Authentic Leadership: Fact or Fiction?
I participated in a LinkedIn poll a while back asking people if they were allowed to authentically lead in their organizations. My immediate response was, “NO” (based on my experience in my corporate career). To my surprise, 67% of people said, “YES”. But I wondered if people confused authenticity with authority or autonomy. So, I thought I would address it in a post.
Defining Authenticity
The best definition I could find for authenticity (based on what I believe it to be), was from Merriam-Webster; “true to one's own personality, spirit, or character.”
When I think about the framework I was allowed to lead within in my past corporate experiences, I can think of ONE that allowed me to lead with MY personality, spirit and character. Or, in short, MY values.
All of my other organizations provided me with a box I could operate in. So many times I would cry on the way home in the car because something was “wrong” with the way things were being done (in my opinion). In reality, it’s not that they were necessarily wrong, it’s just the decisions were being made with different core values, and they FELT wrong to ME.
And even though I was a senior leader, I STILL experienced this often.
Defining Authority
When it comes to authority, MW defines it as, “power to influence or command thought, opinion, or behavior”.
The ability to command behavior is not be default aligned with authenticity. As a leader, I can definitely use my authentic values to decide what behavior I would like to influence, but if that behavior is NOT aligned with what the company expects, your power in that arena disappears. And does it really feel GOOD commanding behavior that you don’t believe in?
Who has reported on KPI’s they don’t believe in? Who has held someone else accountable for KPI’s they don’t believe in?
I HAD TO. And I hated every minute of it. And every time I tried to fight it with my authentic beliefs…I got squashed.
Defining Autonomy
This one is the most interesting to me. MW defines autonomy as, “the quality or state of being self-governing".
Now, you would think by default that self-governing would mean that you govern yourself. And how else would you govern yourself, but with your personal values.
But the corporate world has manipulated the definition to mean you have CERTAIN autonomy.
For example, I can approved up to $500 in an advertising spend, but anything over that has to go to the CEO. Is that really autonomy for a VP of Marketing?
It’s fake. Fake autonomy. The corporate has still created it’s own box inside which you are allowed to function. And authenticity of the leader? Not even considered in the creation of the box, which was likely created long before the human hired was decided.
A Challenge Embracing Authenticity
The challenge that innately comes with allowing people to operate with authenticity is that EVERYONE IS DIFFERENT. There is no way to regulate authenticity the way you can regulate authority and autonomy.
We believe that in order for our expectations to be met, we have to regulate how other people show up.
But when we hang out with others who have the same values as us, this becomes unnecessary.
So really, all we need to do is BE AUTHENTIC in our values from the start. So why is this so unusual in business?
Should Be vs. Are
So many people at the start of their business assume they need to be a certain way to become successful. They look at other people who have accomplished what they want and model their behavior.
And if that behavior is not aligned with their personal brand, a business gets built around fake values. And with fake values at play, the ability to be authentic disappears.
You choose values you SHOULD have. But if you DON’T naturally show up living those values, your actions won’t be aligned. And then if you hire based on the fake values, your employees won’t be aligned with you, because you’re not aligned with the values. And then so much effort is spent trying to keep people aligned, when the real problem is, no one knows what they are aligning to.
The answer? Don’t build anything based on what you SHOULD be. Build based on who you ARE.
Authenticity at the Core
If you build your business brand values on your personal brand values, it becomes easy to LIVE those values. Then, people can see you walk the walk. And if they have the same values, it becomes easy for THEM to walk the walk. And suddenly, we’re all walking in the same direction, because we’re going to the same place by nature.
I believe that all businesses CAN be run with authenticity at the core.
And I also believe that we all have the right to show up authentically at work.
Because when it comes to our personal brand, we can’t just “leave it at the door”. It’s like an appendage; it’s a part of us. And businesses who begin embracing this concept will end up with the fastest growth and the most loyal teams.
If you are currently working in an environment where you can’t express yourself authentically, check out the Your Business Peeps Community. It has been created specifically for people who are feeling a lack of connection to their work to be a place to practice being your authentic self; to find the ways to make work MORE aligned, or to decide a place isn’t right for you and find a better fit.
