| To view this newsletter online, please click here. |  | | You've received this newsletter because you subscribed to it using our double opt-in sign-up process. To unsubscribe, just click the link at the bottom of this email. Alternatively, if you're not already a subscriber, you can sign up here. | | | Mind Tools Newsletter 183 - March 22, 2011
Authentic Leadership Matters!
Integrity, credibility, and honesty are qualities we look for in a leader and aspire to for ourselves. So does your leadership hit the mark - do you behave as a truly Authentic Leader?
Sadly, even well-meaning leaders can sometimes behave in a way that seems morally ambiguous, while others come over as cold, self-serving fakes. Our article today, looking at Authentic Leadership, helps you avoid this; so that you can be the motivating, inspiring leader you want to be!
Our other articles help you build your emotional intelligence and avoid micromanaging your team - all of this is key if you want to gain people's respect and trust, and manage them effectively.
Also, don't forget that you've only got a few days to go to get hold of your free copy of our "From Expert to Manager" workbook, when you sign up to the Career Excellence Club.
Your first month's membership is just $1, so sign up now if you haven't yet taken advantage of this offer!
Enjoy the newsletter!
James Manktelow and Rachel Thompson
MindTools.com - Essential skills for an excellent career!
Featured Resources at Mind Tools
| | |  | | Find out what it means to be an "authentic leader" with this article, and learn why it really matters. Newsletter Readers' Skill-Builder | |  | | Empathy and motivation are increasingly important in today's business world. Learn what emotional intelligence is - so you can improve yours, both as a leader, and as an individual. All Readers' Skill-Builder | | |  | | If you micromanage your people, you limit their success. Learn how to avoid micromanagement. All Readers' Skill-Builder | |  | This new Mind Tools workbook helps you prepare for one of the most difficult career transitions you can make - the transition from expert contributor to manager.
With it, find out which new skills you'll need to work on, learn how to build the strong relationships you'll need for success, identify clear priorities, and plan how you'll succeed in the first few months.
You'll get this workbook free when you sign up to our community, the Career Excellence Club, before midnight PST, March 26! | | | | ... And from the Career Excellence Club
|  | | This book looks at how digital media has changed the way that we do business. Find out more about it here. Premium Members' Book Insight | |  | This five-stage model helps you deliver a more effective and successful learning experience when you're teaching your people new skills.
All Members' New Tool | |  | | Learn how to develop your career by understanding your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. All Members' Bite-Sized Training™ | | Editors' Choice Article
Authentic Leadership
Being a Leader That People Want to Follow
Many of us have heard of "authentic leadership." Books, leadership courses, and even entire businesses have been built around this idea. But it's often easier to identify authentic leaders than define what makes them that way.
What do the words "authentic leader" actually mean? What truly makes one, and why is it worth the effort to become one?
There are many different answers to these questions. In this article, we'll discuss why it's so important, and we'll examine the different characteristics that make someone an authentic leader. | | 
Live up to people's trust.
© iStockphoto/nataq |
Why Authentic Leadership?
Leadership today is very different from leadership a few decades ago. The old style of "top down" management just doesn't work anymore. In modern, democratic societies, people want to be engaged with their work, and committed to what they're doing. They want to feel as if their work matters, and they want to believe in the people who are in charge.
Because of these higher expectations, it's vital for leaders to know how to inspire passion and confidence in the people that they're leading. When people work alongside a truly authentic leader, they'll often give their whole hearts and minds to the cause. In these situations, a spirit of teamwork and loyalty can spread throughout an organization, resulting in higher morale and greater productivity.
Authentic leaders inspire trust in their teams. People are more willing to be open about problems, which means that those problems are more likely to get fixed, instead of ignored.
What is Authentic Leadership?
So, authentic leadership can inspire people to pull together, work hard, and communicate. But how do you become an authentic leader? What does it involve?
There's no easy answer for these questions, because it means a lot of different things, and it involves a diverse group of skills, actions, and behaviors. At root, however, authentic leadership is all about having integrity, and being consistent.
For example, authentic leaders inspire those that they lead because they stay true to their own values. They "know who they are", and they don't let anyone keep them from making a decision they know is right. They have integrity and firm moral codes, and manage to stay sensible and stable, even during the most difficult times.
How to Lead Authentically
The path to this type of leadership is not straight and well-defined. As we said earlier, it involves many different skills, traits, and actions. By focusing on some of the most common characteristics, you can start down your own path towards this.
