Authenticity Theatre

00:00:13: Hello and welcome to this episode.

00:00:16: Today we're closing season one of the New Work Playbook.

00:00:21: Let us picture two very different bosses.

00:00:24: Think of first as a genuine leader, how he moves through world and handles his responsibility.

00:00:31: Considered is kind of leader you would want follow or aim.

00:00:34: be yourself.

00:00:36: Now picture second one.

00:00:38: He's just as genuine.

00:00:40: What do see what get?

00:00:42: But it's the kind of manager that people refer to as a bad boss, The kind they try to escape from.

00:00:48: Just picture the two-form moment.

00:00:51: I call this episode Authenticity Theatre because thats exactly what we mostly get to watch on stage That i deliberately called management and not leadership.

00:01:02: but before I explain let me take you into theatre.

00:01:05: We're in audience waiting for our two imagined bosses.

00:01:11: The authentic leader you consider worth following stands at the right wing.

00:01:40: And confidence matters, even when you're not sure of something.

00:01:43: Don't let them see it!

00:01:45: Say it with certainty.

00:01:46: Hesitation in your position reads as

00:01:49: weakness.".

00:01:50: Don't spend too much time on your team.

00:01:52: Spend more with the people who matter.

00:01:55: Build the right network — that's how make a career.

00:01:58: Keep the focus on results.

00:02:01: Results are what gets measured—not how your people felt while they produced them….

00:02:05: and one more thing... don't tell them TOO MUCH.

00:02:09: The more they know, the more there is to be used against you.

00:02:13: And now the script for the authentic jerk.

00:02:39: Talk about people and values, say that you care.

00:02:43: Give them someone they can relate to a bit more.

00:02:46: You don't have to mean it Just sell It.

00:02:50: Now tell me what's the kind of performance That your expecting To see?

00:02:54: I think most Of us Have experienced something similar.

00:02:58: The authentic jerk gets polished.

00:03:00: Until he passes for manager The organization Can defend And use.

00:03:07: He's shaped into a version which the company allows when strong leadership culture isn't deliberately built.

00:03:14: We pictured two very different but authentic managers, only one of them is true leader!

00:03:21: Both got handed scripts by their environment that put masks on faces and under bright spotlight.

00:03:28: from distance they might almost look same...almost In less constrained moments The mask comes off again.

00:03:38: And the people closest to them get a glimpse of the real person.

00:03:42: in moments of stress when the stakes are high and the jerks polish slips, When the performed empathy and care are gone and the values they praised become thin air?

00:03:54: And when pressure eases on the conforming leader ,when They hold more power To shape the organization .They can show Again that their in this role to lead People well.

00:04:04: So most of what we're seeing can be called constrained authenticity.

00:04:09: It is kind of a performance, and the question that follows is how did we end up with such performances when authentic leadership as concept has been around for over sixty years?

00:04:21: When it has roots in ancient Greek philosophy?

00:04:25: there isn't clear single answer to this.

00:04:28: several ideas and developments had an impact.

00:04:31: With this episode, I'm giving you my observation on the key influences.

00:04:36: You'll get a perspective of authentic leadership as something we build in relation with others and not something that we find by searching inside ourselves!

00:04:46: And don't worry – This isn't history lesson on authenticity…this is about real authentic leadership...I will now take much further back into time than necessary.

00:04:55: Let me start showing when the idea for Authentic Leadership took wrong turn.

00:05:01: The important moment lies in the wake of corporate scandals like Enron, In the early two thousands.

00:05:07: It was a crisis of trust.

00:05:09: Some of the largest companies were brought down by leaders who lied Who enforced cultures that put performance above everything and everyone.

00:05:19: Managers built fraudulent systems who enriched themselves while people trusted them lost their jobs savings pensions And the questions that got asked absolutely mattered.

00:05:31: How do we put integrity, ethics and morality back into leadership?

00:05:54: So, they reached for the psychology that focused on the individual.

00:05:58: On understanding and developing ourselves.

00:06:01: This gave them authenticity as a description of genuine person And translated it into someone with integrity.

00:06:09: By then The word already carried weight in our western culture A culture which has spent decades teaching us That becoming ourselves means looking inward Figuring out who we are Expressing our true selves.

00:06:23: By now, this focus has conflated authenticity with individuality almost entirely.

00:06:29: As if being authentic simply means being as much ourselves as possible.

00:06:35: but individuality and authenticity are not the same.

00:06:38: people can be highly individualistic And completely inauthentic at the same time a performed self With no connection to who they really are.

