"The holy-grail" of Authentic Leadership
By Markus Moses of Ndawo Consulting
What is authentic leadership?
It can be said that genuine leadership is the function of true authenticity. The more leaders allow themselves to engage in the process of and the journey towards authenticity, the more their bearing on leadership is consolidated and heightened. This clarity further enhances their ability to mobilize those around them.
Those leaders who have such an innate understanding of themselves and their processes are better equipped to handle crisis situations and are able to think and act authentically.
As leaders and employees of organisations become more self-aware, developing an authentic approach to dealing with colleagues becomes imperative. To be truly authentic cannot be brushed off in the context of mere honesty, because honesty has the potential to create negativity in any organisation.
Each member of an organisation must be clear in what they want and why they want it. In this way, organisational consistency is achieved and conflict is easily avoided.
How to get there? Getting to grips with being authentic.
Getting authentic
True authenticity requires humility. Yet how do we get there? There are four dimensions in the spectrum of humility.
The first two opposing dimensions of the spectrum are Self-respect and Respect for others. Pushed to one extreme, self-respect, although an admirable quality, at its extreme, can be perceived as egotism - "me first then the world". By the same token, if we push respect for others to the opposing level of severity, the person might be seen to be a door-mat or someone who lacks the concept of self-identity. The dichotomy between these two extremes is easily resolved when individuals engage in healthy doses of authentic communication.
On the opposite side of the humility spectrum one finds the dimensions of Arrogance and contrary to that, Self-pity. Arrogance is often defined as the person who always says "I am the only one who is capable of achieving", whereas conversely, Self-pity usually entails a large amount of self-inflicted criticism.
In the centre of this spectrum is the space where individuals sense that they do have meaning and thereby value. The crux of the matter lies in how a person is able to find a sense of humility, assimilating the four dimensions and finding a balance.
Humility allows individuals to see themselves for who they really are. Achieving humility facilitates acknowledgment of the roles other people play in a harmonious way, yet still allowing the individual to value and acknowledge their own contributions. The idea is to develop a mantra which involves intoning "I am not a door- mat, but I have respect for others, without taking advantage of the respect I have for myself. I am confident not meek." True humility is therefore the foundation of authenticity. Acknowledgement of one's own emotions allows one to share empathy with others, which facilitates true, authentic connectedness.
This is not an aggressive approach to leadership, but rather an inviting, affirming and energizing experience. An illustration of this involves the example of honesty. A baby living with HIV, who is in an incredible amount of pain and anguish on a constant basis, smiles a pure smile. He or she is communicating in an authentic and loving manner. This expression carries the fervor of humility and allows the child to truly connect with its caregivers. A connection that "adult" mankind has lost the ability to make.
We are all born with pure, authentic potential. As we grow and mature, humans learn behaviour patterns that deny authenticity of communication because of (amongst others) societal and cultural limitations and constraints. These constraints affect thinking and create unauthentic behaviour patterns. Consider a person who has the desire to express happiness in a certain manner, but is unable to do so because they have learned to express happiness in a different, less self-authentic way.
Sadly, it has become all too common for people to simulate desired behaviours at the cost of inner peace. Herein lies the hypocrisy. When we simulate, we create inner conflict in the desire to avoid confrontation and disagreements with our peers. The behaviour is as puzzling within organizations. Oftentimes colleagues disagree with a statement or action, yet they choose to simulate or adopt a learned behaviour pattern to avoid not only confrontation, but criticism. This is especially true if their values and understanding is vastly different to others within in organisation.
Thus true authentic leadership is embedded in incorporating the notion of authenticity. Living it, acting on it and most importantly communicating it throughout the organisation.
Markus Moses is the managing director of Ndawo Consulting, a human capital management consulting company which focuses on executive coaching and change management. He can be contacted on markus@ndawo.co.za
On the 4th August 2007 Ndawo will be hosting a seminar on Authentic communication at the Ndawo premises.
Fee:R1000 per person
Time: 8h00 -17h00
>> Book Now
|
