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Episode 426 – Learning about Authentic Leadership

https://strengthcatalyst.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Discovering-Your-Authentic-Leadership-HBR.pdf

https://hbswk.hbs.edu/item/the-truth-about-authentic-leaders 

• Welcome my friends
• Did you listen to my episode on authenticity (#415) and how we cannot be just ourselves ?
• Well – the topic of authenticity has returned in my life
• This week I went to workshop in my office on authentic leadership
• In preparation for the class we were asked to read an HBR article on the topic which I will link to in my show notes
• In it the define authentic leaders as people who demonstrate a passion for their purpose, practice their values consistently, and lead with their hearts as well as
• their heads. They establish long-term, meaningful relationships and have the self-discipline to get results. They know who they are.
• Well – I was intrigued and wanted to know more
• In my recent episodes I basically argued that authenticity doesn’t work because a) most of the time we don’t even know ourselves very well and b) nobody wants to see our authentic self because its is not always the Self that is at its best
• This article, on the other hand, stipulates that authenticity requires self management
• I was even more intrigued but also confused
• I questioned my interpretation of the word “authenticity”
• And when I didn’t find it in that article, I searched online and found another article written by the same author where he explains authentic as being the author of your life
• This to me then means – like an author who writes a story – that I develop my authenticity as I go
• He says about authentic leaders:
• They don’t hide behind their flaws; instead, they seek to understand them. This lifelong developmental process is similar to what musicians and athletes go through in improving their capabilities.
• This is very much a different interpretation of what it means to be authentic
• His research is based on a study where he interviewed 125 leaders to learn how they developed their leadership skills
• Their conclusion –
• their leadership emerged from their life stories. Consciously and subconsciously, they were constantly testing themselves through real-world experiences and reframing their life stories to understand who they were at their core.
• So in essence –
• The author argues that our life experience sets the framework for our authenticity
• We draw from our experiences because they made us who we are
• But we don’t stop there
• We are not locked into those experiences
• Instead – and the article says
• they frame their life stories in ways that allow them to see themselves not as passive observers of their lives but rather as individuals who can develop self-awareness from their experiences.
• This is basically what I talked about in my episode is the antidote to being authentic – the fixed mindset – this is who I am and this is whom the world has to deal with
• The author – Bill George is his name – says the opposite
• We need to understand ourselves so we can develop ourselves and so we can serve others
• And to understand ourselves we need to reflect on our life
• From the article
• Your life story provides the context for your experiences, and through it, you can find the inspiration to make an impact in the world. As the novelist John Barth once wrote, “The story of your life is not your life. It is your story.”
• In the study conducted, the researchers found that these successful leaders often had difficult but transformative experiences early in their life which provided a motivation for their later career
• The article shares the story of Novartis chairman and CEO Daniel Vasella which I encourage you to read as he had a difficult upbringing but which he utilized to become so successful
• Authentic leadership is a commitment to self development
• It means not just accepting who we are, but understanding who we are and how it can serve us to make an impact in this world
• You are listening to my version of this
• I shared many of my challenging life experiences with you in previous episodes
• This podcast, and my aspiring speaking career are the ways I have found my voice and possibly an avenue to make an impact
• And I challenge you to do the same
• Authenticity doesn’t mean you have to quit your job and live in the woods
• I often give you personal examples and focus little on work
• But I have a regular job and
• This article shows us how we can bring more of our authentic self to our workplace
• In our brief workshop we did an exercise where we teamed up with someone and shared a transformative life experience
• This was very touching for me
• Not because I listened to someone else’s story or shared my own – but because of the connection this story created between us
• I am continually amazed at the power stories have
• I have talked about it in previous episodes
• When we lower our guard a little, even at work, I see a huge difference on how we relate to people
• Stories help us because in stories we all find commonalties
• The story my work buddy shared was a completely different story but yet it had a lot of elements in common with my story
• Knowing something about another person creates a bond, a connection
• Last weekend I was climbing in Pinnacles national park that is about 120 miles away from Oakland
• In the parking lot I saw a guy that works out in my gym
• What a weird coincidence
• I spoke to him for 5 seconds
• Today as I came crossed the street from the gym after my morning class, he crossed on the other side to go to the gym and waved at me
• We share something now
• Even as minute as seeing each other in a different place – suddenly there is a connection with a person where there was none before
• People at the gym, at work, in the bus – we don’t pay attention to them until we suddenly know just a bit more about them that we connect with
• Isn’t it amazing?
• It helped me realize that if I am just a bit more personable at work, it might not feel like such an estranged place anymore but I may make some special connections there
• And this is where authenticity comes into play
• When people get to know us, they can relate to us
• As a result we can be a little more who we are while at the same time improve on who we are
• In the workshop we learned about 5 critical parts of Authentic leadership
  • Presence
  • Communication
  • Conviction
  • Intention and
  • Knowledge as in knowing yourself and others
• In the second article from Bill George, the one I googled, he recommends steps we can take to develop a deeper understanding of ourselves in order to become authentic leaders:
• These steps are in line with the 5 dimensions of authentic leadership
• They help us improve our presence when we are around others, the way we communicate,
• They help us check if our heart is in the right place and if we have the right intentions
• And they definitely help us learn more about ourselves

