Are You Truly A Trusted Leader? Authenticity Is Key | Stepshift

Are You Truly A Trusted Leader? Authenticity Is Key

Wednesday, December 12th, 2012

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Authentic leaders are leaders who demonstrate integrity and trustworthiness. Our work with leaders who are authentic or who aspire to become more authentic indicates there are a number of common factors to authentic leadership. They include having enough humility to seek other people on their team that are smarter than them, truly wanting to listen to their team members’ insight and opinions; they are leaders who are honest all the time; they are leaders who practice the ‘servant leadership’ model. An authentic leader puts the organisation ahead of their personal gain or agenda.

Because an authentic leader is trusted they achieve results much quicker than a leader who operates in a low trust environment. Stephen Covey in the “Speed of Trust” talks of the economic value of trust. Trust always affects two outcomes: speed and cost. When trust goes down, speed goes down and cost goes up. When trust goes up, speed goes up and cost goes down.

Bill George in “True North – Discover your Authentic Leadership” states that there are two key steps to becoming an authentic leader. First you have to understand yourself, because the person you will always find hardest to lead is yourself. Secondly you must devote yourself to a lifetime of development in order to become a great leader.

At Stepshift, our leadership coaching always begins with a Gap Analysis – a 360 degree interview process to (amongst other things) identify your key strengths and your development areas. Leadership or executive coaching is a highly effective process to explore your opportunities to become a more effective leader through becoming more authentic.

Lynn

Stepshift helps New Zealand business leaders to get the best from themselves and the people they lead. Get in touch to discuss how you can become a more authentic and effective leader.

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