Red Pill Leadership: Wake up and be a better leader

Read Authentic Leadership: A Primer (Part I)

Last time I left you with a definition of Authentic Leadership. Here it is again:
 
“leadership behavior that draws upon and promotes positive both positive psychological capacities and a positive ethical climate, to foster greater self-awareness, an internalized moral perspective, balanced processing of information, and relational transparency on the part of leaders working with followers, fostering positive self-development (Walumbwa et al. 2008).”

Let’s delve a bit deeper.

Positive psychological capacities

I won’t go into the nuts and bolts of positive psychology here but you can read a 2005 article from Time magazine that covers the topic well. The four capacities of positive psychology are confidence, hope, optimism, and resilience (Luthans & Avolio 2003). These factors directly influence an individual’s ability to be an authentic leader. Northouse (2009) states that these factors predispose and enhance a leader’s capacity to become an authentic leader. One could argue that these are possible antecedent traits of authentic leadership.

Positive ethical climate / Moral reasoning
Authentic leaders have a finely tuned moral compass and ethics and socially responsible behavior are critical factors for the authentic leader. 

Self-awareness
Authentic leaders know their core values and understand their strengths and weaknesses. They are comfortable in their own skin and have clear goals and motives. They adhere to the message posted above the door to the Oracle’s kitchen (from the Matrix), “Temet Nosce” or “Know thyself”.

Internalized Moral Perspective
This is where the authentic leader uses his/her moral reasoning to guide their behavior. A leader may have a finely tuned moral compass but ignore it. This internalized moral perspective is about making prudent decisions in an ethical and moral manner.

Balanced processing
This is the leader’s ability to analyze information objectively. An authentic leader will want different perspectives and explore options before making a decision. The leader is also unbiased. The authentic leader will ultimately decide on a course of action based on what appears to be the best decision based on objective facts and not based on favoritism.

Relational Transparency
This is about being open and honest in communication. The authentic leader always presents his or her true self. There is no façade or hidden agenda. The authentic leader will be open about positive and negative qualities. It is about being real in all relationships.

Authentic leadership is an emerging theory and in my opinion, will be a hot leadership topic in the years to come. There is a lot of anxiety and uncertainty today. Many have lost their faith in organizational and political leaders. Perhaps one way to regain that trust is for those in leadership positions to become authentic leaders.

I am studying for my Ph.D. comprehensive final exam and am reviewing leadership theory. So, in an effort to inject this blog with good content AND help me with comps, I’m going to spend the next several blog posts describing various leadership theories, styles, and approaches. Consider this installment #1.

Authentic Leadership

Authentic leadership is an emerging leadership theory. Practitioners such as Bill George, former CEO of Medtronics and author of the book Authentic Leadership, began writing about the topic in 2003. The first empirical research in this field also began in 2003. The 9/11 terrorist attacks, widespread corporate corruption and a sagging economy increased interest in this new leadership theory. Though eight years have passed since 9/11, and though much has changed, much is still the same. A strong and deep recession has taken hold of the economy, a massive failure of the banking system, a collapse of the housing market, widespread unethical and ineffective leadership (Bernard Madoff, etc.), and stakeholder demand for organizations to be more socially responsible and environmentally friendly are all factors bringing authentic leadership to the forefront.

The events noted above yield insecurity, fear, and uncertainty. According to Northouse (2009), people long for a true leaders who they can trust and are genuinely moral and good. This yearning for trustworthy leaders, according to Northouse, makes the study of authentic leadership timely and worthwhile.

“Authentic leaders are deeply aware of their values and beliefs, they are self-confident, genuine, reliable and trustworthy, and they focus on building followers’ strengths, broadening their thinking and creating a positive and engaging organizational context (Avolio & Gardner, 2005 ; Gardner, Avolio, Luthans, May, & Walumbwa, 2005).” These leaders are originals, not copies of other leaders (Shamir & Eilam 2005). They have a strong sense of purpose, direction, and are guided by “true north” principles (George 2003). George also states that we need leaders today who lead with purpose, values, and integrity. We need leaders who build enduring organizations and create long-term value. Based on the writings of George (2003), May et al (2003), Avolio & Gardner (2005) and others, it appears that authentic leaders have a long-term strategic mindset and build sustainable organizations. They are not concerned with the short-term ups and downs of Wall Street.

In an online version of Business Week, George argues that short-term thinking focused on leader and organizational self-interest caused the banking and mortgage mess we see today. His prescription is authentic leadership because authentic leaders focus on long-term value creation for all stakeholders. He is pretty blunt when he says, “Once again, ego-driven operators hungry for glory and power have taken the U.S. to the brink while a few true leaders built sound futures (George 2008).”

Though definitions are wide and varied, the most commonly used definition is from Walumbwa et al (2008) who define authentic leadership as leadership “behavior that draws upon and promotes both positive psychological capacities and a positive ethical climate, to foster greater self-awareness, an internalized moral perspective, balanced processing of information, and relational transparency on the part of leaders working with followers, fostering positive self-development.”

