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Leading with Authenticity: The Real Deal About Being Yourself in Management
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Let me tell you something that'll ruffle a few feathers in the boardroom crowd. Authentic leadership isn't about wearing your heart on your sleeve or turning your office into a therapy session. It's about having the guts to be consistently yourself whilst still getting results that matter.
I've been in management for nearly two decades now, and I've seen more leadership fads come and go than Melbourne's had lockdowns. Remember when everyone was banging on about "servant leadership"? Or that phase where every second manager was trying to be Steve Jobs without the actual genius part?
But here's what I've learnt the hard way: authenticity in leadership is bloody hard work. It's not some touchy-feely concept dreamed up by HR consultants who've never had to fire someone or deliver impossible targets to a team that's already running on fumes.
The Authenticity Trap Most Leaders Fall Into
Most managers think being authentic means sharing every thought, emotion, and weekend story with their team. Wrong. Dead wrong.
Real authenticity is about knowing who you are and being consistent with those values, even when it's inconvenient. Even when it costs you something. I learnt this lesson about eight years ago when I had to make redundancies at a company I genuinely loved. The easy path would've been to blame "market conditions" or "restructuring initiatives" - the usual corporate speak that nobody believes anyway.
Instead, I told my team the truth. We'd made some poor strategic decisions. I'd pushed for an expansion that didn't work out. The buck stopped with me, and now we all had to deal with the consequences. Was it comfortable? Hell no. Did it preserve my ego? Definitely not. But it was real, and that mattered more than looking bulletproof.
Some leadership experts would probably cringe at that approach. They'd say I should've maintained "executive presence" or some other buzzword. But here's the thing - your team already knows when you're talking rubbish. They've got better BS detectors than most expensive consultants.
Why Traditional Leadership Training Gets It Wrong
The problem with most leadership development is that it treats authenticity like a skill you can learn in a workshop. "Just be yourself!" they say, as if that's helpful advice when you're dealing with a team member who's consistently underperforming or when you've got to deliver news that'll make people's lives harder.
I remember sitting through one of those expensive leadership courses in Sydney a few years back. The facilitator - lovely person, I'm sure - was teaching us about "authentic communication." The role-playing exercises were painful to watch. Grown professionals pretending to have difficult conversations whilst using corporate-approved phrases that no human being has ever spoken naturally.
The truth is, authentic leadership development requires you to do the hard work of figuring out who you actually are when the pressure's on. Not who you think you should be, or who your boss wants you to be, but who you really are.
The Three Non-Negotiables of Authentic Leadership
After years of stuffing this up and occasionally getting it right, I've landed on three things that actually matter when it comes to leading authentically.
First: Your values have to cost you something. If your values are convenient, they're not values - they're preferences. Real values mean saying no to things that would benefit you but conflict with what you stand for. I've turned down promotions because they would've required me to implement strategies I fundamentally disagreed with. Not easy when you've got a mortgage and kids asking for things.
Second: Admit when you're wrong, and do it quickly. This isn't about being perfect - it's about being human. Last year, I implemented a new reporting system that was meant to "streamline efficiency." Three months in, it was clear the system was garbage. Instead of doubling down or finding ways to blame the vendor, I scrapped it and apologised to the team for wasting their time. Cost us money, cost me some credibility in the short term, but the team's trust in my decision-making actually increased.
Third: Your authenticity has to serve the business, not just your ego. This is where a lot of leaders get it wrong. Being authentic doesn't mean being indulgent. You can be genuine about your concerns without creating unnecessary drama. You can share your personality without making everything about you.
Think about leaders like Gina Rinehart or Alan Joyce during their respective tenures - love them or hate them, you always knew where you stood. They didn't pretend to be someone else depending on the audience. That consistency, even when it was uncomfortable, built a certain type of trust.
The Emotional Intelligence Component Nobody Talks About
Here's where things get interesting. Authentic leadership isn't just about being genuine - it's about understanding how your genuine self impacts others. I've worked with brilliant leaders who were completely authentic but had the emotional intelligence of a brick wall.
Understanding emotional intelligence isn't about managing emotions - it's about recognising them and choosing how to respond. Sometimes being authentic means acknowledging that you're frustrated but not dumping that frustration on your team. Sometimes it means being honest about your limitations whilst still providing the leadership your people need.
I made this mistake early in my career. I thought being authentic meant sharing every doubt and concern with my team. The result? A group of anxious employees who lost confidence in their leader. Authenticity without emotional awareness is just self-indulgence with better PR.
The Authenticity Paradox in Modern Workplaces
Remote work has made authentic leadership both easier and harder. Easier because the traditional power symbols - the corner office, the expensive suit, the theatrical board presentations - matter less when you're on a video call from your home office. Harder because building genuine connections through a screen requires different skills.
I've found that leaders who struggle with authenticity in person often do better in virtual environments. There's something about the more casual setting that strips away some of the performance anxiety. But the fundamentals remain the same - consistency, honesty about limitations, and values that guide decisions even when nobody's watching.
The generational shift has complicated things too. Younger employees often expect more transparency and vulnerability from their leaders. Older employees sometimes interpret this openness as weakness or unprofessionalism. Finding the balance isn't easy, and there's no one-size-fits-all approach.
Where Most Leaders Lose Their Way
I see leaders fail at authenticity in predictable ways. They either over-share to the point of making everyone uncomfortable, or they hide behind corporate speak and wonder why nobody trusts them.
The sweet spot is what I call "professional authenticity" - being genuine about your motivations, clear about your expectations, and honest about the challenges, without turning your office into a confessional booth.
Another common mistake is thinking authenticity means being the same person in every context. That's not realistic or necessarily helpful. The authentic version of yourself in a one-on-one coaching session should be different from the authentic version delivering a presentation to the board. The core values remain consistent, but the expression adapts to the situation.
Building Authentic Leadership Skills That Actually Work
If you're serious about developing authentic leadership capabilities, start with the boring stuff. Know your triggers. Understand what situations make you react rather than respond. For me, it's when people make commitments they have no intention of keeping. Knowing this helps me pause and choose a more effective response rather than just expressing my irritation.
Practice difficult conversations in low-stakes situations. Don't wait for the performance review or the crisis meeting to figure out how to be authentically direct. Use team meetings, project updates, and informal check-ins to practice saying what needs to be said in a way that's both honest and helpful.
Work on your storytelling. Authentic leaders are often great storytellers because they understand that facts tell but stories sell. Your experiences, failures, and lessons learned become tools for connecting with and teaching your team. But choose your stories carefully - they should serve a purpose beyond just sharing.
The Bottom Line on Authentic Leadership
After nearly twenty years of leading teams, here's what I know for certain: people don't need you to be perfect, but they need you to be real. They can handle bad news, difficult decisions, and challenging circumstances as long as they trust that you're being straight with them.
Authentic leadership isn't a soft skill - it's a competitive advantage. Teams with authentic leaders make better decisions because they have better information. They're more resilient because they trust their leadership. They're more engaged because they're not spending energy trying to decode what their boss really means.
The work of becoming an authentic leader never ends. Market conditions change, teams evolve, and new challenges emerge that test your values and your resolve. But if you can master the art of being consistently, professionally, and helpfully yourself, you'll build something that no leadership technique or management fad can replicate: genuine influence based on genuine trust.
That's worth more than any corner office or impressive title. And in a world full of leaders trying to be everything to everyone, it's also increasingly rare.
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