executive director’s message


Lessons in Authentic Leadership


By David J. Lewis, MBA


The characteristics of authentic


leadership are


examined on the world stage.


A


current construct supposes that “what we can project or personify, if done long enough or repeated often


enough, is in fact reality.” We see this play out every day during the Russian invasion of Ukraine as Vladimir Putin repeatedly tries to manipulate the narrative of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine with fiction and propaganda. We harken back to the roots of World War II and the Nazi regime’s attempt at German expansion. Adolf Hitler led with outrageous lies purporting that Germany was in some way defending itself from outside aggression, and promising German citizens that they would soon rule the world. The difference, of course, is that there was no live television coverage refuting those falsehoods. We also see this construct play out in attacks on the validity of our election systems, as many state legislatures across the country pass increasingly restrictive voting laws based on the premise that the 2020 election was in some way flawed. Although there is no evi- dence supporting such a claim, proponents of these new laws insist on their necessity, even though the result of their enactment is the potential disenfranchisement of large portions of our voting population.


These scenarios illustrate what I consider to be one of the foundational elements of leadership: authenticity. When leaders seek to achieve their goals without demanding authen- ticity within their central core, then no matter the outcome, they have undermined the very effort they purport to advance. First described by Bill George in 2003, authentic leadership is a management style in which leaders are genuine, self-aware, and transparent. An authentic leader can inspire loyalty and trust in their employees by consis- tently displaying who they are as a person and expressing how they feel about their employ- ees’ performance.


A lack of authenticity can destroy a healthy working or interpersonal relationship. It’s embodied in the idea of “do as I say, not as I


asbointl.org


do,” when leaders ask others to do the jobs that they themselves would never consider doing. Consider Ukranian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy—genuine, self-aware, and transpar- ent. He is willing to stand and fight alongside his people. That’s authentic leadership. Our political leaders must demonstrate a high degree of authenticity when it comes to the policies they promote, especially when our country needs a foundation built on confi- dence, a sense of purpose and belonging, loy- alty, and a recognition that we are all working toward one goal: the betterment of our society. Leaders of organizations must also display that authenticity as they guide their staffs toward clearly defined goals. As we watch Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the Putin regime’s cynical attempts to justify violence do not demonstrate authentic lead- ership. Russian leaders are not self-aware enough to recognize—or don’t care—that their worldview is not shared by millions of people (including many of their own citizens). Their continued reliance on secrecy and deception has so destroyed transparency of motives that their military actions are bringing about the very thing Putin claimed to be fighting: the unification and potential expansion of the NATO alliance. Fortunately, most of us are not engaged in


a life-or-death struggle, but if we, as citizens, do not heed the lessons of the past as we meet these challenges today, we may find ourselves closer to that reality than we ever imagined. I hope I’m wrong. Although we don’t yet know what the future holds for Ukraine or for our upcom- ing elections, we do know that portraying something or someone as it is not can advance a leader’s outcome—even if that desired out- come is not grounded in reality—if others are willing to follow blindly.


It is incumbent on all of us to be savvy media consumers, informed citizens, and authentic leaders who demand the same of those who lead us.


SCHOOL BUSINESS AFFAIRS | APRIL 2022 7


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