Authentic leaders embrace vulnerability. They understand their team members’ needs come first and respect individuality. Furthermore, authentic leaders acknowledge that creating an atmosphere of safety is essential in encouraging innovation and creativity to thrive.
Brene Brown is a research professor at the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work and author of Daring Greatly. Her studies on shame resilience, courage, and authenticity have earned her wide acclaim.
1. Authenticity
Authentic leaders possess a clear sense of purpose, align their actions with this purpose and are honest in communicating their motives and intentions to their team members. Furthermore, authentic leaders prioritize building strong personal connections while showing genuine care for the wellbeing of their team, which creates a more welcoming work environment which increases morale and productivity.
Authentic leaders also recognize and value diversity in the workplace. They understand how different experiences, perspectives, backgrounds and identities spark innovation and creativity; creating a safe space where employees can be themselves; welcoming all opinions while building trust through transparency.
An integral component of authentic leadership is being willing to admit mistakes and seek assistance when needed, which helps team members see that their leaders are human beings rather than untouchable icons. It is important to remember that being genuine doesn’t mean sharing every detail about your personal life at work as this could potentially damage team morale and trust.
In addition to their own authentic speech and actions, authentic leaders set an example for their teams by encouraging open communication. They regularly engage with their direct reports through one-on-one meetings as well as group touchpoints such as all-hands or town hall meetings; listening actively for ideas from team members while taking steps based on this input.
Authentic leaders also foster their own self-development by seeking guidance from mentors and colleagues they trust, tapping their networks for support when facing difficulties, sharing victories with teams to show the power of hard work, dedication, and perseverance resulting in success, and sharing stories about this with teammates – which may include sharing successes that demonstrate this approach is worth their while.
2. Empathy
Empathetic leadership requires an ability to understand and share another person’s experience, be it through active listening, providing compassionate support or encouraging people to share their story. Empathy helps leaders build trust while simultaneously building connections with those they lead and creating a sense of belongingness among their team members.
Brown emphasizes the difficulty and courage required to empathize with other’s experiences, feelings, and struggles. For instance, she recounts what happened when Oprah Winfrey asked her to share a personal account related to fear – “I wasn’t sure what to say; there was just this big lump in my throat.”
Empathetic leadership in business settings can be accomplished by listening carefully to employees, being willing to put aside personal agendas or egos for the success of the team and prioritizing team success over individual agendas or egos. Furthermore, leaders who embrace empathy create environments in which diverse ideas can flourish freely without being disregarded or discounted.
Some other characteristics of empathic leadership include:
Writers with an empathetic tone understand their audience, catering content specifically to each member’s concerns and needs, which can make a crucial difference when working in multigenerational and cross-cultural workplaces. Furthermore, writers who demonstrate empathy tend to listen well and respond quickly when comments or messages come in from readers, showing they value feedback as well as truly care about what people have to say – ultimately creating more engaging work which resonates with reader’s experiences.
3. Relationships
Authentic leaders seek to form meaningful relationships, both with their employees and the broader community. To do this effectively requires being open and honest when communicating, yet also being attentive listeners who offer support when necessary – for example if an employee is facing personal struggles at home or elsewhere they might seek guidance or assistance from their manager, which demonstrates they care deeply for them as people and not just professional work alone.
When an organization undergoes significant change, its leader must communicate effectively with everyone within the company to explain what’s taking place and why changes are being implemented. This will enable employees to feel supported during transition periods while allay concerns over future prospects in their company.
Authentic leaders aren’t shy about discussing their mistakes and failures in order to learn from them, without making excuses or dwelling on past errors; rather they use this information as an opportunity to facilitate growth within their team.
They welcome feedback from their employees and encourage others to share their own experiences, providing a better insight into how they interact with colleagues while honing leadership abilities.
Overall, authenticity appears to be an integral component of effective leadership that can be fostered through various training programs. Particularly, leaders who are more self-aware are in line with their values and morals which leads to ethical decision-making and behavior as well as developing communal relationships between employees and managers – an area which needs further study but which we are hopeful that more studies will uncover.
4. Trust
While many might perceive vulnerability as an indicator of weakness, it actually plays an essential part in building trust among team members. When leaders demonstrate they’re not afraid to open up about their weaknesses and share them with team members, it creates an environment in which everyone feels free to open up about themselves as well, leading to open dialogue that fosters greater understanding and empathy between those working together.
An excellent example of authentic leadership can be seen when a leader suddenly interrupts a meeting to attend to an emergency and leaves without explaining her reason or making excuses for them. While in the past this would likely create stress among team members, in this instance the leader trusted that her team members understood she needed to take care of something urgent – and continued the discussion as soon as she could after taking care of business.
Leaders that seek to be truly authentic must adhere to their values and act in accordance with them, acting according to what is important and their beliefs. This may involve challenging groupthink during meetings or taking mental health days when necessary; or returning to discussions that require further thought or offer new perspectives.
Implementing authenticity as a leader may be challenging, yet it is achievable over time. By acknowledging vulnerability and encouraging team members to do the same, leaders who can embody authenticity can more easily connect with their teams and inspire them towards higher levels of success.
5. Collaboration
Many managers remain skeptical when it comes to adopting collaborative leadership styles; they’re used to being told what to do without asking for assistance or asking others’ opinions for help. But the hero leader mentality is slowly diminishing as companies recognize that no single individual holds all the answers and that diversity of perspectives strengthens teams.
As such, leaders need to implement new strategies for encouraging collaboration and creating a more cohesive team. A collaborative leadership approach involves cultivating an environment in which every employee’s voice is heard and valued while developing strong relationships among their workforce.
Collaborative leadership strategies emphasize open dialogue and free flow of ideas by using tools that foster it – such as team meetings, brainstorming sessions and an easy decision-making framework. A collaborative leader also takes pride in actively listening and understanding that everyone brings a different viewpoint which may prove invaluable to his or her cause.
Leaders need to be adept at managing conflict in a constructive manner without allowing it to escalate into hostility, especially within teams where there may be different opinions on how best to approach an issue. A collaborative leader needs to mediate differences that lead to productive solutions for everyone on their team.
At its core, collaborative leaders practice what they preach. As role models for their teams and demonstrating behaviors they preach about – such as respecting diverse perspectives and creating an inclusive environment while encouraging open communication – collaborative leaders model collaborative leadership by setting an example themselves by setting up mentoring programs which allow younger workers to learn from more experienced colleagues.
