important pillar of leadership, much to his own demise. Integrity ultimately determines the quality of a person’s legacy.

These five pillars of authentic leadership are not simple ingredients to a single recipe; they will help us succeed holistically in different levels of leadership practice.

Authentic leadership skills are not learned simply by reading about them. They must be honed throughout life. Both consciously and subconsciously, one must continuously test themselves through real-world experiences to discover what the true purpose of their leadership is. We don’t have to be born with specific characteristics, nor do we have to wait for the right moment to be a leader; we must just be willing to push our comfort zone and ensure our impact is benevolent.

We do not need to be the most personable character in the group; leaders are much different than entertainers. Young and Rubicam chairman, Ann Fudge, once said, “All of us have the spark of leadership in us, whether it is in business, in government or as a nonprofit volunteer. The challenge is to understand ourselves well enough to discover where we can use our leadership gifts to serve others.”

So, developing your personal authentic leadership requires a commitment to developing yourself and serving others. If you are an athlete or a musician, then you are familiar with the devotion required to realizing your potential.

Kroger CEO David Dillon said, “The advice I give to individuals in our company is not to expect the company to hand you a development plan. You need to take responsibility for developing yourself.”

Authentic leadership is not a chore, nor is it a recipe to be followed, or a task to be completed. It is being yourself and standing up for what you believe in. It is thinking what you mean, and meaning what you think. It is considering your impact, and trying to make every outcome as fruitful as the last. You can lack a title, a position of power and every tangible advantage in the world, and still possess the spark of leadership.

The world needs more authentic “you.” Keep striving to learn more about yourself, others and your unformulated ability to lead.