What does authentic leadership look like?

I can unfortunately assume with a fair degree of certainty that you too have encountered countless accounts of poor leadership in the course of your life and career, either in your own workplace, when you tell discouraged friends about it, when you browse through recent research reports, or when you simply observe the general work culture around you. It is hard to believe that it is not obvious that the negative impact on people trapped in dysfunctional organisational relationships is severe and affects lives beyond the workplace.

I hypothesise that a problem in an organisation starts from the top. I believe that it is important for the top person to understand what authentic leadership looks like before they can live and promote it. If leaders don't know what authentic leadership looks like, it will impact the whole organisation - and not in a welcome, desirable way. 

So what can be done to improve this situation and increase well-being, purpose, genuine motivation and effectiveness in the workplace? How can the pursuit of authenticity enter the corporate world?

From a leadership development perspective, it is inevitable to welcome a different way of cultivating and leading a fruitful and sustainable work environment. There is no doubt that the future needs leadership that has the potential to nurture employees over the long term so that they achieve higher levels of well-being, meaningfulness and ownership.

Evidence shows that well-being at work affects both the employee's and the employer's life satisfaction. The organisational effectiveness of transformational leadership has been demonstrated in a growing body of Positive Psychology research showing its benefits in for-profit organisations, in educational contexts, in sports teams, in military organisations or in self-managed teams. 

A study by Sivanathan et al (2004) defined four qualities that are important for authentic leaders. They are: 

1) Idealised influence: transformational leaders choose to do the right thing, in line with their moral commitment to themselves and their followers.

2) Inspirational motivation: Transformational leaders inspire their followers to break through their own perceived barriers to performance and to be and do better than they ever thought possible. 

3) Intellectual stimulation: Transformational leaders no longer take on the role of expert. They do not prescribe the answers to others, but encourage them to develop their own critical sense to increase their self-confidence and self-efficacy. 

4) Individual consideration: Transformational leaders strive for a close relationship with their followers. They demonstrate that they care about the development and well-being of their employees. They do this by deeply empathising with the employee's experience. 

If these points were taken seriously, leaders would no longer have the stigma of being the most visible and loudest person in the room with the most to say. Unfortunately, in an inauthentic work environment, the leader wants to put themselves in the spotlight to please the higher-ups, even if it means taking credit on behalf of others and overshadowing teamwork. Instead of inspiring the team to come up with new ideas and solutions, an inauthentic leader disempowers the team because they themselves want to be seen as the one with the answers. They want to be perceived as caring, but are not there to look after the needs of others.

...AND WHAT IS YOUR EXPERIENCE?

Do these qualities resonate with you? If so, why are they important to you? Are there any other qualities you would like to see in an authentic leader?

Do you find this topic interesting?

Then I recommend the following article:

Sivanathan, N., Arnold, K. A., Turner, N., & Barling, J. (2004). Leading Well: Transformational Leadership and Well-Being. In P. A. Linley & S. Joseph (Eds.), Positive psychology in practice (pp. 241-255). John Wiley & Sons, Inc.