Leading Authentically

Being an authentic leader who is able to connect with her team, align who she is with how she leads- connecting purpose and values, and do that effectively is what I strive for each day. That is the essence of service. I spent over a decade in Catholic health care and one of the many gifts that I pulled from that experience is a deep understanding of the word service and what it means to be a steward, and that connects well to authenticity.

You can Google authentic leadership and read pages of definitions, I synthesize as, leading from who you are in a manner that connects with, serves, and respects the people you lead. I believe it is something that is deeply personal to the leader and only you can know if you are being truly authentic. I put together five steps to assist a leader in finding that authenticity - align your purpose, passion and values; infuse your personality into how you lead; be relational and real with those you lead; show vulnerability and practice humility. 

Sometimes I phrase those five steps to myself as questions to bring my leadership back to my true north. Am I perfect at this? Absolutely not, I am a work in progress. There are interactions that I walk away from and think, wow, I could have handled that so much better. I think through what happened and identify where it went poorly and how I can be more intentional with my response and my support next time. If I think it went really bad, then I will follow up and talk it through with the other individual. Part of being authentic is being able to say, “I am sorry, I could have handled that a lot better,” and owning your own performance. That is where self-awareness kicks in. No one is expected to be perfect, but you will be more effective if you can continually improve your self-awareness and know when to self-correct and find your true north.

Leadership and working with people is multi-faceted, and has to be more about the people you serve (your team and your customer). How do you blend that authenticity in a manner that meets them where they are? That is where you have to think through those five steps, particularly the, be relational and real. What do they need? How do you communicate in a manner that resonates? When you get that right and infuse vulnerability, that is when connection happens and can feel like magic.

What does this actually look like in practice? Here is an example where I applied authenticity and allowed myself to be vulnerable. The last couple months have been difficult. Unfortunately leadership is not easy and not everyone will agree with where an organization is headed. In today’s world that often means personal attacks on social media. I was speaking at a leadership team meeting and was asked a question about the current situation. I took a deep breath and was honest with them on what I was personally experiencing, how it was impacting me and my family and how it was making me feel. I expressed empathy and trust in them, shared how I intended to lead through it and how they could support moving forward. What I received in return was nothing short of amazing and heart warming. The team knew what was happening, they knew why it was happening, but what I shared was how it was impacting me as a person. It did not make me weak, it made me real. 

As you know, leadership is not an end point, it is a journey. As leaders, we get to choose how we show up each day and the opportunity to be better with each learning and each experience. Being authentic allows us to infuse who we are into what we do, and that my friends, is truly beautiful.