Character
Certain character traits enhance a leaders performance and engagement with their team, such as being easy to engage with, a good listener, being firm but fair, being courteous and respectful. Other character traits can destroy a leader’s support base very quickly. Untrustworthiness, disingenuous, flippant with people’s emotions and general dishonesty are certainly qualities that will undermine a leader’s credibility in the eyes of their workers.
A leader ‘faking it until they make it’ may be able to generate some results and fool people into trusting them in the short term, but eventually their true character will be tested within their specialist field. This may be resolving a sensitive issue or perhaps their personal discipline is compromised on an ethical issue. Either way, how leaders deal with and respond to such matters will not only be judged by their superiors, but also their subordinates. If a breach of trust or their behaviour within the workplace has been questionable, the leader’s character will automatically be brought into question.
Ghandi was an authentic leader
One such example of an authentic leader that demonstrated the quality of character is Mahatma Ghandi. As a civil rights leader for most of his adult life, Mahatma Ghandi began his life as an Indian expatriate lawyer in South Africa partitioning against laws that marginalised the Indian community he believed to be unjust. This later inspired him to return to his home country of India, in 1915, and lead a civil rights movement against the British Empire employing nonviolent civil disobedience as their weapon of choice.
Whilst Ghandi organised the impoverished people of India against their British rulers in an attempt to pursue civil rights and self rule, Ghandi experienced numerous incarcerations for extended periods. He could have lived a comfortable life as a lawyer and partitioned against the British with relative comfort, but chose to live a simple life, void of extravagance or excess in an attempt to be closer to the people he represented. This was one way of demonstrating his true character to not only his followers, but also his detractors that attempted to undermine his position amongst the people.
As Ghandi continued his struggle against injustice where ever he saw it, right up until his assassination in 1948, he demonstrated his true character. On a daily basis he followed through his statements with actions (such as fasting and confinement) and lived his life in a manner that represented his values, beliefs and made decisions in accordance with his moral compass. Mahatma Ghandi did more to help shape modern society in the developed world than any other person in the last century. By living his life with a true understanding of himself, what he believed in and what he was and was not prepared to do to achieve his goals, Mahatma Ghandi encapsulated what it truly means to be an authentic leader.
Authentic leaders do not have to worry about being found wanting in the character department as they have enough equity to draw on that they will behave and decide on matters in accordance with their true personality. Rather than relying on a leadership style, an authentic leader understands that their role is reliant on character attributes, not a particular style.
Integrity
Of all the qualities effective leaders possess, integrity certainly deserves consideration as being vital to authentic leaders. Businessman, Warren Buffet, considers the qualities of integrity, intelligence and a high level of energy when considering hiring a new employee. He was attributed to having stated ‘if you don’t have the first, the second two don’t matter’.
Employees, supervisors and even customers expect constant displays of personal integrity and honesty from leaders within their community and business, rather than improving shareholder returns or improving the bottom line. An authentic leader can demonstrate this by consistently displaying clear messaging in regards to values and expectations along with consistent displays of a high level of integrity.
Over a short period of time, a non-authentic leader may produce positive results, but as time passes, employees are likely to grow frustrated and disgruntled with the standard of leadership provided. This is likely to cause the transition of employees to other teams or organisations within the company or even separation from the company. The training of new staff consumes not only valuable time, but also represents a significant yearly cost to a lot of businesses. Senior management may see the positive results a dishonest unauthentic leader generates and tolerate this for a short period, but in the long term are unlikely to tolerate a high staff turnover and cost of training new employees due to the toxic work environment a poor leader creates because of their lack of integrity.
An authentic leader that communicates clearly with consistency in the message and demonstrates constant behaviour that has a high standard of integrity and honesty will foster a more productive and happier work place in the medium to long term. Therefore, of all the qualities that are encapsulated around the concept of authenticity in regards to leadership, integrity is vital.
Conclusion
Self awareness, self assessment, communication, character and integrity are all key themes of authentic leadership. When a leader has truly elevated levels of these qualities, they are considered to be authentic leaders. Individuals may demonstrate more of one, than another, throughout their professional lives with varied degrees of success. The lack of one compared to another may not be considered vital to the overall success of a leader or an organisation, but when considering whether or not authenticity is vital to leadership in the context of the long term, the answer has to be in the affirmative. Without authenticity as part of a leader’s creed, development as a leader and person is unlikely to take place. The leader will never promote a healthy and productive environment which will in turn contain loyal dedicated staff focused on the long term goals of the organisation. The leader will struggle in maintaining the loyalty and respect of their people when the team face difficulties and challenges. All of these things combined prove that authenticity is vital to truly effective leadership.