Let's look at the main themes of ethics, power, communication, and the organization. We'll examine how you could start developing these on your own.
Ethics
Authentic leaders are ethical leaders. They've identified their ethical codes, and they never compromise on what they believe to be right and wrong.
If you'd like some help identifying your own ethics and values, our article Ethical Leadership is a great starting point. Our Book Insight on "Winners Never Cheat" (premium members only), by Jon Huntsman shows why being an ethical leader is the only way to live, and it offers strategies that will help you get there. And our members' article on Developing "Character" will help you "stand your ground" better.
Power
All leaders have power. But authentic leaders know how to use the right kind of power for the good of the group, and for the goal that they need to achieve.
There are several different kinds of power. One type is expert power - as a leader, you're an expert at what you do, and your team looks up to you because of that.
Authentic leaders also use the power of leading by example. When leaders do as they say, they gain the respect and admiration of their teams.
Authentic leaders don't simply know what type of power to use in a given situation. They also understand power - where it comes from, and how to use it to get things done. Our article on French and Raven's Five Forms of Power can help you understand the many different types of power in the workplace, and will help you use the good forms, and avoid the bad.
Communication
Authentic leaders are excellent communicators, and they use a number of different communication strategies to pass along their values, inspire their teams, and give clear commands.
They'll often use storytelling as an effective way of communicating an important message. Stories can inspire a team to work harder - and, when done right, stories can change an entire corporate culture by creating "legends."
Communication involves "give and take." Authentic leaders understand that the world isn't just about them, and they listen actively to other people and accept good advice, no matter where it comes from, or who gives it.
Good communication also involves feedback. It can be incredibly difficult for leaders to get the feedback that they need to improve (after all, no one wants to tell the CEO that his idea is bad!). But authentic leaders work hard to create a culture of open communication. They know that they're not perfect, and they hire people who are willing to tell them so.
The Organization
We've probably all seen leaders who look out for themselves, instead of the organization and the people that they're leading. Authentic leaders, however, never forget that they have an enormous responsibility. They put their people and their companies first.
A leader's goals should be aligned with company goals. When these two areas are not aligned, the focus becomes divided, and authenticity suffers. (You can learn about aligning your goals with your organization's goals in our article on Management By Objectives.)
Authentic leaders also know what truly drives their companies and their teams. Why is this important? Well, if you don't know the drivers that are key to performance, then you'll struggle to find out what's wrong if your company or team isn't "working." Our article on the Congruence Model will help you discover four key components of success for your organization, and ensure that these are aligned for success.
Key Points:
Authentic leadership involves a lot of different things. And developing the skills and characteristics needed should be an evolving journey, not a final destination.
Authentic leaders are often easier to recognize than define, but they all have a few traits in common. They know themselves well, and they never allow someone else to cause them to break their "moral codes." They put their companies and their teams first, they're excellent communicators, and they know how to use the right kind of power for the right situation.
| Share this article: |  |  | | A Final Note from James
Becoming an authentic leader isn't easy, and it's something that you need to work on throughout your career, not just when you start in a leadership role. But, being a leader who people want to follow is so important if you're to be successful.
Next time, we're showing you how to manage email effectively. Our email inboxes can be massive drains on our time, and the strategies that we're looking at will help you to be much more productive.
All the best!
 | James Manktelow
email us
Mind Tools
Essential Skills for an Excellent Career! |
Privacy Policy:
Mind Tools will treat your email address with complete respect and will not circulate it to any third party.
If you are not already a subscriber to this newsletter and you would like to be one, you can sign up at http://www.mindtools.com/subscribe.htm
If you have enjoyed this issue, please do email it on to your friends and co-workers.
To find out about new tools on the Mind Tools site the moment they're uploaded, click here to subscribe to the Mind Tools RSS feed (you'll need an RSS newsreader installed).
We welcome appropriate reprinting and reuse of Mind Tools material, but , you must get our permission first! To do this, please visit our Permissions Center.
© Mind Tools Ltd, 2011.
This newsletter is published by Mind Tools Ltd of 2nd Floor, 145-157 St John Street, London, EC1V 4PY, UK. You have received this email because you have confirmed that you want to receive it using our confirmed opt-in process. To unsubscribe, please use the link at the bottom of this email.
Mind Tools Ltd (Company Number 04829074, VAT Number: GB 840 1273 62) and Mind Tools (North America) Ltd (Company Number 05610859) are companies registered in England and Wales. Registered office: Hardwick House, Prospect Place, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN1 3LJ, United Kingdom. | |
