Authentic Leadership ‒ From Inside Out
- Apr 7, 2022
- 3 min read
Written by: Ágnes Vad, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
There’s quite a lot of talk these days about the importance of knowing your leadership philosophy. What are your core values, your guiding principles, and your beliefs? What is your purpose? It is important stuff. However, a philosophy alone falls short. How many people do you know who believe one thing and yet behave contrary to their beliefs?
It’s easy to believe in positive reinforcement until someone’s not hitting their numbers. It’s admirable to believe in open communication until you have to say something uncomfortable.
To believe requires nothing of you. You can sit and believe and believe and believe, and that changes nothing. It simply lives in your head; there is no impact.
Let’s see an example. For example, I believe in respect and dignity for all people. It is a great philosophy, wouldn’t you agree? It reflects my values and my experiences. The only problem is that I can believe until the end of time, and still, it won’t change anything. My philosophy lives in my head and not in action!
Don’t get me wrong, a clear philosophy is a good start, but you’ve got to get it out of your head
and have it show up in your actions, or it does you no good. The people you lead need you to bring your brave self to your leadership game. You are there to make an active difference.
How can we do it better?
First of all, let’s rephrase the philosophy to be more ‘active.’ My example could be rephrased like this: I champion respect and dignity for all people. Using the word ‘champion’ naturally calls us into action as you cannot champion from the sideline, can you?
Now, according to my refreshed philosophy, I will stand up to people who aren’t treating others with respect. It will require me to:
fight for what’s right
question and look deeply
seek alternatives
bring people together
explore and intervene
shake things and push ahead
shatter perspectives,
celebrate and tolerate,
so it requires me to ACT!
That’s why it is essential to carve your philosophy as clearly as possible and make sure it will drive you to ACT! It’s a critical first step! It doesn’t make life easier, but it makes you and your results better!
As a hint, when you are at the point to think and outline your philosophy, ask yourself: What would I really stand for, or is it just talk? By nature, your answers will be more ‘active’ and put you on an active path to being your most confident, powerful, and authentic self.
Remember, it is the process that allows you to get clear about your thinking and begin uncovering internal needs the thing that drives you.
But powerful and brave leadership requires more than understanding yourself and your own beliefs and values.
Authentic leadership requires not just identifying but committing to the original, constructive actions that fall out of internal needs.
Leaders who are too much in their head and are not committed 100 percent are boring to work with. They have no presence. So leaders whose words and beliefs aren’t manifesting themselves inconsistent and constructive action aren’t trusted.
As a consequence, the people around them hold back their best effort.
They don’t put themselves on the line.
They won’t be honest.
They’re not loyal.
They keep their passion, energy, excitement, ideas, and commitment locked inside.
I guess you don’t want to experience such things as a leader.
Summary
The people you lead need you to bring your brave self to your leadership game. You are here to make an active difference. So, are your actions truly consistent with your words and beliefs??
In case you need another brave person to talk it through and discover your best leadership philosophy, reach out to me.
Useful reads:
Ágnes Vad, Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine
Ágnes Vad is a certified human potential and business coach with 18 years in marketing and 10+ years in cross-cultural leadership roles. Ágnes started her professional career in the multinational world in the marketing domain and built her thorough business acumen in parallel via the international leadership roles she was promoted to. She has been showing passion for working and leading people starting from the beginning of her career. She is a proud winner of the Leadership and Marketing Awards at her company. After 18 years, she decided to follow her passion and became a coach entrepreneur in 2019. In the last 2.5 years, she became experienced and recognized professional in the coaching domain and has cc. 500 hours of coaching experience. She works with individuals and also with teams as a coach. She focuses on activating and maximizing human and leadership potential, emotional intelligence (EQ), mindfulness, and resilience.
