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If You Are A Jerk Should You Still Be Authentic?

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Leaders must be authentic if they expect others to follow their lead.

This one of many leadership myths that Stanford professor Jeffrey Pfeffer punctures in his newest book Leadership B.S.: Fixing Workplaces and Careers One Truth at a Time. It is a much needed, critical look of the leadership industry. The opening chapter is packed with statistics which illustrate that the billions spent upon leadership development are not producing leaders who lead any more effectively or productively. Engagement levels, which measure how people feel toward work and their employers, remain low. Many successful organizations have been headed by people who at times exhibited less than leader-like behaviors.

When it comes to authenticity – one of the topics the book dissects – Pfeffer argues that being true to it does have drawbacks. He cites two examples. One is Alison Davis-Blake who began her academic career as a studious introvert. As Dean of the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, Davis-Blake has expanded an undergraduate program, added new faculty, expanded overseas and helped facilitate tens of millions in donations. The other is Gary Loveman, CEO of Caesar’s, who had a fever of 101 yet insisted on participating in a business school class that was discussing him. If both individuals had been authentic they would not have done their jobs. According to Pfeffer, inauthenticity enabled the dean to rise to prominence in her field and the executive to teach.

Neither of these cases rises to genuine inauthenticity in my mind. After all, many executives I have coached are introverts. Each came to the realization that if they were to succeed in management they needed to get out of their shells and connect with others. Same goes for executives who soldier through an illness to do their jobs. This is not inauthenticity; it’s commitment to self-improvement and a commitment to working better with others.

Pfeffer does have a good point about authenticity, however. He writes, “being authentic is pretty much the opposite of what leaders must do.” He further argues, “leaders need to be true to what the situation and what those around them want and need from them.” Responding to the needs of others is essential to effective leadership.

Often when we talk about authenticity we really mean “set the right example.” Nadia Boltz-Weber, an ordained Lutheran pastor and author of Accidental Saints: Finding God in All the Wrong People, has an interesting take on subject. She teaches through example even when that example reflects her own imperfections.

For one Pastor Nadia, as she told Terry Gross on NPR’s Fresh Air, doesn’t look like a traditional pastor; she’s 6’ 1”, wears her hair short, and sports sleeve-style tattoos. And then there is her attitude. “I don't have that sweet, nurturing, ‘come to me; I'll co-sign on all of your BS problems,’ says Pastor Nadia. “I just don't have that warm, cozy personality, and I'm kind of cranky and a little bit sarcastic.”

Her church, House for All Sinners and Saints which she founded in Denver, ministers to the disaffected – addicts, gays, transgender people as well as anyone who feels rejected by society. Faith is her salvation in life. She knows this from personal experience as a recovering alcoholic. Her authenticity is her humanity.

Pastor Nadia is inclusive. She tells the story of how when the Denver Post did a profile of her “bankers in Dockers” started showing up at her church. She was not pleased; such people could go to any church. “Her church” was for the down and out so to speak. She was set straight by a fellow pastor who said, "Yeah, you guys are really good at welcoming the stranger if it's a young transgender kid, but sometimes [if] the stranger looks like your mom and dad” you don’t do so well.

Few of us are Mother Teresa and so to aspire to some standard that is so lofty to be unattainable leads to disenchantment and disillusion. Leaders, however, are not saints; they may be deeply flawed individuals who nonetheless have the power to reach others and effect positive change. Winston Churchill, who suffered from depression and could be nasty to just about everyone, was a remarkable leader who put aside his foibles to inspire a nation. John Kennedy was a serial philanderer and could be underhanded when dealing with colleagues. Yet he was an effective president, even though he was in office for three years.

Authenticity does not preclude human frailty; in fact it embraces it. Our authenticity is our humanity. While I don’t urge leaders to be confessional –- save us from reality TV – leaders need to be open about their shortcomings. Revealing past mistakes as learning lessons can be helpful to those you lead.

Authenticity is a way of labeling the behaviors you exhibit toward others. For some of us what you see is what you get – for better or worse. For others – and I suspect the majority of us – we work constantly to show our better side because we know that is how we will be most effective.

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