Black Sheep, or: What Authentic Leadership is NOT

It’s truly funny. Whilst I’m still trying to understand all aspects of Authentic Leadership – the serious academic approach to effective leadership, that is - others seem to have no difficulties to simply grab a few words from the starry sky to describe what they think it means. The latest blog entry that made my skin crawl is by an American self-acclaimed “spiritual teacher and visionary thinker” who thought the world has been waiting for his definition of Authentic Leadership. (I’m referring to his blog ("http://www.andrewcohen.org/andrew/authentic-leadership.asp") with great caution and I have to warn you: what he describes is neither ‘Authentic’ nor ‘Leadership’. I decided to comment on this issue only because I have become somehow obsessed with the mission of clearing the name of Authentic Leadership off all its misconceptions.)

Spiritualists often try to validate the contents of their speeches by borrowing business-like terms; unfortunately, words like ‘authenticity’ and ‘leadership’ due to their multifaceted nature are indeed terms that can be stretched beyond recognition. The author of this website states that Authentic Leadership means to Stand alone, Live fearlessly, Act heroically, Want to be free and true more than anything else, Take unconditional responsibility for oneself, Face everything and avoid nothing, At all times see things impersonally, and Live for a higher purpose.

It’s not the individual recommendations for better behaviors and attitudes that bother me but the fact that they do not correlate with authentic leadership. To pick on one, let’s look at “stand alone”, probably referring to the necessity of a lonely but brave ‘maverick-status’ of an authentic person. Fact is that authenticity cannot be an alienated function of a leader’s qualities because it is exactly the interaction with others (subordinates) that renders a leader authentic. In short, whatever a leader or manager thinks his individual degree of authenticity is, it can only be confirmed by the people around him. To stand alone would be no good sign of an authentic leader but a lonely superior at the top of the crowd. In sum, all these alleged signs of authentic leadership are exclusively self-directed and would preoccupy the leader with sorting out his own purpose in life. They go far beyond the foundation of authentic leadership, self-awareness, and do not mention once their impact on other people.

Once again I want to stress that authentic leadership is a highly complex activity that can only be understood by a lively interaction between a leader, the one who leads others, and followers, those who want to follow. Hence, if we want to utilize the concept of authentic leadership to actually understand the complexity of effective human relationships for practical use in business contexts, we must separate the wheat from the chaff:

1) Spirituality is NOT the foundation for Authentic Leadership

(Previously: Delete the word “Spirituality” from our understanding of Authentic Leadership)

Spirituality lives in another galaxy; Authentic Leaders live on earth.

2) Remember that Leadership is Interactive

It’s follower’s perceptions that make authentic leaders.

For links, articles and references contact andrea@derlercoaching.com