People regularly worry about the implications of their behavioral profile and tendencies. They say, “give me the bad news.” Very often I get asked what is the best leadership style? I am a licensed behavior analyst and I have interpreted thousands of surveys over the years. It has been my experience that every style has leadership strengths. There is overwhelming evidence that your sustained success depends on you being an authentic leader. What does this actually mean? That, in part, means knowing your strengths and using them to achieve results. It could also mean having a passion for your stated purpose, consistent application of values and development of meaningful relationships. But is there more? Can Authenticity be fluid and change over time?
There are several challenges to becoming an authentic leader. One is a drive to advance your career and secure financial rewards. Many professionals early in their careers are motivated to show their value and make a name for themselves. This often leaves little time for self-reflection and/or self-improvement. It is all about bottom-line results. The problem is, they cannot always maintain these results and it is crisis or personal pain that compels them begin to focus on authenticity. Then there is the problem of leaders hiding behind what they term to be “authentic leadership” as an excuse for avoiding change. A too narrow definition of authenticity assumes that change is counter to being genuine. This view of authentic leadership can be misleading, because it assumes you just get to be “who you are” in every situation. This idea is a reinforced by the strengths-based movement that suggests you just need to focus on your strengths to be successful.
I meet people every day who are hardworking, authentic, and seem to have good intentions, but are not achieving the results they want. Recently, a project manager came up to me after a keynote speech at a PMI chapter meeting in Grand Rapids. She seemed very professional and she stated that she feels that she is a good leader and she cares about her team. She wanted to know why she was passed over for a promotion, when she felt the person who received the promotion was not as competent as her. I asked if she had focused on getting the promotion by putting her head down and working diligently to earn the promotion. She said that was true. I said the problem with “earning” a promotion is that sometimes you are overlooked. There are many other people who based on their profile are focused on “winning” a promotion. There is a big difference. One makes sure others know who they are, and what they can do, and their desire for the job. The other personality styles (or profiles) feel that this kind of self-promotion is inauthentic. In this Project Manager’s case her authenticity was a detriment to her desire to advance her career and help the team. Perhaps the strongest leader didn’t get promoted. How many of you have experienced or noticed similar dynamics in your organization? Are you willing to change your approach to achieve a different result?
I am pretty sure your competitors, enemies, or anyone who wants to outmaneuver, outsell, outclass and outwit you will be focused on your weaknesses. There are many examples to illustrate this. One is tennis player, Simona Halep of Romania. She used to get so angry it caused her to self-destruct on the tennis court making her beatable. If an opponent worked hard to get into her head, their chances of defeating her went up.
Duke Basketball player, Grayson Allen, recently signed a professional contract with the Utah Jazz. Many analysts and fans are worried his ultra-competitive strengths will get him into trouble. He is known as a dirty and ruthless player. To win over fans, he may have to be a little less authentic. He is working to reform his image. In other words, he is working on his weaknesses. This may seem inauthentic to some. However, he can stay true to his competitive spirit and develop other elements of his character that are lacking. This will actual help him be more effective as he channels his passion and aggression in positive ways and will help win over fans and critics.
There is no excuse for bad behavior. You cannot blame your passion (or emotions), your ancestors (genes), or your upbringing. You have a choice, always. Now to be sure, I do not expect Grayson Allen to become a member of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square. We do expect him to represent the Jazz well and help move the team forward and not be a distraction. If he doesn’t, teams will go after his Achilles heel, to cause his personal actions to weaken the entire team. He can learn from Halep who seems to be a more complete, effective and happy player once she learned to be less authentic. She went from being ranked #96 in 2010 to World #1 in 2018.
Consider Matthew who is an Operations Manager. He is known as someone who can be trusted to get things done. He is very demanding and meticulous, and he has an incredible work ethic. He was given more and more responsibility, but very soon there were problems. Employees reported abusive behavior to HR, several of his peers began supporting an initiative to get him fired. He is completely task oriented. There is little or no positive interaction with him, everything is transactional. He comes across very strongly and often as a bully. He constantly points out what is wrong and how people are failing. When he is intentionally or unintentionally direct it is not received well. This approach made him many enemies. At first, Matthew did not see the problem. He was “just stating the facts”. He considered his direct and “fact” based approach to be “Authentic” and superior to his more emotional peers’ approach to problems. He attempted to excuse himself by arguing he did not have an opportunity to have positive interactions with his peers. He did not consider going out of his way to make such opportunities in the halls, going to their office, recognizing their successes, going to lunch with them and creating a positive interaction even for just a few minutes. Would adding these behaviors cause him to be inauthentic? Stubbornly holding on to a narrow definition of authenticity would end his career. Lucky for Matthew, his manager was not willing to give up on him. Together we worked on a plan to help him become a more well-rounded authentic leader. The plan included conducting an HR investigation, helping Matthew identify and own the behaviors he needed to exhibit to build trust with the team. Together, we created an accountability mechanism to measure his improvement. With the improved commitment to changing his behavior, the executive team approved the plan.
Remember, most people are not solely motivated by a
paycheck. Many people are motivated by significance, appreciation, having a
voice, love, mission and more. Some people work for a mission-based
organization because they want to make a positive impact in the community and
world. They expect the environment to be positive. They can react strongly if
it is not. It is almost a betrayal of what they value and are passionate
about.
Life is more than checking off the to do list. We must love, connect and have
fun. When we do those things, the irony is, you will actually accomplish more,
and you will spend less time on unproductive behaviors. You are then free to
accomplish the things true to your nature and be authentic.
We determined that Matthew was willing to make the necessary investment of time and energy to make these changes immediately. He started by apologizing to his team and each of his peers. He went back each month to check in with them to get a report on how they thought he was improving and what else he could do to improve. They celebrated his successes to reinforce the good behavior.
Some people lack the confidence to be authentic. Others lack the knowledge. Changing your behavior is helping you catch up to who you are or who you are becoming. Your Authentic self may still be out there somewhere. The good news is you do not have to get 100% better. You just have to get 3-5% better and you will have a seismic (measurable) improvement in your impact. This is what authentic leadership is all about.
The author, Spencer Horn, is the president of Altium Leadership.
Related articles: The Cure For The CEO Disease; The Problem With Pressure; Leadership Is About Impact, Not Intention; How To Improve Your Leadership Under Pressure; What Is Innattentional Blindness Costing You?;Are You Failing Enough?
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