Official Role Models

We’ve heard a lot about Role Modeling in connection with Authentic Leadership. In short, this crucial quality of authentic leaders refers to the ability to act in accordance with the values they communicate. The integrity, energy and braveness that leaders need to act upon their principles make them authentic. If they follow their own rules with consistency and passion, their behaviors will inspire others, resulting in a role model effect.

Now, there is plenty of room for discussion in regards to the demand to acting on strong values. For example, how far should a leader go by insisting on certain principles, despite potential pressure from their environment? Or, you could ask: was Hitler an authentic leader because he strictly followed his twisted principles? The list of possible challenging questions about this issue could go on, but let’s save this discussion for another time. The premise I’m making is this: authentic leadership involves having strong values about certain issues, communicating them and acting upon them. And by doing so, leaders set examples for their followers, to do the same. They become Role Models.

This time I’d like to bring this philosophical question closer to life and focus on a simple example. To start with, I’m asking why only hierarchically recognized leaders could be role models. What about teachers? Or doctors? Or, to get the story rolling – police officers?

Police Officers and Road Safety

I am in a love-hate relationship with my cell phone. It’s an ancient model that only survives for the lack of use and is tolerated in my handbag for its potential role as savior in an emergency situation. I have yet to find out more about the nature of the crucial discussions that many people (Americans mainly, sorry!) have on their cell phones whilst walking their dogs, riding bikes, strolling with their kids or, the worst of all, driving their cars. Put the question of content aside I don’t think driving and being on the cell phone is a healthy combination. Apart from the fact that it looks dangerous to me, other people seem to agree.

My argument/question is this: assuming that it is true that ‘cell phone driving’ is dangerous, and further assuming that police officers enforce (road) safety, can we conclude that police officers should definitely not be on the cell phone whilst driving? And second: do police officers have a certain position in our society that would render them role models, which would mean in this context that in order to enforce road safety they should not be caught by ordinary citizens on the phone whilst driving? That would at least be my expectation, an expectation that clashes with reality on a daily basis. I see police officers on the road and talking cheerily on their cell phones on a regular basis. Now you are asking yourself “Well, where does she live? Maybe the job of police officers requires them to have important telephone conversations whilst they are driving?” To answer your question: No, I don’t live in Chicago where officers are in the middle of a high-profile mafia operation and their ‘cell phone driving’ helps them find the bad guys. And no, I also don’t live in Los Angeles, where police officers are fighting dangerous gangs and ‘cell phone driving’ is a matter of life and death. I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan with a wonderfully low crime statistic.

Role Models, Offically

Bottom line: even people that are in no classical leadership position can and should view themselves as role models. In the above mentioned case I’m referring to those members of society that (at least in my eyes) enjoy the respect of citizens because they have a hard job keeping us relatively safe and secure. I like the police, and never had a problem with them. But I wish more officers in our town would see themselves as role models by not driving and talking on the cell phone at the same time. If they view their job as important as most ordinary citizens do, then they should be able to feel pride in their job and the awareness of their responsibility as role models.

And I’m sure that those police officers, who feel like that about their job, do exactly that. They know what’s safe and what isn’t and they will not just preach water and drink wine (an unfortunate saying in the context, I know). If they act authentically and genuinely believe that cell phone driving is dangerous (I hope they do), they can make the most of their position to keep the rest of us safer by behaving like real role models. Officially, so to speak.

You consider this notion as problematic? Then I look especially forward to your comment. You can also send me an email to andrea@derlercoaching.com. Thank you!

New Year’s Resolution for Authentic Leaders

In the past, I’ve considered New Year’s resolutions kind of annoying. They simply didn’t work, or maybe I should say, I simply didn’t work with them. The excitement over the new plan whereby I would follow a new path in life as of the 1st of January was wearing off pretty quickly and soon I was stuck with the frustration over my own lack of discipline, or the strength of my old habits. The other option seemed much more attractive: don’t make New Year’s resolutions in the first place! Don’t bother with thinking about values and goals if you already know that you won’t be able to keep to them, I told myself. But that was taking the easy way out; secretly I knew that real change and positive development would not happen if not instigated consciously by me. Secondly, following through with any new plan is more difficult and important than I realized at first, but it is an indispensable part of becoming an authentic leader.

Particularly when experiencing severe problems, or after big scandals, people want radical change, immediately. Or so they say, because it seems as if they didn’t. The authors of the True North Blog summarized the gist of the two major corporate scandals of the past decades, Enron and the current Mortgage Crisis, in their article “Since Enron, little has changed.”

“Enron’s board ratified a cocktail of financial incentives and compensation contracts that promoted reckless gambling with shareholder money….Lacking the recapture of bonus payments for unprofitable contracts, executives had little accountability in deploying shareholder capital. Finally, short-term quantitative criteria displaced qualitative measures of executive performance.”

And then they go on to describe what happened rather recently:

“….In the current subprime crisis, mortgage bankers and some commercial bankers utilized similar incentives to achieve short-term gains….The result of these perverse incentives was as predictable for these bankers as it was at Enron: excessive risk-taking was rewarded to achieve short-term gains.”

The lack of our ability to learn, adapt and change, however, is omnipresent. Think back at the news about a major decrease in sales of SUVs in the USA. When gas prices were high, Americans stopped buying large cars. A lot of talk was heard about the future of energy efficient cars, the urgency to stop drilling for oil and instead invest in research for fuel alternatives. Great, the Europeans thought (who by the way pay about double the price for gas anyway), the Americans will soon adapt the view that smaller cars are cool and in turn care more for the environment. Maybe they did, but not for long because in autumn this year we read on the news:

“Despite the down economy, falling gas prices have driven consumers back to the sport utility vehicles they once gave the cold shoulder” (ref)

“And while automakers continue to shut down SUV production, some dealers say that even interest in conspicuous consumption machines like the Escalade began to rise once gas fell back below $3.50 a gallon.” (ref)

So, why are we shocked about corporate scandals, and more so if these same destructive behaviors are repeated over and over again? Why is it so hard for humans to reconsider their worldview, decide on new strategies and actually stick to them? Because the desire to change for the better, paired with the awareness of failure is part of the human condition.

