When I attended the Art & Practice of Leadership Development at Harvard, Ron Heifetz stated that he doesn’t believe in the concept of authentic leadership.
Ironically, in my book Thriving Leaders: Learn the Skills to Lead Confidently, I talk about authentic leadership in the context of balancing assertive, empathetic and adaptive leadership. I reference his work, so it is quite funny (eeek) that he doesn't believe in authentic leadership as a concept.
From my perspective, authentic leadership is about being transparent, honest and genuine. Authenticity is about purpose and our values. When we are exercising leadership, we need to understand what the situation calls for in a way that is authentic to us. It is about dialling up or dialling down different parts of your personality based on the situation. There are many parts to our personalities and if we are in tune with what is happening around us, we can be what the situation requires. This takes emotional intelligence and the ability to understand ourselves and others.
I actually love the discussion about the authenticity paradox, as it definitely polarises people. A Harvard Business Review article, The Authenticity Paradox, asks some key questions about authenticity. Can you be too authentic? Is it an excuse for staying in your comfort zone?
There is a few different schools of thought on the topic.
One common argument to the concept of authentic leadership, is the discomfort of authentic leadership being about character. It is hard to be something that you are not. Or is being a certain way even authentic to you. It almost assumes a one size-fits all, and doesn’t consider different contexts, cultures or organizational norms. Some argue that striving to be authentic can lead to paradoxical situations where leaders feel pressured to adhere to a particular version of "authenticity," which can be inauthentic in itself. The attempt to conform to a standard of authenticity can undermine the very essence of being genuine
Others find that as leaders we often need to deliver messages we don’t agree with. This at times can feel like they are not being genuine. At other times it is not appropriate to show how you actually feel. Sometimes as leaders, things are crappy and we need to put on a brave face so as not to cause concern to our people.
What is your perspective on authentic leadership? I’d love to hear other views.
Some ideas to try:
Experiment with different leadership behaviours to see what works for you.
Observe other leaders you admire, borrow and try out their behaviours to see if it feels right for you.
Create the leadership narrative for the leader you want to be.
It also goes to show that we can have different views to those we admire and value, on the topic of leadership.
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