Authentic Leadership (AL) as the foundation of positive leadership effectiveness, has become more crucial than ever, especially in these times of uncertainty and turbulence. In my biokinetics classes I learnt that the stronger the internal core, the more balanced and agile one can be when circumstances require these. The same applies to leadership!
We often hear a call for AL especially lately. However, the more important question is how to develop such leadership when each one of us has been shaped uniquely by our life history and circumstances. This is what I focused on during my Masters in Professional Coaching, my PhD in Personal and Professional Leadership, and daily in my practitioner work as an individual and team systemic AL effectiveness coach.
Understanding Authentic Leadership
I define AL as being true to oneself, true to one’s leadership purpose, with a strong moral underpinning, for the greater good of all that one has been appointed to serve. It is a leadership beyond position, gender, race, age, and sexual orientation. It is a leadership by presence. As such, AL often allows for 360o influence, as people usually welcome good leadership, and are keen to follow such leaders, especially in times of stormy weather.
Authentic leadership (AL) has been classified as one of the foundational forms of positive leadership and is less a style than a mental model. The literature draws on the analogy of a compass by which leaders may continuously navigate towards their ‘True North’ or optimal state. The True North conceptisbased on the principle that a gyrocompass (unlike a regular compass) always points to True North using its internal guidance system to maintain its course, which is what we need in powerful and positive leadership effectiveness.
George and Sims in their book entitled True North: Discover your Authentic Leadership. (2007, p. xxiii) illustrated the point as follows:
Just as any compass points towards a magnetic pole, your True North pulls you towards the purpose of your leadership. When you follow your internal compass, your leadership will be authentic, and people will naturally want to associate with you. Although others may guide or influence you, your trust is derived from your life story, and only you can determine what it should be.
My research
The research for this article formed part of a much larger study on AL development. I was curious to explore ways for leaders to build their own internal AL compass against which to regulate their decisions and behaviour. The study centred on an executive leadership team which was coached through an AL development program. to identify the internal and external dimensions influencing participants’ AL development. The external dimension refers to our life history, which has shaped each one of us. Each one of us is mostly a culmination of all our life experiences, and how we responded to each in the past. This external dimension has an influence on our internal dimension, which is our internal compass. Our internal AL Compass comprises our internal identity, purpose, values, beliefs, and psychological states, which are collectively referred to as AL levels. Our internal compass might be well-defined or ill-defined, helping or hindering, yet it informs every single decision and behaviour we choose to engage in.
Findings
The findings illustrate how leaders can identify the current state of their internal selves through facilitated examination of how their life experiences have shaped their internal identity, purpose, values, beliefs, and psychological states. By deliberately refining their AL levels, they were able to adjust their decisions and visible behaviours to greater effectiveness. This allowed leaders to create a golden thread between each of these elements, allowing them to become more discerning and congruent in the way they showed up. Leaders were then able to take steps towards constructing their internal compass to maintain their ‘True North’ trajectory towards authentic leadership. They were able to start ‘walking their talk’!
The link to the full article written by me, with Prof Terri Carmichael as co-author, can be found here. For more information, you are welcome to contact me.
Conclusion
The research culminated in a proposed framework for the development of an internal AL Compass. This particular research focused specifically on building an internal AL Compass, and this forms part of a bigger AL coaching programme for individuals, and also for teams. I use the AL coaching programme with great success with my individual and team clients, and you can read about this in my book entitled ‘Authentic Leadership Effectiveness for individuals and teams – A Coaching Approach’. To learn more about my book, or to order it, please visit the link here.