1. Explore your life stories and your crucibles in order to understand who you are.
   • To do this regularly and not just when you get into arguments with close friends you need a practice that brings those stories out
   • The easiest one I talk about on this podcast is writing or journaling regularly
   • This will automatically bring those stories from your inside onto paper and allow you to reflect on them
   • If you have a really close friend that you see regularly or a therapist, speaking about them can help as well
2. Engage in reflection and introspective practices

• Journaling can save this same purpose
• The key here is to step away from the busyness of our regular life and tune inwards
• introspective practices that can help are meditation, prayer, breathing exercises, long walks in nature or simply sitting in silence
• the important thing to understand that you are not pausing your life to reflect
• you are actually connecting with your real life
• we all do take way to little time for this
• we give almost 100% of our time away to a preoccupation with the future in the form of tasks, commitments, worries, and plans
• and we forget that the most important part of our life is us

3. Seeking honest feedback from colleagues, friends, and subordinates
   • One of the hardest things all of us, not just for leaders to do is to understand how other people see us
   • which is often quite different than how we want to be seen.
   • It is not a sign of weakness to ask a colleague or friend how we came across
   • I know its hard, but it opens up the opportunity for us to improve
   • Start with people who are not afraid to be direct with you but that you know have your back at the same time
   • I work with someone who wouldn’t hesitate a second to tell me what she thinks
   • If she was in a meeting where I said something I feel self-conscious about, I usually ask her for her perspective
   • I also have a great rapport with the people that work for me
   • I could ask them also
   • Feedback from others has been a critical part of my career
   • And most often, it wasn’t the formal feedback I received from my bosses during annual reviews
   • It’s often in the brief messages that come from someone unexpected after an intense meeting that I learned how I come across and what I need to change
   • Being more authentic, share more of you with others will make it easier for them to approach you
   • It’s a two-way street
4. Understand you purpose so you can align people around a common purpose.
   • I talk about this quite a bit as it applies to our personal lives
     • Know your direction so you can align your life with that
   • At work, this can be harder to do as we are often don’t get to determine the course, but rather we follow one laid out for us
   • However – we can still bring our approach to work with us and let that guide us
   • I decided some time ago to leave my ego at home and rather try to collaborate with the people at work
   • That’s my approach and my purpose and I expect the same from those that work for me
   • achieving success in metrics like money, fame and power, is not nearly as important to me anymore
   • rather, I try to focus on maintaining strong relationships with the people I work with and create win-win situations for all of us
   • think about your purpose at work
   • why are you there?
   • Even if your job is not as fulfilling to you as you wish – you can still make an impact in your role
   • Think about what you want that impact to be

• And lastly

5. Become skilled at tailoring your style to your audiences,
   • This is where the self-awareness gets put into practice
   • How much do you know about how you come across and how can you modify this to be more effective with the people in front of you?
   • And yes – this is fluid – it changes depending on your audience
   • There are times we need to be someone we don’t feel like being
   • I talked about this in the episode on playing your roles well
     • Sometimes we need make difficult decisions that may upset people,
     • At other times we need to be inspiring, good coaches, and consensus builders
   • It can feel like we need to fake it, but Bill George argues that being flexible is not inauthentic if it comes from a genuinely authentic place.
   • he says
   • As leaders gain experience and develop greater self-awareness, they become more skillful in adapting their style, without compromising their character.
   • And as I have argued before – over time, as we adapt our style, the new style, the better one, may eventually become part of us – a better us

• Authentic leadership my friends
• I wanted to share this article and my workshop with you because it connected so well to what we just talked about a few episodes ago
• I hope you found this useful
• Feel free to read the 2 articles to dive deeper into this topic
• I think its quite worthwhile and an important part of our Quest for you

Much love