Leading with authenticity

From PLN

Leading with authenticity

A review of True North

by Leslie Dillon, from Leader's Digest January 2008

The book True North: Discover Your Authentic Leadership by Bill George and Peter Sims (Wiley, 2007) argues that authentic leaders, guided by their most sacred values (their true north) “lead with their hearts as well as their heads, inspiring loyalty and commitment from those they lead.”

How does one become an authentic leader? To discover this, the book’s authors interviewed 125 business leaders, many of whom reported “that crucible experiences forged the principles that define their leadership.”

To begin your journey as an authentic leader, ask yourself questions in these key areas:

Self-Awareness. What are my strengths and weaknesses? How do others see me?
Values. “What are my most deeply held values?”
Motivations. “What drives me?”
Support. Whom do I count on?
Integrated life. “How can I integrate all facets of my life to be a whole, balanced person?”

“An engaging book filled with richly detailed stories, True North will inspire new and established leaders alike to consider how well they follow their own true north in their personal and professional lives.”

(Rolf Dobelli, “Leading with Authenticity: A Review of True North," Harvard Management Update, January 2008.)

The authentic leader

by Leslie Dillon, from Leader's Digest May 2007

The best leaders are not the "follow me over the hill" type. Instead, they lead from the heart as well as the head, and their leadership style springs from their fundamental character and values. Harvard Business School professor Bill George discusses his new book True North, co-written with Peter Sims. Key concepts include:

Leadership style can be broken down into takers and givers. Takers are often charismatic personalities who end up making decisions to enrich their own coffers and careers. Givers, on the other hand, create value and empower employees to become leaders.
The life of a leader can be lonely. Seek continuing help from mentors and truthful advisers.
Authentic leadership can be taught through a series of five steps that lead to self-awareness.

These five steps include:

Knowing your "authentic self," i.e., learning to be self-aware.
Focusing on the values and principles that matter to you.
Discovering what motivates you.
Building a support team.
Trying to forge "an integrated life" that augments work with such things as family, friends, community service, exercise, church and whatever else matters in your life.

(Bill George, "The authentic leader," Harvard Business School Working Knowledge podcast, May 2, 2007 and book review on Amazon.com.)