Authentic Leadership

The phrase “Authentic Leadership” has gained currency over the last few years but what exactly does it mean? How does “leadership” become “authentic”? Well, its probably fair to say that most people fall into leadership (e.g., senior management) roles. The route many (most?) people take is that they get a job somewhere, find out they’re pretty good at the technical stuff, get promoted, quite like the extra responsiblity/kudos and get promoted a couple more times. Sound familiar? The thing is that, for many of these people, they have a little voice somewhere within their earshot that keeps making comments such as “you’ll be found out one of these days” or “you’re never going to be able to pull this one off”. In coaching terms, this companion is called a “gremlin” and gremlins resent being told what to do. Having this negative loop playing in one’s head can have a negative impact on the manager which, at times, can severely hamper performance and decision-making. After all, making a decision with those sort of “useful insights” running around one’s head would have anyone questioning their skills and abilities; when someone else starts questioning the manager’s decisions, then the fire-works can really start. An authentic leader is one that has a strong sense of who they are and what they’re about. They have spent time understanding themselves, uncovering their beliefs and defining their values. In a nutshell, they understand what makes them tick. This provides them a stable platform to put their head above the parapet, make conscious decisions that they believe in and lead others confidently. To me, an authentic leader is one who is not “blowing in the wind”. By this, I mean someone who is consistent in their message and isn’t going to change their mind once an aspect of a plan or decision is questioned. Since an Authentic Leader has a very strong sense of self, this allows them engage fully with others by encouraging debate, welcoming criticism and incorporating changes that support the overall objectives. This in turn makes for better decisions, better implementation and better performance, as people feel they can contribute and be heard, a vitally important aspect to engaging staff. More of staff engagement anon. What’s your take on “Authentic Leadership”?

Creating Company Culture

How is “Culture” created within organisations? Well, if we start from the bottom and work our way up, staff look to their bosses and replicate what they see and what they specifically replicate are the “behaviours” that they see, the “how” things are done. This works its way up the food chain and what companies end up with is a company of people behaving in similar ways to the people at the top which, in turn, becomes the “unspoken rules about how we do things around here”, otherwise known as “the culture”. This is great if you’re at the top. You don’t have to figure out the culture, because everyone is going to copy you so your way becomes the culture…or do you? Many executives aren’t aware of either their own behaviours or that their behaviour has a huge impact on the company’s culture. They often don’t get the connection between, for example, the company always being in “fire-fighting” mode and the fact that they never take a step back and look at problems before diving in. So, many of the organisational challenges that companies face are often generated by the company’s culture. So, should executives/small business owners be more aware of their organisation’s culture and their own impact on it? Well, if the culture isn’t causing any negative impacts on the company’s ability to successfully deliver its objectives, I’d like to know the name of the company so that I can invest in it. If the culture is causing unnecessary problems which is impeding the company from being as successful as it could be, then increasing the Executive Team’s individual and collective self-awareness could be the best investment the organisation ever made. What do you think contributes to “company culture”?

The Thing About Company Culture

I was browsing a discussion board recently and came across a discussion on company culture.  The general gist of one person’s post was that if you can’t feel and touch culture, there’s nothing you can really do about it so get over it and focus on the work. 

No prizes for figuring out that contributor’s “ideal culture” but it got me thinking.  Yes, culture is very woolly and intangible, yet, we can walk into a company and within 5 minutes, we can start to feel its culture (which may or may not match up with the nice Values statement on the wall). 

If I had to define “Culture”, I would define it as “the unspoken rules of how people do things around here”.  It is usually generated from the top down, although within a team or department, a more junior person may have a large impact on the culture (positively or negatively). 

The most concrete evidence that culture exists, though, is how a culture can change with a change in senior management.  One or two personnel changes can make a huge impact and completely change “the unspoken rules”.  I would like to say that the impact of such personnel changes on culture can be either positive or negative in equal measure but experience would indicate that negative cultural changes seem to sweep in and rapidly set up shop while positive cultural changes creep in and are mistrusted until proven.

The Apprentice …

I don’t know about you but I have to admit that I love The Apprentice.  I love the interplay between different people and I’m fascinated by how the different PMs impact the teams, positively or negatively. 

I’ve been a bit disappointed by the current Irish bunch, though.  There have been some really scary PMs – their approach very much of the “do what I say….NOW” school of management.   As I watch, cringing, what runs through my mind is “where do these people pick up that these behaviours are ok?”  Is this what they see from their managers?  Are companies ok with this?

The Reality of the Ideal Leader

I was scanning through the discussion topics on a LinkedIn group and was struck by a discussion asking “What should leaders be like these days and what should their traits be?”   It was a good, if not unique, question and, as I’m sure you can guess, it got the usual responses – “vision, integrity, inspiring others etc”.  I was going to post a response but then I stopped in my tracks…

…and a little voice said “but leaders are getting to the top of the heap all the time without these traits”.  My mind started seeing the disconnect between the ideal Leader’s profile and the actual profiles of many leaders.  Lets face it, most leaders don’t get out of bed thinking “I’m going to wipe out my company in 3 years time and lead the way in destroying the world’s financial system”.  More likely, they’re thinking “business is up, profits are up, bumper bonus for me!”.  I think its fair to say the focus was short-term, with no thoughts for the longer-term risks, which is at complete odds with the ideal leader’s visionary abilities. 

That said, there is concrete evidence that links the quality of leadership to the bottom line.  The more enlightened the leadership, the better the company’s results and long-term sustainability.  In the good times, when everyone is making money, do we care?  Does it matter that we “could be more profitable”?  For many, the answer for the last decade has been “NO”.    Now that the tide has changed, the conundrum is that the very people who need to develop their own leadership do not see that they need to change. 

So, what is “enlightened leadership”?  To me, the core of enlightened leadership is strong self-awareness which provides the confidence to embrace others, rather than see them as threats.  This allows such leaders engage in true discussion and see the whole picture, internally and externally, process and people.  For many leaders, though, they have spent years protecting their patch and their career to reach the top.  The habits of ambition and self-interest  have become in-grained.   It takes great courage to recognise the need to change one’s own behaviours for the greater good of all.