Suggested New Year's Resolution for 2009

Learning means to challenge existing habits, ideas, opinions and practices; it takes awareness of one's  own way of working and its impact on the environment.  People make the same mistakes twice because they either lack this awareness of their own actions, or they don't manage to pull through with new plans, or they simply don't care. Effective leaders are aware of the fact that most people have trouble changing, but they know about the positive influence their behaviors can have. By  testing their own standpoints regularly and acting in accordance with their (adapted) values, they can set the stage for long lasting change by inspiring people to do the same.

We expect leaders to be different and so they should be: ideally, they can be role models for change. The academic literature on Authentic Leadership is very clear on the quality of 'consistent authentic behavior', referring to the small gap between values and actions of authentic leaders; it ‘simply’ means: figure out the principles according to which you want to lead, and follow through on them, every day. - "Nothing New there!" You say? - "Very true", I say, "and the proof of the pudding is in the eating..."

It is a tough exercise, to reconsider current stand points, to find new ideals and to actually act upon them over a long period of time. For everyone who wants to become an authentic leader, however, this could be their New Years Resolution for 2009. It certainly will be one of mine.

Happy, Healthy and Successful New Year 2009 to you all!

Obama's Potential, or: My dream for Authentic Leadership

I just can’t help it. I too belong to the vast number of people who see in Senator Barack Obama a striking agent of change and hope that he will become the next President of the United States of America. Last time I listened to one of his campaign speeches, he spoke about Hope, Change and Unity and I have to admit the message touched me to the bottom of my heart. As soon as the speech ended and the rationalization process kicked in, I asked myself what it is that fascinates me about Obama’s personal approach to politics. After giving it some careful thought, incorporating everything I’ve read about him so far, I found some fundamental values that Senator Obama carries throughout his campaign and which make him look like an authentic leader to me:

POSITIVITY
A powerful force in leadership is to convey a positive message to people. It sounds simplistic and naïve but is a basic truth about human nature: we crave for a positive spirit that guides us through complex times. We need something to look forward to, rather than fearing our future. To be hopeful and positive about change is inspiring and motivating; we all know what difficulties lay ahead of us but we want affirmation that we can deal with them. What Obama does is not lead us blindfolded into a ‘golden era’ of his presidency by telling us everything will be fine; but he tells us about his vision filled with the positive anticipation for what could come our way. Obama’s main catch phrase is that of Hope but don’t take it as a cheesy idealistic construct for the weak amongst us. Through the feeling of Hope, authentic leaders convey an important emotional message: that of positive action. According to psychologists, Hope is bi-dimensional, involving the willpower of a person as well as his waypower. That means a hopeful person is more likely to possess the will and capacity to decide and act, and to plan strategies to meet specific goals. If this is the strategy Obama has for this country, then he has a great attitude to offer. And sometimes, attitude trumps experience.

DIALOGUE
A description of Barack Obama as leader in practice caught my eye in the IHT. He is described as someone who has a “deep philosophical commitment to dialogue”, who in meetings wants to “suck the room of every idea”, someone who “orchestrates debate, playing participants off each other – and then highlighting their areas of agreement.” How often have we experienced such inquisitive characteristics in our leaders? The ability to take all available viewpoints into consideration is an indispensable behavior of effective - and authentic – leaders. It shows an awareness that some issues need to be looked at from different viewpoints and it is a commitment to constant learning and change. Instead of imposing their own ideas, oblivious to the fact that there could be better ones out there, these leaders want to utilize the enormous potential that lies within all associates. It can be an art for leaders to not only surround themselves with the best of all advisors, but to listen attentively and incorporate their inputs.
The advantages of open dialogue are manifold and yet few leaders manage to look beyond their status when confronted with useful comments by their subordinates. If Senator Obama continues to follow that path in his presidency, real and positive change will be possible.

CONSISTENCY
Looking back at the campaign so far, not even the harshest critics of Obama can say that he changed his story or original message to gain momentum(if they are honest). He never attacked his opponents personally or disrespectfully, whoever they were. He always stayed with the issue at hand and focused on his own vision than loosing energy on talking bad about others. Despite the most despicable attacks aimed at his person he managed to remain calm. It seems as if no destructive force in the world could make him stumble, because he knows what’s important to him and this country. It seems as if he has decided on some fundamental values a long time ago, and whilst allowing others to participate, he is perfectly able to manage the challenges ahead on the basis of his deepest beliefs.

Knowing how to reach his goal, however, does not make him an authentic leader. He obviously has to prove that he will do it, consistently over the coming four to eight years as president. But what strikes me and probably millions of others, is the consistency of his message, his plans for positive change and his whole public demeanor that is one of thoughtfulness, inner strength and genuine care. He communicates a feeling of reliability and trust, values that people crave for and which are indeed desirable in any leader.

Now, you may agree with me or not about my perception of Barack Obama and both is fine, of course. The above mentioned principles that I see displayed in this public figure stay with me regardless and I decide to project them into his type of leadership. If Senator Obama actually has the energy and willpower to enact an authentic leadership style once he enters the White House remains yet to be seen; for me, he certainly shows all the signs that he will.

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