Organizational effectiveness, change management process strategy, organizational assessment of leadership style, organizational culture assessment, change management, leadership development plan, transition and culture change management, business ethics


 
  Being an Authentic Leader Part I
  November 1, 2004

"We cannot solve the significant problems of today with the same level of thinking we used when we created them."  A. Einstein
 

Being an Authentic Leader I
 
This is the first of a two-part series devoted to Authentic Leadership.  This first part considers two dimensions of being an Authentic Leader: Master of Self and Devotion to Organizational Vibrancy.  The second part includes the third dimension, Champion of Classical Leadership Qualities, and Jim Jose's definition of the Authentic Leader.

The Challenge

During the past two years we have been besieged with a media blitz chronicling the fall of organizational leaders for alleged dishonest dealings fueled by personal greed and the need to accumulate power to use for personal ends.  The core issue almost always has been one of trust.  Do shareholders trust their leaders? Do employees trust their leaders? Do customers trust the leaders of organizations they patronize?

Little has been written of late about those leaders who are, in fact, the epitome of trustworthiness, with the obvious result that many of our publics continue to have a nauseous view of "leaders" in general.  This is unfortunate for three reasons.  First, this attitude does a disservice to those valiant leaders who labor day to day within the bounds of decency, positive values and trustworthiness.  Second, it dissuades qualified and principled people from pursuing positions of leadership, thereby robbing organizations of fresh talent that will invigorate the organization into the future.  And, third, it is patently unfair, unbalanced, and unworthy to apply the sins of the few to the many. 

The leaders who deserve our attention, more than the few unworthy leaders who have been receiving it, are what I choose to call the Authentic Leaders.

The Strategy

To be an authentic leader is to be a master of self; a devoted advocate of organizational vibrancy, including mission, vision and strategies, and a champion of the classical leadership qualities that have always distinguished the principled  from the unprincipled.  We begin to define  authentic leaders by asking a few questions that suggest the underlying principles that guide them.  And, we suggest some actions that authentic leaders take to live their authenticity.

1.  Master of Self

  A.  Do I routinely take stock of my core values as a person?  Do I know them, refine them, live them?

 Actions:

  1. Write them in simple terms, vet them with trusted friends and colleagues, place them in a conspicuous place for your ready reference.
  2. Revisit your core values systematically, say every six months, and refine them as appropriate.
  3. Ground every decision, every action, every profound utterance in your core values so everyone of consequence in your life comes to know and respect them.

    B.  Do I have a plan for building on my strengths as a leader and for seizing every possible moment  to pursue my opportunities for  growth and change?  Does the plan  address the physical, emotional, spiritual and mental dimensions of my life,  and do I deliberately work this plan?

     Actions:

  1. Write your strengths and opportunities (no more than three to five) and list three actions you will take to build on each strength and respond to each opportunity.
  2. Schedule your actions on your calendar and make them one of the highest of your priorities; adhere to your schedule with determination and resolve.
  3. Evaluate your progress systematically, every six months like above, and readjust, refine, redefine as needed.

    C.  Do I know how I am perceived by others who are of value to me and do their perceptions matter to me?

    Actions:

  1. Make a short list (five to seven individuals) of those who are of value to you as a leader and whom you can trust to give you honest perceptions of you as a leader.
  2. Invite them to participate in a routine process of feeding back to you their perceptions of your leadership, without your needing to request it.  They must be comfortable with this process, and you must make it safe for them.
  3. Listen to their perceptions, discuss, clarify and evaluate them, then act on those that make sense to you and reserve all others for later consideration. 

2.  Devotion to Organizational Vibrancy

     A.  Am I a faithful servant of the people whose labors matter most in defining the success and effectiveness of my organization, rather than being obsessed with my own legacy?

     Actions:

  1. Take care of your people's basic needs of recognition, compensation and satisfaction.
  2. Ensure their performance expectations are clear, they are held accountable for them and they understand there are consequences for fulfilling and not fulfilling these expectations.  Ensure they have resources to do their jobs to expectations.
  3. Routinely tell them, all levels of them, when they are fulfilling expectations and when they are not.  Provide the resources they need to make adjustments and provide visible rewards when they are producing to expectations.

    B.  Do I personify the mission, vision and objectives of my organization to such an extent that I am perceived as inseparable from them by those who matter most in my organization?

     Actions:

  1. Ground every  decision, every action, every profound utterance in the mission, vision and strategies of your organization so everyone of consequence in your organization comes to understand them, embrace them and identify you with them.
  2. Expect your executive team, managers and supervisors to do the same.  If they cannot, replace them with those who will and reinforce them at every opportunity.
  3. Get out in the organization without benefit of entourage and "talk" the mission, vision and strategies with the people you expect to make them come alive on a daily basis, articulating, encouraging, inspiring.

    C.  Do I routinely enlist, even expect, the people who matter most in my organization to support, even be devoted to, the mission, vision and strategies? 

     Actions:

  1. Challenge employees at all levels to offer up ideas and strategies for achieving the vision.
  2. After you have ensured these employees can connect what they are doing to the direction you have set, include their support as a performance expectation standard and measure them accordingly.
  3. Focus these efforts on the "opinion leaders" in your organization, those to whom other employees listen and from whom they seek advice and counsel.

 Read the second part of this two part series Here

Contact me to discuss how you can find out whether or not you fit the  definition of an authentic leader and, if you don't, how you can become an authentic leader.  E-mail me at jim@jimjoseassociates.com OR call me at 520 / 825 - 8015.

We encourage you to reprint this issue of Strategies and Solutions with appropriate credit. Please forward it to your colleagues and encourage them to sign up for their own complimentary subscription at www.jimjoseassociates.com.

EDITOR'S NOTE

Strategies & Solutions is published by Jim Jose Associates LLC to help you develop more effective people, leaders and processes to positively impact your core business.  Jim Jose, Ph.D., SPHR, is an organizational effectiveness and leadership strategist whose results-oriented, people-focused approach is valued by both public and private clients throughout the western US, including Alaska.  For more information, visit www.jimjoseassociates.com.

 Copyright (c) 2004 Jim Jose Associates LLC.  All rights reserved. 


 
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