HOW TO BE A MORE AUTHENTIC LEADER WHO MAKES A DIFFERENCE IN THEIR TEAM

 

Post lockdowns leadership has changed – people are seeking greater connection and authenticity than ever before.

They want leaders they can relate to as work family, feeling comfortable to open up to them as they would a trusted friend. It doesn't mean that you must be a personal friend, but at the same time to be influential we must prove ourselves compassionate, authentic and trustworthy as a leader.

Authenticity is about bringing your whole self to work – the better half. It is being curious and supportive of others, to bring them into success in their work by trusting them to perform and checking in regularly through great coaching conversations. Active listening is key, as are two-way conversations. Authenticity is the healthy alignment between internal values and beliefs and your external behaviour.

Authenticity comes from understanding and finding your style, your strength and allowable weakness. To find your way of leading and walking the talk of the team values — it is making life decisions that reflect your ethics, values, and your personality.

To be successful in today’s workplace, we need to do away with the enlightened power and control paradigm. Authentic leadership is what people need to find now in their people leaders.

Leadership success and influence start with authenticity – doing our jobs without compromising our personality or team values. People feel your genuine empathy and kindness in the way you engage them. The team members will trust us and be high performing and engaged when they see we are being true to ourselves, and that trust makes it possible to get things done.

Once I was in an organisation where the CEO got a poor rating on his annual 360-degree leadership report, so he decided to do a roadshow to give everyone a chance to speak their viewpoint face to face via a series of World Café circles. One stepped into the circle, closer to the CEO, and shared how he didn’t particularly like some of his decisions and leadership style, but that he’d always be loyal because of the kindness shown his family in a time of crisis. If we show empathy and compassion, actively listening, it will win hearts and minds.

Leaders who are clear about the importance of building trust and psychological safety, are better able to be authentic. This means you’re consciously practising kindness and honesty. It isn’t a license to behave without filters or good judgment – instead, it is about delivering your people leadership with success.

Helping others and supporting the team members’ success will ensure you are successful in building culture and ensuring project success.

Leadership Profiling

As an Executive Results Leadership Coach, I work with leaders and professionals who want to take their leadership to a new level, maybe for a new promotion or to feel comfortable in a new role. It’s not just new leaders, it can be senior leaders who want to unlearn old ways of working, to adopt new ways of working. Sometimes it’s a ‘fit’ profile, that compares your working strengths with that of others in the team you’re starting to work in. Often this is called for by a hiring manager or talent acquisition team member.

After the discovery call, I often start new coachees off by giving them a two-part online profile assessment: Sometimes it’s a career profile, with insights on their motivations, strengths and values, while other times it’s a team or leadership profile. One I find works well is the Everything DiSC assessment and the Leadership Behaviour section about how they tend to lead.

Raters are given a two-part online assessment: the same Leadership Behaviour section that the leader takes and the Leadership Requests section that asks which leadership practices they’d like to see the leader do more of.

Raters are broken into four groups: Direct Reports, Peers, Managers, and Others. Any combination of groups may be used, and leaders can have an unlimited number of raters.

The In-depth Feedback Report - Everything DiSC 363 for Leaders provides insight on:

1. ·        Your leadership outlook.
2. ·        How your raters see you as compared to how you see yourself
3. ·        Breakdown by rater group (manager, direct report, peer, other)
4. ·        Your performance on the eight leadership approaches and 24 leadership practices
5. ·        Three strategies for development

Everything DiSC® 363 for Leaders isn't just any 360. It combines the best of the 360s with the simplicity and power of DiSC, plus three personalised strategies for improving leadership effectiveness. The result is a 360° experience that's more productive and satisfying.

If you'd like to follow this up with Executive Results Coach and Change Coach Angela, see the booking page of https://leadershipinsights.co/

 The first discovery call is always complimentary - a Conversation Cuppa Connection Chat.