The quest for authentic leadership and fellowship in organisations

We have heard of various terms describing people in leadership roles: transformational leaders, visionary leaders, etc., on the positive end of the continuum; and the likes of inconsiderate leaders, micromanagers, etc., on the negative end of the continuum of leadership success.

What we may not have heard as much is the other side of the leadership coin, followership. Are there also different types of followership approaches? Does success of a leader depend on the followership approaches of those being led? All leadership views agree that leadership is about influencing others and being influenced by them. As such, leadership and followership are two in one. Their success, their failure, go hand in hand and influence each other.

Authentic leadership is a type of leadership that has emerged in a branch of leadership studies called positive leadership. This view of leadership considers the ability of the leader to care about their own values and goals, and the wellbeing of followers as important in leadership success. Authentic leadership, as the name suggests is a combination of authenticity at a personal level with leadership when engaging with others to accomplish a task. Authenticity is the ability to be true to oneself by acting and behaving in a way that is consistent with one’s core values. But what are some steps to start the quest to authentic leadership and followership?

Self-knowledge

The first step to achieving authentic leadership or followership is self-knowledge. If one is to be true to themselves, they must be aware of their strengths, weaknesses, values, goals, motives and emotions. This is clearly not an easy endeavour. It involves being vulnerable and sometimes our own quest for authenticity conflicts with the demands of the task at hand. Going through the knots of organizational politics does not make it any easier. It means that authentic leadership is an intentional journey that will face many reasons to give up, but remains worth the effort.

What authentic leadership requires is that leaders strive to bring their best and trues selves to the role, and as a result inspire others to do the same. When this harmony between leaders and followers happen, leaders are then more able to influence and be influenced by others, without either part feeling like they have betrayed their core values. In essence, authentic leaders and followers do not claim to be moral peak performers, but can be seen as everyday people who attempt to navigate the pressures and temptations of organizational life by sticking to a core set of values and principles.

Openness to feedback

The second step is being open to receiving feedback, both positive and negative and use it constructively. Openness to feedback is essential because it enhances self-knowledge, the critical first step to authenticity.

However, being able to receive feedback without being defensive requires the ability to exercise balanced information processing. That is, when listening, especially from the receiving end of criticism, we become aware that our biases may interfere with our understanding what the other person is saying, so we try to put them in check. The key is to be able to analyze what we are told as objectively as possible.

An important thing to remember is that authenticity is not an either/or condition. People are neither completely authentic or inauthentic. Instead, they can be more or less authentic or inauthentic. As such, even when we decide to pursue authenticity in our leadership or followership, we must know that it is a process, a work in progress, all the time.

This should encourage us not to give up when we fall short or feel that the desired outcomes are very idealistic.

So, if one tends to be defensive when criticized, they will not give up that tendency in a day or two. Being authentic will start by first seeking the self-knowledge. The acceptance that “I tend to be defensive when I am criticized”, then start to working on it without guilt. Looking at the issue with genuine curiosity to understand its nature and find solutions.

In summary, whether as leaders or followers, we need to focus on ways we can experience growth. Being authentic is one of those ways whereby leaders and followers can grow as individuals as they grow in titles. We want to avoid smashing those sales targets to director positions but leave people wondering: “how on earth did this person get here?”

Ms Kimaro writes about careers, leadership, personal development and issues affecting youth and women