Whilst it's true that not all leaders are entrepreneurs, arguably, most if not all entrepreneurs are leaders. Whether you realise it or not, even if you are a one-person-band and don't have any staff yet, it's likely you share many of the traits of an authentic leader.
Authentic Leadership Model (Payne K, 2017 adapted from George & Sims, 2007)
Using examples from real-world experiences, this article explores authentic leadership traits commonly demonstrated by entrepreneurs as depicted in the Authentic Leadership Model extracted from my EMBA dissertation and published in Annex One: A Review of Academic Literature Relating to the Nature of Leadership written by Roger Delves, Ashridge Professor in Leadership, and published by EFMD (www.efmdglobal.org).
"Most, if not all, entrepreneurs are leaders"
Effective authentic leadership starts with a purpose, driven by an underlying passion. Refer to Business Insights article How to Find You Entrepreneurial Niche to discover ways you can find your true passion if you don't feel you have found your true calling yet. Having identified your purpose in life --- to become a leader --- you need to share your vision which, as a founder, will be informed by your values and demonstrated through your behaviour.
Authentic Leadership Model (Payne K, 2017 adapted from George & Sims, 2007)
Take Bradley Brown Consulting and the Humankind Entrepreneurs Club as an example. My values as founder inform everything these entities stand for. As a Humankind Entrepreneur, it's highly likely you also believe in human kindness and reject unethical, exploitative behaviour of both humans and our planetary resources. It is this common interest that creates a shared purpose. And in turn, it is this shared purpose that is applied in everything Bradley Brown Consulting and the Humankind Entrepreneurs Club does to empower other leaders.
Authentic Leadership Model (Payne K, 2017 adapted from George & Sims, 2007)
"Behaving in an authentic way that is congruent with your values shows you truly believe in and stand by your shared purpose."
As you might expect, it is not enough to purely state an intention to have values you think your ideal audience will find appealing. You must live your values by behaving in an authentic way that shows you truly believe in them! Sadly, too many organisations claim to have values that are found to be lacking during interactions with stakeholders. No doubt you can recall times when you expected a standard of behaviour specified by the organisation you were interacting with that fell far short of the claims. You may even recall experiencing the exact opposite of what you rightly expected!
So, why is living your values so important?
As depicted in the Authentic Leadership Model, living your values through your behaviours creates enduring relationships through connectedness. This, in turn, builds influence through style and power. And as you may have already discovered, building influence requires consistency and self-discipline. It is your consistent behaviour that crafts your style, indeed it crafts who your followers perceive you to be. In this example, your power comes from your self-discipline. Equally, it is your consistency and self-discipline that achieves results as your followers get to know you, grow to like what you do and who you are, and learn to trust you will deliver on your promises.
Authentic Leadership Model (Payne K, 2017 adapted from George & Sims, 2007)
Think of a time when you attempted to live values that were inconsistent with the person you truly are. This may have been either unwittingly self-inflicted or because you felt coerced into the situation you are thinking of. Whichever situation you are thinking of, as a human, it's perfectly normal to find yourself in this position from time to time.
Recall how the situation you are thinking of made you feel. How at odds and uneasy you felt because you were going against your core values. No doubt you're familiar with the phrase "getting to the heart of the matter". Well, as you've probably guessed, being a truly authentic leader requires you to get to the heart of who you really are. And this requires you to be self-aware, which is not an easy thing for human beings to achieve. It requires you to have enough compassion for yourself to accept it's normal and okay to have shortcomings.
Authentic Leadership Model (Payne K, 2017 adapted from George & Sims, 2007)
"Being kind to yourself helps you have compassion for those you lead."
When you are able to be kind to yourself, you will be in a better position to be kind to and have compassion for, those you lead. You will feel more centred and better able to lead through good time and bad. You will also be able to cut yourself some slack when life just isn't working out the way you had hoped or planned and the going gets tough. Indeed, it is because you have compassion that you gain greater responsibility and build your reputation as an authentic leader.
Of course, as the Authentic Leadership Model shows, this cycle is a continual process requiring consistency, self-discipline, and regular practice to become an ingrained habit you no longer have to think about. Over time, you will effortlessly demonstrate your authentic leadership qualities and traits, gaining followers who naturally emulate your shared purpose.
The Authentic Leadership Model was extracted from my EMBA dissertation and published in Annex One: A Review of Academic Literature Relating to the Nature of Leadership written by Roger Delves, Ashridge Professor in Leadership, and published by EFMD. https://efmdglobal.org/wp-content/uploads/Innovation_in_leadership_annex.pdf
Become Your Own Success Story
with
Bradley Brown Consulting
Comments