Authentic Leadership

“No one can be authentic by trying to imitate someone else.” – George, Sims, McLean, and Mayer

For part of my career I was a Learning Advisor.  As a public servant this meant that I was responsible for the delivery of training and professional development programs for employees.  One of the main areas of attention for our organization was leadership.  As a result, I had the good fortune to be able to research and study many different models and approaches to leadership.

I was a huge fan of situational leadership (and still am) and this was reflected in my work.  In a nutshell the theory “encourages leaders to take stock of their team members, weigh the many variables in their workplace and choose the leadership style that best fits their goals and circumstances”. * In other words, take the time to understand the situation and act accordingly.   Seems like a pretty common sense approach to things.  But this post is not about the situational aspect but rather how in those situations you can be more authentic.  It is my belief that combining aspects of the theory above and authentic leadership will give you a winning approach not only to your professional life but also your personal life.

Now, authentic leadership is very much just as it sounds.  It is premised on the following core principles: **

1. Knowing your authentic self,

2. Practicing your values and principles, and

3. Balancing your intrinsic motivations.

The key here is that you have to be willing to share your stories. It means creating a more vulnerable you and having the willingness to truly practice self-awareness.  By remaining true to yourself and your values, motivators, etc., those around you become more understanding of your approaches, decision making and motivation.  It is surprising how trust and understanding blossom when this is in play.

What I have learned over the years is that the impact of these lessons is not limited to my professional life.  These lessons have helped me to understand how I interact with my family, friends and even strangers. 

Knowing yourself and staying true to your values and principles is a cornerstone to emotional health.  The dissonance that we feel when we are swimming upstream against our values can be very destabilizing.  However, if we are willing to take the time to understand our intrinsic motivators, truly understand what propels us forward, we have a whole new understanding of how we move in the world.  Knowing this can be a very powerful feeling.  It helps you to better comprehend why and how you interact with the people around you. 

We are often called upon to “lead” without really knowing it.  You end up as the one planning the next girls trip or family reunion, you could be helping the family cope with a loss or you find yourself roped into the fundraiser for your kids dance troupe (you dance parents out there, know what I am talking about!).  Being true to yourself and your experiences, sharing how you truly feel helps you to lead whether it is with your kids, a sports team you play on, your parents or your friends. 

It is not always easy to “find the time” to reflect on these things, but I challenge you to take the time to understand yourself better. Take the time to know what makes you tick and think about what that means for your interactions with others.  Writing it down always helps me, so go grab your journal and give it a whirl.

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