There are leaders know say or do the right thing because they know that they should. They pat you on the back because it’s what they should do. They learn behaviors that they should perform, but they do them out of habit versus genuine action. Then there are authentic leaders. They lead with equal parts mind and heart. Norhouse states that “authentic leaders exhibit genuine leadership, lead from conviction, and are originals.” (Northouse, 2016, loc 4208) This lesson reminded me of a Vice President that I used to work for, I’ll call him Bob. He was very much an authentic leader. He cared about what you had to say, about where you were headed in your career, and what was going on in your personal life. He knew where he wanted to go and where he wanted to take his departments. He spoke with passion and he genuinely meant everything he said and did.
Bill George talked about how leaders act with compassion and heart (Northouse, 2016, loc 4283). There was a situation that I will never forget. When I was a new supervisor, I was struggling and I couldn’t figure out why. I had a situation with an employee where I reacted poorly, part of the situation was a misunderstanding. My boss ended up calling me into her office and berated me for the situation. She ended it with telling me that I had to go apologize to her. I ended up not doing it because I didn’t really know how to. My boss called a meeting between my and our VP. When I walked into the meeting, I was expecting the worst. He sat down with me and started going over things and started asking me about what was going on. He was seeing some behaviors from me and he wanted to get my side of things. At that point the dam broke. I told him about the situation and that I reacted poorly, but that I had also felt like I never did anything well and that no matter how hard I worked, it was never enough. He listened to me and offered me suggestions on what to do with my work, and how to talk to the employee from the previous situation. I could tell that my manager wasn’t happy as she was hoping that he would berate me the way she did. He was incredibly compassionate and he genuinely cared about helping me. This conversation set the tone for my entire career as a supervisor and as a leader.
George also discusses that “authentic leaders have the capacity to open themselves up and establish a connection with others. They are willing to share their own story with others and listen to others’ stories.” (Northouse, 2016, loc 4266) Bob loved telling stories. He would use stories to make you laugh and break the ice in meetings. He would use them as a teaching point in order to help other leaders learn. He was the type of leader that would come to your desk randomly and ask if you wanted to go out for a walk. He would ask about where you wanted to go both professionally and personally. He understood that a person’s personal life affected their professional life. If you had a problem, he might tell you a story about how something similar happened to him. He would tell you about what he did and what he would have done differently looking back on the situation. He shared himself with you so that you could do better than him.
Northouse talk about relation transparency. Northouse defines this as “being open and honest in presenting one’s true self to others.” Bob didn’t hide himself from anyone. There were certain things he couldn’t discuss as they were confidential, but he never kept a different side to himself. We all knew his good and the not so good parts of Bob. We new when he got angry because he couldn’t stop himself from turning red. However, even when he was angry, he never acted out on it. He remained outwardly calm and kept his head. He was a person that admitted his mistakes when me made them. There were a few times where we would be in his office and the VP hat would come off. You were able to see the real side of him and it made him more relatable. You wanted to follow him because he was a person.
Authentic leadership comes from inside a person and needs to be genuine. You can’t do things just because you ought to. It needs to come from your heart and it needs to be your passion. George states that they understand their purpose, have self-discipline, are passionate about what they want to accomplish, have trusting relationships, and have a high level of integrity about the right thing to do (Northouse, 2016, loc 4237).
References
Northouse, P. G. (2015). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th ed.). SAGE
Publications.