00:06:48: just sit with the following question for moment How do we develop?

00:06:52: our genuine self.

00:06:55: When we look at this inward focus, it reads as if our true self is something innate – something hidden in the inner world that we need to discover!

00:07:04: It feels like its independent of what's around us and can only be uncovered by focusing on whats inside….

00:07:13: but thats not what builds authenticity …not even for individuals….

00:07:18: We don't become ourselves.

00:07:21: Humans develop through social connection.

00:07:24: Who we are is shaped in relation to and with other people, though those who raised them taught us the ones that were looked up at or avoided – and the people whom they cared about us didn't!

00:07:37: We got also shaped by our culture which we grew up into….

00:07:40: …with its beliefs values language... ...and rituals all part of it.

00:07:45: That's why the inward individualistic reading of authenticity is a distortion and I consider it problematic in many areas.

00:07:54: But leadership is where i see this focus creating the biggest problems, because leadership is a responsibility.

00:08:01: whether relationship with others isn't optional think of someone you know whose reference point is mostly themselves.

00:08:10: keep in mind-I'm not talking about introverts or extroverts here self referential authenticity has nothing to do.

00:08:18: Some of the most charismatic, outgoing people have themselves as their only real reference point.

00:08:27: The question is where someone's attention goes and in the person I'm describing it goes mostly inward As a way of being.

00:08:35: many would say there's nothing wrong with that especially not in a highly individualistic society.

00:08:41: to Most it looks like freedom Someone totally free from others expectations And conformity with the outside world.

00:08:48: Isn't this what the whole find-and-bring-your-true self movement has been aiming for?

00:08:53: But, What happens when we give such a person or team people they are responsible for.

00:08:59: This makes an important difference.

00:09:01: A person can live with themselves as their main focus and be fully authentic.

00:09:07: a leader cannot.

00:09:09: Leadership is not away of being ourselves.

00:09:12: It's a responsibility towards People.

00:09:15: It only exists in the connection with people you lead.

00:09:19: What surprised me most is what researchers eventually measured – The authentic leadership questionnaire comes into two forms, one where leaders rate themselves and another where others rate their leader.

00:09:32: So this field that asked leaders to turn inward and discover their authenticity ended up measuring it through both.

00:09:40: And when those pictures don't match, we're back in the theater.

00:09:46: Other academic fields definitely looked at leadership through the lens of people led.

00:09:51: Research on what people expect from a leader – how they actually experience and judge them goes back to the nineteen eighties.

00:09:58: But somehow the modern authentic leadership movement stayed focused on self-awareness & inner discovery.

00:10:06: What leaders got primarily trained was that side Find your true self discover your true north, bring yourself to work.

00:10:14: This focus went into books shaped keynotes leadership development and coaching.

00:10:20: now don't get me wrong self-awareness clearly matters.

00:10:24: a leader has to know who they are but knowing ourselves is the starting point.

00:10:29: great leaders are not just in tune with themselves.

00:10:32: They're equally well attuned to others In particular To The Ones They Lead.

00:10:37: So authentic Leadership Needs Others.

00:10:40: It needs observers, the people who experience a manager as genuine leader.

00:10:46: Which clearly isn't a boss whose just an authentic jerk!

00:10:50: You see both of them exist – The Authentic Leader and The Authented Jerk.

00:10:55: What modern inward-focused development overlooked when it comes to leadership.

00:11:00: being in tune with outer world matters much if not even more And maybe next part explains why this relational part was left aside.

00:11:11: Because the incomplete concept of authentic leadership is just one part of what produces The Authenticity Theatre, What we're seeing on stage got mostly shaped by what companies reward and allow for.

00:11:23: We all know that there are many organizations with great leadership Great cultures And remarkable performance But let's be honest There are just as many That haven't been built On great leadership.

00:11:37: it doesn't look like the trust crisis got solved.

00:11:40: Employee engagement surveys are rather pointing in opposite direction.

00:11:45: You may remember that I mentioned the Gardner survey from last year showing only forty-eight percent of employees trusted senior leaders of their company.

00:11:55: Considering that Trust and Leaders is the proxy most often used to measure authentic leadership, i'd say we haven't come very far and that has less to do with the concept of authentic leadership, and more with companies themselves.

00:12:11: It's clearly not.

00:12:12: we don't know by now what great leadership looks like.

00:12:16: Leadership in organizational research alongside practitioner voices have produced substantial knowledge And We Have Plenty Of Proof That Putting it Into Practice Serves Both Employees And Companies.

