Finding your Values to Become Authentic

 What?

    What values are synonymous with being a leader? Is it important to search for those values that make yourself a successful leader and be able to extract to most potential from your team or is it essential to be authentic in how you use those values to make your team successful? Chapter Eleven of Leading Organizations by Kelly Hannum describes the importance of leadership values while also being authentic in how we engage with others. Authentic leaders can be defined as those who are confident, hopeful, optimistic, resilient, and someone who is of high moral character (Avolio, Luthans, & Walumbwa, 2004).

So What?

    Our values are how we perceive the world and shape how we take action against conflicts, but more often than not we are unaware of the values we hold until they are challenged or in conflict with them (Hannum, 2010). Authentic leadership has many positives as it means leaders are mission drive rather than being led for personal ambition. Matt Gavin in a Harvard Business School Article describes when authentic leaders are mission-driven they have the ability to consider what issues are important for the organization and motivate and empower others to take action (Gavin, 2019). Trust is important to have when dealing with authentic leadership because how can you lead or be led by someone when you can not trust their actions or motives? Trust is an essential fundamental concept of authentic leadership and an important part of how an organization can function effectively (Hannum, 2010). A leader that is capable of leading diverse teams has built a relationship of trust with them to allow the leader to bridge the difference formed by social identities and subgroups. When a leader can lack this important aspect of leadership, it creates a barrier to forming meaningful relationships that can improve the performance, communication, and overall effectiveness of an organization. This can be a challenge for leaders as a relationship with your group is essential to their performance as well because when a follower perceives the leader as being inauthentic they will be less willing to go beyond the requirements of a project or job reducing the organization's ability to respond to challenges (Hannum, 2010). 

                                      

Now What?

    Being an authentic leader is such an important aspect of being a leader. In a blog by Deanna Singh, she describes the benefits of being an authentic leader are and the one that really stood out to me was promoting job satisfaction and happiness. When you are happy you tend to project those feelings onto others (your followers) in which they can increase their own job satisfaction or happiness. As a leader. we are supposed to help motivate our groups and followers and when the group has differences, our values, and authenticity is what shape how they deal with that conflict or scenario. When we show our authentic selves, it not only empowers us but also empowers others to be their authentic self to that they can speak their true ideas while also helping the entire organization improve. I can use the readings to help guide me in searching for my true values as a leader, which in the future will help me run groups to become more efficient while also enjoying the work that we do.


References

Avolio, B. J., Gardner, W. L., Walumbwa, F. O., Luthans, F., & May, D. R. (2004). Unlocking the mask: A look at the process by which authentic leaders impact follower attitudes and behaviors. The Leadership Quarterly, 15(6), 801–823. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2004.09.003

Gavin, M. (2019, December 10). Authentic leadership: What it is & why it's important: HBS Online. Business Insights Blog. Retrieved March 14, 2023, from https://online.hbs.edu/blog/post/authentic-leadership

Hannum, K., McFeeters, B. B., & Booysen, L. (2010). Leading across differences: Cases and perspectives. Pfeiffer.

Singh, D. (n.d.). 5 benefits of authentic leadership. 5 Benefits of Authentic Leadership. Retrieved March 14, 2023, from https://www.deannasingh.com/blog/benefits-of-authentic-leadership

 


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