Be authentic by being true to your principles and you will win trust and make your team more effective.
The ability to be authentic goes to the core of a key principle of leadership, says Aliza Licht, New York-based founder of brand strategy consulting firm Leave Your Mark and author of "On Brand." "Being a good leader is really challenging if you don't have the trust of your team," Licht said. "And authenticity builds trust."
Great leaders are honest, true to themselves and transparent, Licht says. Not only will that build authenticity but it will motivate the rest of your team to operate by those same values. "One of the biggest mistakes a leader can make is when they do not create a safe environment for employees to be truthful," she said.
Authenticity has proved to be a vital trait to becoming a successful leader, says Bill Adams, co-founder and CEO of Salt Lake City, Utah-based consulting and coaching firm the Leadership Circle and author of "Scaling Leadership."
Adams' firm has studied thousands of companies. It breaks leadership effectiveness down into five key dimensions. One is authenticity. "Most effective leaders are authentic," he said.
Be Authentic With Integrity
Integrity plays a big part in building authenticity. Do what you've said you would do and make sure your values match your actions. Courageous authenticity is another key part of it. That means people are bold, vulnerable and own their role in a problem or setback, Adams says.
"When something needs to be said, people know this individual is going to be the one to say it," Adams said. When you build a reputation like that, you're leading people no matter what your role. And if you don't have it, people won't follow you.
"You can't be an effective leader without this," Adams said. "It just doesn't happen."
Authenticity Wins Benefits Among Your Team
Authentic leadership builds engagement within your group. It helps teams be motivated and collaborate. "When they feel their boss is a real person who has empathy, that makes an environment that feels warm and creates really strong teams," Licht said.
It spurs innovation, too. People will be more willing to bring up new ideas if the environment encourages that without creating a fear of judgment, Licht says.
Be Authentic By Knowing Yourself
Authentic people are willing to admit their mistakes and apologize, Adams says. That goes a long way toward building positive relationships.
When Adams was a teenager, his dad messed up and apologized to him. "My relationship with my dad went up multiples because of that," he said.
Be consistently authentic by being self-aware about whether your actions are matching your principles. "People get to the point where they continue to violate it and pretty soon they're unaware of it," Adams said.
Ensure you're being authentic by understanding your own belief system. Then you know what types of activities and principles are deal-breakers. "When you do that, you're drawing a line in the sand between, 'Here are things I will do and here are things I will not do,'" Licht said.
Make a point of building your reputation as someone who puts in extra effort to contribute to others' projects. It's an effective way to be authentic. "The best way to earn social capital in an organization is to raise your hand for a project that's not necessarily your job," Licht said. "People don't expect that."
Know That Mistakes Happen When You Want To Be Authentic
It's unavoidable that you'll break your principles at times. The key, Adams says, is to recognize it and make amends right away.
Early in his career, Adams tended to overpromise and then fail to deliver because he had too much on his to-do list. "That's a reputation issue," he said. "I had to learn to say no and not promise to do things I can't do."
Spread authenticity across your group by exhibiting that trait yourself. "It always comes from the top," Licht said. "If you have a great boss, you'll learn from that boss and treat your direct reports the same way."
