What really is Authentic Leadership?

A friend of mine was chatting the other day, and we had an interesting debate on authentic leadership. His point was- what is authentic leadership really all about? ‘Suppose I am upset and angry with what one of my team members has done, should I be authentic and tell them what I exactly feel about that? Won’t that create an issue? And moreover, is it really worthwhile to be authentic?’

These are questions that are probably on many people’s minds- I was also quite ambivalent about it some time ago. But over time, I have seen many leaders in many situations, and have understood what really works, and what is the real essence of authentic leadership. Let me try and see if I can make sense of this.

The first principle of authentic leadership is to have an alignment between your values, your actions, and behaviours. Are your behaviours consistent with your values? Are you being true to yourself? While obviously you can see this for yourself, but others can also have an opinion on this. Are you consistent with your behaviours across people and situations?

If I were to peel the onion a little more, these are some of the characteristics of authentic leadership:

Deep self-awareness is the first characteristic, encompassing an individual's comprehensive understanding and perception of various dimensions of their own being, including strengths, weaknesses, internal values, identity, emotions, motivations, and goals. This heightened awareness is attained through interpersonal exchanges and introspective introspection. Self-awareness assumes a key role in providing support to the decision-making process of authentic leaders. By cultivating self-awareness, these leaders gain profound insights into their own behavioural patterns and become cognizant of the impact their actions have on others. Furthermore, self-awareness establishes a fundamental alignment between authentic leaders' actions and their intrinsic values, fostering authenticity and adaptability in their leadership approaches. This self-regulation enables leaders to delve deeply into their strengths and weaknesses, make principled decisions, and serve as moral exemplars for their followers.

Not all of us are able to reach these levels of self-awareness. There is a close interconnection between self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and self-concept in leaders. Leaders with well-developed emotional intelligence tend to exhibit heightened levels of self-awareness. This heightened self-awareness empowers leaders to embrace themselves more fully, cultivate positive relationships with their followers and contributes to the personal growth and development of leaders while serving as the cornerstone for fostering a positive and authentic leadership culture within organizations.

But this is one area we all tend to overestimate. One example comes to mind. I thought I was a very inclusive person, and a good listener. When we did a 360, there was a surprise. Some of my team rated me low for inclusivity- and when I got the team together to understand this, I realised that some of the folks in COEs thought I was more supportive of the Business and always hold COEs to task! That was a jolting realisation- sometimes our illusion of self- awareness could go awfully wrong. This needs constant work!

The next characteristic is transparent interactions (what is called is academics as ‘relational transparency’), which pertains to leaders effectively dismantling communication barriers and fostering an open and transparent organizational climate. By openly sharing information and authentically expressing their thoughts and emotions, leaders can cultivate trusting relationships with their followers. Transparency in relationships cultivates a sense of fairness and ethical responsibility among employees by providing them with a clear understanding of the decision-making processes and principles upheld within the organization. I have worked with leaders who have been successful, and yet not been transparent. Over time, you realise the lack of transparency as their style and calibrate yourself and navigate through it. Maybe that opaqueness had worked for them. However, I sometimes wonder how much more the teams could have done if there was more transparency. However, as a leader, you can make a choice and build the right operating model for yourself.

The third characteristic is what Walumbwa et al call as Balanced Processing. This refers to the skillful navigation by leaders in selecting and interpreting information while considering trade-offs. It entails leaders seeking diverse perspectives and conducting objective analysis and comparisons before making decisions. By actively soliciting input, attentively listening, and respecting diverse viewpoints, leaders can enhance the quality of decision-making and foster employee engagement. There is also this aspect of vulnerability that is demonstrated by leaders- with a mindset that they don’t have all the answers and seek different perspectives with an open mind. This approach fosters an inclusive and collaborative culture, where decisions are made with careful consideration, resulting in organizational growth and success.

There was a leader I worked with who was known to be influenced by whoever he last met. If that leader came and told me something, all I had to do was to check who did he last meet- and I would know the context and how to deal with it. Why I am quoting that example is that it is difficult to build this balanced processing perspective, which calls for a non-judgemental, bias-free, inclusive approach, but probably a characteristic worth building.

Lastly, authentic leaders have an internalised moral perspective, which refers to the process through which leaders internally regulate themselves, aligning their decisions and behaviours with their personal moral standards and values. In essence, internalised moral perspective serves as a driving force for the leaders to make conscious choices by weighing interests against ethical considerations, ensuring that their actions remain consistent with ethical norms. By adhering to such principles, authentic leaders become exemplary figures in guiding their teams and organisations. Consequently, internalised moral perspective fosters qualities such as foresight, intentionality, self-reflection, and self-responsiveness among leaders. Furthermore, it plays a vital role in the development of an organisation's ethical culture.

Now to the core question- does authentic leadership help with better results? It depends on some other variables too- so it is not a silver bullet for business success. But there are some very clear outcomes linked to authentic leadership- it has a positive impact on both the leader and the followers, facilitating their growth simultaneously, greater team engagement, a more inclusive psychologically-safe and ethical culture.

Where do you really need authentic leadership? If you are building an institution, this is critical. Leaders and founders who have built thriving institutions normally demonstrate this. Especially when you have to build culture, transform organisations, and lead big changes- being an authentic leader would really help. However, if you are a transactional business leader, you may probably not need it!

So how does one build authentic leadership? It’s no rocket science. First, you need to be secure about yourself, have confidence and belief in yourself. Second, realise there are no perfect authentic leaders- everyone is on a journey, and different points in the continuum. But work on those four key areas- continue to build deep self-awareness, be transparent in your relationships and interactions, build an inclusive & balanced processing and decision-making approach, and finally be rock solid on your values and build a strong moral perspective.

For more details ref: Walumbwa, F.O., Avolio, B.J., Gardner, W.L., Wernsing, T.S. and Peterson, S.J. (2008) Authentic Leadership: Development and Validation of a Theory-Based Measure. Journal of Management, 34, 89-126

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