WHAT IS AUTHENTICITY

Leadership today is very different from leadership in previous generations. The old "top-down" style of management just doesn't work anymore. People generally want to be fully engaged and committed to what they're doing. They want to feel as if their work matters. And they want to believe in the people who are in charge. 

Because of these higher expectations, it's vital for leaders to know how to inspire passion and confidence in the people they're leading. When people work alongside a truly authentic leader, they'll often give their whole hearts and minds to the cause. In these situations, a spirit of teamwork and loyalty can spread throughout an organization, resulting in high morale and producing extraordinary results. 

Authentic leaders inspire trust in their teams. People are more willing to be open about problems, which means that those problems are more likely to get fixed, instead of being ignored. 

Authentic leadership can inspire people to pull together, work hard, and communicate. But how do you lead in an authentic way? What does this involve? 

There's no easy answer to these questions, because authenticity can mean many different things and involve a wide range of skills, actions, and behaviors. At its root, however, authentic leadership is all about behaving with integrity, and being consistent and always in alignment with espoused values. 

Authentic leaders inspire those they lead because they stay true to their own values. They know who they are, and they don't let anyone keep them from making a decision that they know is right. They have integrity and a firm moral code, and they manage to stay sensible and stable even during the most difficult times. 

Leading authentically involves a lot of different things. And developing the skills and characteristics needed is a journey, not a destination. Authentic leaders are often easier to recognize than to define, but they all have a few traits in common. They know themselves well, and they never allow someone else to cause them to break their moral codes.