I’m realizing that this post is getting rather lengthy. So, I’m going to stop here and continue this tomorrow. I hope that this initial post about authentic leadership helps you understand the basic concept of authentic leadership and why it is of interest today.

Read Authentic Leadership: A Primer (Part II)

You can find business lessons in the most unlikely places.

This past week, two twenty-somethings armed with a video camera caused a stir. James O’Keefe III and Hanna Giles (with the help of Biggovernment.com and Fox News) released a series of videos of Acorn employees giving unseemly tax advice . These videos promptly motivated Congress to defund the community action organization. I’m not going to get into the politics but what I will do is share what I believe is an important lesson for business.

What if customers came into your organization armed with hidden cameras to capture their experience? What if they then posted it on YouTube, blogged about it, shared it on Facebook with their 400 friends, tweeted about it, and posted still photos of the interaction on Flickr?

Are you confident that the results would be positive? Make certain that your employees (and you) act with the utmost integrity and are helpful and friendly to all customers. The days of an angry customer simply telling his or her friends about a bad customer service experience are over. Now that same customer can shout from the rooftops so to speak and alert thousands (if not millions). The megaphone is firmly in the hands of your customers.

Here are a few examples of customers broadcasting issues and complaints via social media:

Dell Hell
Popular blogger has an issue with Dell…so he blogs about it

Kryptonite bike locks
A blogger picks a Kryptonite bike lock with a simple Bic pen.

United Airlines breaks guitar
Musician David Carol writes a song when United Airlines broke one of his guitars. He posted on YouTube and the video now has over 5 million views.

If by chance you are ‘Acorned’ what should you do? Here is a great step-by-step guide from brandseye.com titled 10 Rules to Recover from and Online Brand Attack.

In August the Desi Family went to Washington, D.C. to visit the museums, the zoo, and to enjoy our nation’s capital. On the Metro I saw the following advertisement from Intel:

 Perhaps it is the Gen X’er in me but I’m a huge fan of telecommuting. I think I can get more “heads down” work done at Panera Bread than anywhere else. My personal philosophy is, if the work gets done on-time, on-budget, and in good quality, then where the work gets done is inconsequential.

I remember in the mid-1990s when telecommuting was just getting started I predicted that one-third to one-half of the American workforce would be telecommuting in ten years time. I was wrong. I guess I’m not as good a futurist as Ray Kurzweil.

I know that some companies have telecommuting policies but if telecommuting were really taking hold, traffic on our nation’s highways would be on the decline and I’d personally know many more people who typically “work from home”. I consulted for 10+ years and a few of my clients had telecommuting policies but individual managers would not let their employees telecommute.

I love the quote from IT security guru Kevin Beaver commenting on telecommuting while traveling into Atlanta,

“…all the traffic and filth in the air reminded me of telecommuting. Where the heck are all the telecommuters? It seems like everyone who has a job is driving into work. Why!!?? It’s 2009 for crying out loud.”

I found an interesting blog post on The Oil Drum that does an excellent job of detailing the pros and cons of telework. I won’t go through benefits and challenges here because they are too vast to list but urge you to take a look. The benefits are compelling and I believe significantly outweigh the challenges.

Finally, a 2005 government report regarding telework concluded that:

“Numerous research studies tout the benefits of telework, and support the notion that telework serves to satisfy individual, organizational, and global objectives. The positive impact telework can have on an employee’s reduced commuting time, effort, and costs; increased productivity; and increased control over the delicate act of balancing work and personal responsibilities is tremendous. Benefits to the organization, including the increased ability to recruit and retain valuable employees, gain higher productivity, and experience boosted morale, are clearly documented. Reduced commuting serves to benefit the environment by fewer pollutants being dispersed into the air, and less wear and tear to roads and vehicles.”

“In summary, the prevalence of telework continues to grow and progress in the Federal Government with over 140,000 eligible Federal employees (19% of the total workforce) taking advantage of the opportunity to work from alternative worksites. Telework is an important human capital tool, presenting agencies with significant opportunities for increased organizational effectiveness. For those Federal agencies maximizing its application, telework can reap substantial benefits when integrated into the routine business practices of the organization.”

I’m 100% behind telecommuting but I wonder if it will truly become a universally acceptable way to work?

I was reading a Wall Street Journal online article titled, For Companies, a Tweet in Time Can Avert PR Mess. It is a great article about how organizations can avert or at least smooth over PR related issues using social media. In the article, I saw a quote I want to bring to your attention.

“Some companies are training staffers to broaden their social-media efforts. At Ford, Mr. Monty plans to soon begin teaching employees how to use sites like Twitter to represent the company and interact with consumers.

Coca-Cola Co. is preparing a similar effort, which initially will be limited to marketing, public affairs and legal staffers. Participants will be authorized to post to social media on Coke’s behalf without checking with the company’s PR staff, says Adam Brown, named Coke’s first head of social media in March.”
from: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124925830240300343.html

In my last post, Social Media in the Organization: Embrace it. Don’t Block it!, I mention this specifically. Organization must embrace social media and show employees how to use it to do their jobs more effectively. Ford and Coke “get it”!

And take a look at this article. It appears that Employees using Facebook and Twitter at work are 9% more productive.