00:12:31: But Remember Our Authentic Leader and the script he was handed before walking onto the stage.

00:12:37: The stage is the workplace we enter, you can be a really good leader but if you step into company that was shaped by very different managers And You don't happen to be new CEO...you will be handed a script!

00:12:51: And independent of where you stand with your own true self Your values..your leadership capabilities There's a pull towards conformity.

00:13:01: Just like you don't develop in isolation, You also don't lead an isolation.

00:13:06: And you and your team are part of the company and its culture.

00:13:11: Of course you can resist that pull to conform depending on how much power you hold and How easy it is for you to accept friction.

00:13:19: There are many great leaders who managed To reshape entire organizations even with jerks as bosses But they were working from solid ground.

00:13:29: They had the power track records of successes.

00:13:32: They trained others to be leaders, and they were experienced in navigating a highly ambiguous leadership culture an organization.

00:13:41: Many leaders struggle with this – they feel the pull of the environment The political games…the pressure to fit-in & perform...The reliance on others.

00:13:51: How can you be genuine leader when true leadership is not being asked?

00:13:57: And how do you navigate an environment that lets polished or even authentic jerks thrive because they still bring results?

00:14:05: You see, most organizations aren't built on clear leadership principles and values.

00:14:10: Company cultures evolve through the principles, values and behavior... ...that the top models allows and

00:14:18: rewards.".

00:14:20: For anyone joining this means Do the work within our constraints, within our norms and culture.

00:14:27: And produce the results we require the way we want.

00:14:31: Conformity with these constraints is not an individual flaw.

00:14:36: it's an organizational failure!

00:14:38: The bad bosses were talking about are just rare exceptions in a sea of great leaders.

00:14:44: This has been studied across industries for decades.

00:14:50: A meaningful share are the polished and authentic jerks.

00:14:55: And they influence how other managers below them act.

00:14:59: Toxic cultures emerge from such bosses.

00:15:03: Robert Sutton, organizational psychologist and professor at Stanford has spent decades researching what such bosses do to people working under them.

00:15:13: He described that these leaders actually cost an organization... ...and his bottom line is even top performers are more trouble than they're worth when the cost is fully counted.

00:15:26: So why do these people survive?

00:15:28: Unfortunately, many companies never look at this costs.

00:15:32: They see obvious results but damage isn't measured or gets overlooked on purpose.

00:15:39: A company culture is shaped by bosses at top.

00:15:43: If that culture not built what great leadership looks like it's unlikely to produce genuine leaders.

00:15:51: So the question is, how can we be good leaders under these influences?

00:15:56: I would say that first thing to accept are these constraints on workplace reality.

00:16:02: If were living in an era of great leadership everywhere this podcast wouldn't exist.

00:16:08: The jerks out there they're everywhere!

00:16:11: The question whether want continue following them?

00:16:14: Second i'd argue that good leadership needs continuous practice and learning.

00:16:20: So any leadership concept that promises you are done once you finish the program is lying.

00:16:26: The reality of our ever-changing world already tells us there's no finished line for learning, especially not in leadership and certainly with AI entering stage two.

00:16:39: And a third point I want to make specifically on this episode is that leadership always will be a responsibility towards other people.

00:16:49: If the motivation to take a manager position doesn't come with the acceptance of that responsibility, such managers will have a hard time becoming a good leader.

00:16:59: Authentic leadership is also not as state-that we reach – it shows through what we practice consistently in tune with ourselves and world around us.

00:17:09: And this where I would like to come back.

00:17:14: If you've tuned in regularly, You know that each topic is carried by a main and reflection episode.

00:17:20: The last six weeks cover topics that are foundational to good leadership.

00:17:25: Taken together these leadership practices help you develop authentic leadership.

00:17:31: Each practice also holds against the forces I mentioned today.

00:17:36: Let's take short walk through this season.

00:17:39: In the episode We Are Losing Respect, we looked at the difference between selective and grounded respect.

00:17:45: Grounded respect is a true value.

00:17:47: Selective respect is performance.

00:17:50: The difference is that first is independent of whether you know the person in front or if they can do anything for you.

00:17:58: Great leaders don't use respect as social strategy And employees are watching this.

00:18:04: They see how to treat others Whether it's genuine Or performance.

00:18:09: With grounded respect, we resist the pull of granting it only to those we deem worthy.

00:18:15: And this connects directly to next episode – The Power Paradox Because power and status are key influences that let us lose respect for others if isn't a value we live by.

