I am surprised by how many leaders attempt to be one way at work, while their truer, more authentic personality emerges only outside of work. And it surprises me when these same leaders seem shocked or confused when their employees don’t trust them, don’t like them, and are looking elsewhere for other work opportunities.
Studies have found that leaders who are authentic at work are more likely to have engaged, enthusiastic, motivated employees and psychologically safe cultures. Whereas those who act inauthentically can create disruptive, negative forces at work, adding to uncertainty and mistrust.
Leadership success starts with being authentic and true to ourselves, without compromising our values and personality. Authentic leaders are self-actualized individuals who are aware of their strengths, their limitations, and their emotions. They also show their real selves to their people. They do not act one way in private and another in public; they don’t hide their mistakes or weaknesses out of fear of looking weak. They also realize that being self-actualized is an endless journey, never complete.
From my own personal experience, it takes a lot of energy to behave in ways that are out of sync with our true values, priorities, hopes, characteristics, and style. And energy is a resource that I find short in supply in most leaders.
The concept of bringing your whole self to work is nothing new, however our current times demand more than ever that we embrace our true, best selves. To be effective leaders, we must discover our strengths and step into them. We must learn about our blind spots and address them. We need to explore who we want to be as leaders and what feels right for us. Because it is hard, and really stressful, to try to be someone you are not. It’s like swimming upstream constantly.
When you lead authentically, however, you are effortlessly powerful.
Unfortunately, we typically learn to lead by example. Although adopting someone else’s style may help you for a while, eventually you are going to have to work out what feels right for you, the kind of leadership strategies that you want to follow and find your own natural style, one in which you understand your purpose, adhere to your values and lead from the heart.
Ready to take the next step? In order to boost your self-awareness, allow me to ask you, what drives you? What are your values, likes and dislikes? Are you setting goals for yourself that are aligned with your values? What do you want to accomplish in your life? Is there a gap between the image that others have of you and the image you would like to project? How do you want to be remembered? Getting clear on these questions will help you provide meaning to the work you do, whilst being authentically you.
Genuine change is rarely dramatic or sudden. You can start with small steps and gradually align your behaviours with your most important values. You’re not likely to make real, sustainable change without a commitment to small, daily tweaks over time. You can also bring trusted colleagues, friends and / or a coach into your plan to provide support as sounding boards, feedback-givers, cheerleaders, and problem-solvers.
Be an authentic leader, whatever that looks like for you.
To your success,
Isabel
Isabel is an experienced Peak Performance Strategist with over 20 years of international work experience holding senior positions within the hospitality industry in countries around the world, as well as Executive and Leadership coaching, mentoring and training.
She specializes in high performance strategy, leadership development and building organizational culture to help leaders and their teams learn, grow and succeed.
Isabel is passionate about helping empower business leaders with the mindset, performance, skills and strategies that they need to get ahead.
More available on www.isabelvalle.com
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