Authentic Leadership: What It Is, What It’s Not

Probably the most misused word in business is leadership. I hear that word thrown around so much, you’d think our world was chock full of great leaders. Obviously that’s not the case (Jim Collins, in Good to Great, discovered only 11, out of 1400+ companies studied, qualified as great. Less than 1%.)

Personally, the funniest use of the word leadership is when politicians use it to describe their work. Uh, less than half the people in this country even vote – who’s following you, Mr. Congressman???

John C. Maxwell said it perfectly – “If you call yourself a leader but no one’s following, you’re just out taking a walk.” (paraphrase from The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership.)

I laugh almost as much when managers call themselves leaders. Oh really, you’re a leader? What if your people didn’t need their paycheck to survive, would they still come to work for you? Probably not. Managers don’t exert any influence, other than fear. Those followers are following money, not you.

You see, Authentic Leadership, while extremely simple, has been widely unknown to most of us, for most of our lives. The Apostle Paul said in this world there are many teachers, but not many fathers. (Lots of people like to give directives, but who gives of themselves?)

So let me briefly outline what Authentic Leadership is and what it’s not:

What L_A is not:

• Thinking it’s someone’s obligation to follow your directives
• Making someone fit into your mold, your image
• Commanding from on high, from above
• Self congratulating and self-centered
• Controlling
• Done externally
• Perceiving fault and inadequacies
• My way or the high way
• Rules Creation
• Wheel spinning and complicated
• Impatient
• Self Righteous
• Blaming others
• Trying to build yourself up
• Being served
• Not trusting, or trustworthy
• A Manager of the status quo
• A Maintainer

What L_A is:

• Empowering people to follow their own voices,
  to pursue their own greatness
• Integrating (engineering) other peoples’ innate
  greatness with your innate greatness
• Supporting, enabling and building from below
• People congratulating and people-centered
• Liberating
• Done internally
• Recognizing the potential for greatness within every
  human heart and soul
• Integrating (engineering) all kinds of ways
  (methods) to reach the common goal
• Love Distribution
• Focused, simple and clearly communicated for all to
  easily follow
• Teaching, Coaching, Developing, Investing
• Equality based
• Recognizing the roots produce the fruits (YOU are
  the roots. Hello?!?!)
• Building others up
• Serving others
• Built entirely on mutual trust
• A Creator of Newness
• An innovator, an instrument of change and progress
  (to LEAD implies movement, not stagnation!!!)

I think you get the picture. Hopefully.

There’s a world of difference between a title on a door and the place you have in peoples’ hearts. A few other great quotes on Authentic Leadership (all EPM paraphrased):

“What enables a great leader to fulfill his vision is not his position, but his passion.”
John C. Maxwell

“Being in power is like being a lady. If you have to tell people you are, you’re not.”
Margaret Thatcher

“If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.”
John Quincy Adams

/////// read Eric’s recent essay: “My Take on the Bible, Part 1” ////////

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