Archive for the ‘authenticity’ tag
Attribute of an Authentic Leader
On a Thinkers & Leaders social network, a question was posed about what made an “authentic leader”. Is it about the person’s quality of thinking? Values? Passion? Charisma?
When I looked at the term “authentic leader”, I am looking at the components and what each means personally to me.
An “authentic” individual exhibits a degree of self-awareness and knowledge of motivators and values that is readily transparent and apparent to even the casual observer.
A “leader” is an individual who acts on behalf of a collective (group, company, tribe, society) with the intent of benefiting as many dimensions of existence of the collective.
An “authentic leader” would naturally engage both of these components in his or her actions and expressions.
Qualifiers like “charisma” and “personable” can be helpful, but these are peripheral to the core components. Unfortunately, we have become so focused on the peripheral that we confuse what is on the surface with what lies beneath.
