The empowering nature of being authentic
“Everyone is a leader. Each and every single one of us.”
What is Authentic Leadership?
Authenticity is rooted in humanistic underpinnings. Humanism places a large significance on self-actualisation which is considered to be the highest point of human achievement, in order for one to live their purpose and fulfil their own destiny (Covelli & Mason, 2017).
Authentic leadership theory identifies three factors in the development of authentic leadership:
Positive Psychological Capabilities (resilience and balanced reasoning enabling leaders to overcome difficulties, see alternative perspectives and consider information objectively to face challenges)
Moral Reasoning (decision making processes used to address ethical dilemmas)
Critical Life Events (life stories that enable leaders to gain a sense of compassion and humanism that can help relate to a follower/employee)
Moreover, Avolio (2005) further defined and elaborated authentic leadership into four significant components:
Self-awareness: The foundation to understand how you see the world, how you obtain and give value. Self-awareness allows you to take a deep dive into your own personal characteristics whether they be good or bad.
Internalised Moral Perspective: This is being able to live up to your internalised set of values, it’s important because your moral values could be different to that of the group you are in. Understanding your own values can help you to withstand external pressure to be in alignment with your own thoughts and peace of mind.
Balanced Processing of Information: The ability to review all information and process this in an unbiased way. It’s the ability to make decisions that are good for the group and accepting critical feedback.
Relational Transparency: Understanding and internalising who you are is one thing, relational transparency goes beyond this and is the idea that you then go onto present your true self to those around you. Whereby your outward actions are consistent with your internal values. This concept also helps to build a transparent and honest relationship with others through the means of presenting as much information as deemed appropriate for a given situation to help others understand your decision and stand behind it.
“Being authentic is not about being perfect, but it is the willingness of having a strong understanding of one's strengths and weaknesses, in addition to embodying a strong desire of working towards a purpose.”
Why is Authentic Leadership Important?
We lead in a variety of ways, on one hand we can lead professionally, from leading client meetings, facilitating workshops and being responsible for a large or small set of employees. Alternatively, we can lead in a personal capacity, whereby we embody our own sense of responsibility to navigate through life, acting as our own leader through the choices we make, the opportunities we embark on and the risks we take to be successful.
When we think of a successful leader in a professional or personal capacity. We commonly tend to use the terms ‘confident’, ‘bold’, ‘inspiring’ ‘assertive’ and ‘decisive’ but until recently we have never understood how crucial it is for leaders to harness their ability in being ‘authentic’.
But why be authentic? As a leader, it is sometimes thought that one needs to make those immediate decisions at an accelerated pace, be task-oriented and take consistent risks within a fast paced leadership role to be seen as effective. Whilst all this may be true to some, being a leader also tests our ability to step back and reflect on an additional set of characteristics that are equally important to lead whereby one needs to be genuine, transparent and self-aware. Research has posited authentic leadership is the strongest predictor of job satisfaction, commitment to an organisation and happiness at work (Jensen & Luthans, 2006).
Through authentic leadership we begin to recognise how our unique approach differs to others, how our responses to situations and challenges require our ability to find what drives and motivates us, how we can use our strengths to rise and persevere. In this moment as a leader, being bold and confident is great, but being authentic is empowering.
Authentic Leadership at Work
We have all experienced a time where we have experienced a lack of communication, missed opportunities or dishonesty from leaders. When individuals work in environments that demonstrate a lack of confidence in their leader, experience decreased team morale and do not find that their voice is heard or their approach to work appreciated, automatically one begins to feel a lack of purpose, commitment and satisfaction in their work (Cohen, 2003).
Thus, authentic leadership can positively impact not just oneself but those around you. Authenticity can be infectious, leaders are the example of how one should portray and voice how they feel, how one should feel inspired by their working style and others, how one should understand various personalities styles of team members to create a sense of psychological safety, which is one of the key predictors of overall team performance and sense of belonging (Carmeli et al, 2009). In so far that, team members are able to speak freely without any fear or judgement with their colleagues, approach and deliver tasks to their own strengths to create a sense of mutual respect for one another.
Authentic leadership normalises the uncertainty of others' working styles and evokes a sense of acceptance between team members, to enable a high performing workforce and an inclusive working culture.
It is this inclusive and diverse approach that creates effective and sustainable business results. We need people that are different in organisations, we need individuals who can challenge themselves and thrive on bringing their unique vision to an organisation. Take a moment to reflect that real leadership comes from within, every employee is a leader within their own right, they dictate their growth through their choices, effort and opportunity. Being authentic derives from listening to who you are, what you value but most importantly what you feel. Embracing these small but powerful elements will lead you to success because ultimately our success lies in where our passion and peace of mind is. This is exactly where you are meant to be.
Think about a time when you have listened to a leader speak with their heart, when their internal values match their external actions, when you have resonated with a leader when they speak, when you have respected a leader even that you disagree… in that one moment that leader has embodied their truth, regardless of how different their opinion or style of working is from yours, their presence has been heard. It stems from being motivated by not what these leaders do but who these leaders are. In surrounding yourself with leaders like this, you naturally find clarity in your own confidence, thoughts and feelings that transcends to others professionally and personally.
Being Authentic at CAIA
CAIA as an organisation has given me the platform to bring my entire self to work. CAIA has allowed me to express my opinions professionally, to actively demonstrate my strengths in a variety of contexts and to be given ample responsibility that has allowed me to make a difference. In doing so, as a business psychologist here at CAIA I feel inspired by the work that I do, it has empowered me to go above and beyond to deliver a service of excellence that maximises my own potential, aligns with my purpose and executes the organization's vision. The journey that I have experienced with CAIA has allowed me to explore and conduct a variety of client tasks, workshops and processes through authentic communication, collaboration and commitment.
However, this all began by accepting who I was and what I stood for. It started by recognising the importance of understanding my own self, my skill set and my approach. Only then could I create collaborative and trusting working relationships with my colleagues through the ability to understand their personalities, their approaches and their vision.
I have worked with a diverse and passionate team of business psychologists. in a truly authentic style where everyone feels comfortable enough to voice their opinion, to put forward their ideas and to really resonate in creating loyalty, trust and integrity in one another.
Above all, here at CAIA I have been able to follow my passion in a field that resonates with my own values and vision. I have realised that authenticity is a journey of introspection, it is a process that can take time and can cause some level of discomfort when defining one's drives and motivation, involving some areas of yourself that you may have not recognised before.
Being authentic is the simple fact of adding one more opinion, one more personality, one more strength and identifying one more area of growth, to a diverse and dynamically changing world. To me, that is bold, confident and inspirational in itself. A liberating feeling of being in control of who you are, to bring out the best version of yourself and others.
A few questions for you to reflect on:
Ask yourself, what do you value? (Environment, religion, relationships, hobbies, work). Focus on what brings you happiness, peace of mind and is in alignment with your external actions.
Ask yourself how the people around you would describe you, does this reflect the person you want to be/are?
Make a list of a few things you would like to work on (examples can include communicating more effectively, being more assertive)
Interested in finding out more about taking your authentic self a little further? Here at CAIA we provide solutions that enable you to take a deep dive into your core capabilities and identify key areas for self-growth. Get in touch to find out how you can become a more authentic leader based on your unique personality and values profile by clicking below!
Tunrea Khaira
Business Psychologist
CAIA