My twenty-first key to an “A” is authenticity, “the quality of being real or true.”[i] In recent years, it’s become a necessary trait for exemplary leaders. Synonyms include “accuracy, correctness, credibility, legitimacy, purity, reliability, trustworthiness, truthfulness, and validity,”[ii] but not transparency. Yet, many who ask a leader to be authentic intend for the leader to be open about all matters—to be transparent. Asking for transparency is quite different than asking for authenticity. A plethora of situations exist where a leader cannot be transparent, but few, if any, where a leader cannot be authentic.
In meeting with my leadership class, Schneider National’s Chris Lofgren said, “Be authentic.” Fortna’s John White III repeated the message when he met with the leadership class: “Be authentic, because people can see right through you.” Phillip 66’s Pam McGinnis advised my students, “Remain true to yourself and be authentic.”
In addressing the impact social media technologies have had on leaders being more authentic, in Open Leadership, Charlene Li states, “So put aside the calls to be more transparent, to be authentic, and—my favorite—to be ‘real.’ The question isn’t whether you will be transparent, authentic, and real, but rather, how much you will let go and be open in the face of new technologies. Transparency, authenticity, and the sense that you are being real are the by-products of your decision to be open.”[iii]
Those who argue against a leader being authentic might quote Machiavelli, who, after listing five qualities for a Prince, claims, “… to appear to have them is useful; to appear merciful, faithful, humane, religious, upright, and to be so, but with a mind so framed that should you require not to be so, you may be able and know how to change to the opposite.”[iv] If so, they ignore the situation existing at the time of Machiavelli’s writing and today’s situation: leaders live in fishbowls; every action is captured by social media. Years ago, you might have been able to fake it until you make it, but not today.
Role models are important. Studying successful leaders and identifying best practices and traits are useful for those aspiring to become leaders. However, they shouldn’t attempt to copy someone else’s leadership style or traits. After completing his doctorate and joining Motorola, Chris Lofgren shared with me advice he received when he met with Motorola’s CEO, George M. C. Fisher. Lofgren asked Fisher what he needed to do to be successful as a leader. Fisher advised him to be himself. He said, “You can only be the second best someone else.” Terrific advice. Be authentic. Be you!
When David Rubenstein asked Oprah Winfrey about the success of her daily TV show, she said that she realized the key was to focus on doing what you do to the best of your ability and not worry about what the competition is doing. She said, “I could be a better me than I could be anybody else.”[v] Like Fisher told Lofgren, she, too, understood she could only be the second best someone else.
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Following immediately on the heels of authenticity comes my twenty-second key to an “A,” acting, being a thespian. Peters and Austin noted, “‘All business is show business.’ Those words were uttered by Jan Carlzon, of the Scandinavian Air System (SAS). We agree. All business is show business. All leadership is show business. All management is show business. That doesn’t mean tap dancing; it means shaping values, symbolizing attention—and it is the opposite of ‘administration’ and, especially, ‘professional management.’”[vi]
As Shakespeare wrote in As You Like It, “All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players.”[vii] This applies especially to leaders. As a leader, you’re playing a role, you’re on stage. You must sound like, look like, and act like a leader.
Bennis observes, “… leadership is not just a performing art, it may be the greatest performing art of all—the only one that creates institutions of lasting value, institutions that can endure long after the stars that envisioned them have left the theater.”[viii]
Don’t forget, there’s another side to the acting coin— taking actions when needed. As Bennis notes, “For leaders, the test and the proof are always in the doing.”[ix] Appropriate actions might include changing roles and responsibilities, personnel changes, and changing directions for the organization. Don’t be stubborn and resist making changes when they are called for. The words of Will Rogers come to mind, “If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.”[x] Change is an essential element of a leader acting like a leader. Leadership is not just role playing.
It’s great to have wonderful ideas, but if they aren’t converted into action, they are merely thoughts. The importance of turning thoughts into actions was noted in Shakespeare’s King John: “Be great in act, as you have been in thought.”[xi]
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Next: Keys to “A”s in Leadership–Part XIV (Achievement and Adversity)
[i] See https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/authenticity.
[ii] See https://www.thesaurus.com/browse/authenticity.
[iii] Charlene Li, Open Leadership: How Social Technology Can Transform the Way You Lead, Jossey-Bass, San Francisco, CA, 2010, p. xiii.
[iv] Niccolò Machiavelli, The Prince, Prohyptikon Publishing Inc., Toronto, 2009, p.63.
[v] David M. Rubenstein, How to Lead: Wisdom from the World’s Greatest CEOs, Founders, and Game Changers, Simon & Schuster, New York, NY, 2020, p. 50.
[vi] Thomas J. Peters and Nancy K. Austin, A Passion for Excellence: The Leadership Difference, Random House, New York, NY, 1985, p. 265.
[vii] William Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7, Lines 142-143.
[viii] Warren Bennis, The Essential Bennis, Jossey Bass, San Francisco, CA, 2009, p. 341.
[ix] Warren Bennis, On Becoming a Leader, Basic Books, Philadelphia, PA, 2009, p. 137.
[x] See https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/29527-if-you-find-yourself-in-a-hole-stop-digging.
[xi] William Shakespeare, The Life and Death of King John, Act 5, Scene 1, Line 46.
