1.the ultimate goal of authentic leadership

8/18/2019 1.the Ultimate Goal of Authentic Leadership

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The ultimate goal of authentic leadership

The very deep question of ‘who am I?’ is not aneasy one for many to answer. Really understandingourselves, deeply working through our own valuesystem and continually reframing what is important

to us, is key. Truly appreciating and reconnectingwith our internal beliefs and values to form our ownpurpose barometer is essential – in life generally –but especially in leading others.

As leaders we are faced with myriad of decisions thatto a lesser or greater extent draw directly on thisvalue system. Difficult decisions are, by denitiondifficult because they invariably butt right up against(or are even in outright conict with) one or moreof our own core values. Leaders wrestle with this

dilemma internally as they work through what totolerate, what to trade off or what to sacrice ofthemselves in order to full their role as leader whilststill honouring and respecting themselves.

Authentic leadership requires the person to begenuine – to bring their whole self to work. If wewere to brutally ask ourselves how integrated ourown compartments of our lives are – how consistentare we across those various compartments – work,partner, parent, social, community, private? Dowe function honestly, openly and consistentlyacross each and all of these different zones of ourlives? From the outside looking in would we lookand behave the same in each? How much do weconsistently honour our core values?

Going against your values as anauthentic leader

Have you had a leader who communicatessomething to you and you do not genuinely feelthat they believe in what they are communicating? They may have even openly stated that they do notbelieve in it. Does this make them an unauthenticleader?

If the leader is not engaged, does not understand ordoes not agree with the ‘why’, they cannot genuinelyengage their people to do the same. Even authenticleaders must sometimes make decisions that goagainst their internal value system, despite theirbest efforts to remain true to themselves in theirrole. Leaders cannot be expected to believe in everydecision, however if a leader nds this to be thecase frequently or even occasionally on particularlyimportant issues, then it is perhaps not theirauthentic leadership that is in question but whetherthey are the right leaders for that organisation.

As an authentic leader, you must dene your ownvalues and decide which ones simply cannot becompromised. You may be surprised to nd that you

are willing to compromise them in certain situations,but be honest and transparent to your team aboutwhy you make those decisions. Your team will nodoubt understand that nothing is black and white,so concessions will be made but the genuine intentbehind those decisions should not disappear.

Leaders frequently face an internal tug of war between ‘Me the Person’ and ‘TheExpected Role of Leader’. Authentic leadership is the art of weaving these twosometimes-conicting manifestations into ‘Me the Leader’. Most leaders want to leave alegacy that reects the authenticity they brought to their role. But that means that theirintentions as an authentic leader must match their behaviours and results.


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Do you judge leaders by theirintentions or behaviours?

There is a useful perspective to gain by examiningthe judgements we make about ourselves andof others as leaders. Our expectations of leaderscan often be quite different with the expectationsof ourselves. How easy is it to judge ourselveson our intentions (‘what we are trying to do’)but then to judge others simply on their actual

behaviours (‘what they actually do’). Authenticitychallenges this disconnect, attempts to examinethese manifestations as a whole and aims to get realcongruence between them.

As leaders we bring our ‘personal me’ into ourleadership roles all of the time. Our actions, what wedo, how we say it and especially our decisions arerevealed through all of interactions. But it is often inthose knife-edge situations – those ‘nally-balanced’deep and intensive, potentially high impactsituations that our true test of authenticity is broughtto the fore.

“A true leader has the condence tostand alone, the courage to make toughdecisions, and the compassion to listen tothe needs of others. He does not set outto be a leader, but becomes one by theequality of his actions and the integrity ofhis intent.” – Douglas MacArthur

A leader’s legacyMost leaders want to be remembered for theircontributions to their team, organisation andsociety as a whole. This will be different for everyperson – while some want to be remembered fortheir business results, others would prefer to leavea legacy of caring, compassionate leadership andmentoring.

“If someone asks me this in 20 years’ time I would

like people to say that I was true to myself in theleadership decisions I made and that throughevery mistake I made I learned and I learned fast. Ihave used the benet of hindsight and analysis tounderstand the implications of my leadership – bothpositive and negative. I have truly understood thosewho work with me and I have represented themwell. I am trusted as well as being true to myself andmy values system – the start and continuation ofwhich is self-awareness.” – Steve Robinson

Every authentic leader has good intentions. The keyto leaving a legacy as an authentic leader is turningthose intentions into results, while keeping true toyour core values, and exhibiting the behaviours of anauthentic leader every day.


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Steve Robinson,CEO and Founder, Si Consulting Ltd

Steve is an experienced businessleader and consultant with a highlydiverse and successful backgroundin multi-disciplined leadership. Asowner and CEO of Si Consulting,he works with leaders and teamsin developing and sustaining their

performance and impact. Steve adds a powerful mixof useable and sustainable approaches that will seeindividuals, teams and organisations achieving greaterperformance.

Steve brings 25 years of rst hand commercial experience,including a Board appointment and senior positions withSpecsavers and Fitness First, built on the foundation ofa successful career in corporate nance and banking.Steve is also a licensed practitioner of Insights Discovery,a coach, group facilitator, trained trainer and speaker atbusiness events and seminars.

Victoria is a Client RelationshipManager at Insights and managesa wide range of accounts. Priorto joining Insights Victoria had10 years+ experience in Salesand Learning and Developmentwithin large FMCG Blue Chips

Organisations. Victoria prides herself on understandingclients’ business needs and drivers, and developingmeasurable solutions which help them provide therequired deliverables for the individuals, teams andorganisation.

Victoria rst got introduced to Insights in 1999 whenshe was a delegate on an Insights Discovery Workshopand received her rst Insights Discovery Personal Prole.It was at this moment that Victoria realised the truepotential that Discovery could bring for enhancingrelationships and in turn enhancing sales with clients. This realisation soon evolved into a genuine passion

and enthusiasm for learning and development anddeveloping people in order to help them maximise theirpotential.

Victoria O’Dea,Client Relationship Manager, Insights

About the authors

1.the ultimate goal of authentic leadership

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