00:18:27: But the power paradox itself has one of biggest effects on leaders.

00:18:32: The paradox is people tend rise through kind-of qualities But power's corrupting nature leads to selfishness, less ethical behavior, exploitation of status and other careless actions.

00:18:47: And a significant portion of managers reach for positions of power not with the intention to lead but with the primary motivation –to use it-for their own

00:18:56: advancement.".

00:18:58: So The Motivation To Lead Matters and It Should Be Assessed Before Giving Anyone A Manager Position And the corrupting nature of power has a negative pull on everyone, The good and bad bosses.

00:19:11: And handling power with care in awareness is what closes this door to these influences.

00:19:17: With the following episode – The Confidence Trap I introduced Adam Grant's pairing Of confidence & humility.

00:19:24: Most people consider them opposites when they actually live in balance.

00:19:28: In A true leader Confidence is the trust in our capabilities.

00:19:32: Humility is knowing we are human, that we have blind spots and that we don't know what we do not know.

00:19:39: Practicing confident humility resists a pull to become overconfident and perform certainty as shield against your own fallibility.

00:19:49: It keeps leader connected with reality open for learning which links us about curiosity.

00:19:57: In the end of Y, we looked at the importance of curiosity for continuous learning development and innovation.

00:20:05: And the ability to really see other people.

00:20:08: Curiosity not only helps us to avoid becoming blind to our own weaknesses it also lets us see the capabilities and strengths of others which is essential to leading them well.

00:20:20: Our willingness to learn keeps us in tune with the world and it holds against the pull of overconfidence.

00:20:27: This also impacts whether people trust us In Trust, The Broken Spine I address that we haven't moved out off the trust crisis.

00:20:36: We explored self-trust as a foundation for confidence And others putting trust in us.

00:20:42: Self-Trust is based on self awareness.

00:20:45: It's what we build when act in line with our inner compass And others.

00:20:49: trusting us Is reflection of it within relationship.

00:20:54: So walk the talk is a trust-earning practice that holds against forces, which can make us look like performer instead of an authentic leader.

00:21:04: It also keeps from bending or abandoning our values and commitments under pressure.

00:21:10: And as mentioned at end of episode Trust & Care go hand in Hand With the following episode Daring to care.

00:21:19: I explain difference between empathy and care.

00:21:22: Empathy only gives us an understanding of what another person is going through.

00:21:27: Care, is what moves us to act on it.

00:21:30: A leader who doesn't genuinely care will eventually reach for performance Performed warmth and talks about people in values.

00:21:39: Some may even go further And use empathy as a manipulative tool.

00:21:44: Great leaders care about people.

00:21:46: They know that cannot be performed and they resist the pull to care less, especially when it costs them something.

00:21:53: They are the ones who fight for the balance of power – for the connection of results with humanity.

00:22:00: Conformity in performance —for the sake their own positioning— is not how they

00:22:05: act.".

00:22:06: Those leaders care enough.

00:22:07: take a stand for authentic leadership….

00:22:10: …they're the one's that make a difference... ...and reshape organizations from within!

00:22:15: And yes….

00:22:16: Individual leaders practicing all of this inside an organization that pulls the other way are swimming against the current, which is why these practices also what an organisation has to build into its leadership culture.

00:22:31: It's what turns great value statements from marketing into reality.

00:22:36: The crisis-of-trust will continue if leaders being asked to perform under constraints on systems and organisations ethics, and humanity.

00:22:48: So genuine authentic leadership is not what we achieve by focusing on self-awareness but by practicing what true leadership is – a responsibility towards people ,a complex and challenging role with all kinds of forces pulling you in different directions.

00:23:06: It's certainly not an easy job But it can be highly rewarding when you see the results is a starting point.

00:23:17: Like I said, it's the journey of continuous learning and practice – no one gets there in that same way within this time or with these challenges!

00:23:26: And even those who are called great leaders know their successes are an achievement for them to lead.

00:23:35: They know they're not great leaders without people to follow them….

00:23:41: That brings us to the end of Season One.

00:23:44: I will return on July seventh with the starting topic of season two, psychological safety.

00:23:51: If you don't want to miss it hit the subscribe button connect with me and share your thoughts questions and challenges.

00:23:58: And if you enjoy my work please leave a review.

00:24:02: Meanwhile stay curious Stay tuned.

00:24:05: Thanks for tuning into The New Work Playbook Where work gets better because people matter.