...WALL St. cred, that is.
Thanks to pal and Business Pundit Rob May for sending me a note with the subject line, "you should blog this." It contained a link to an Economist article about authenticity in leadership.
Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones, two British academics, write that the most important trait any CEO must have is authenticity.
After 25 years spent observing well-regarded chief executives and good managers further down the ladder, the authors conclude that those who are true to characteristics they already possess make the best bosses. Their message to the aspiring high-flyer is “be yourself”, have a lot of self-knowledge and be comfortable with who you are. Identikit executives hiding behind the latest management fad, ambitious role players, time-servers and office politicians may manage to creep to the top. But Messrs Jones and Goffee insist that those they seek to lead will soon find them out. Authenticity cannot be faked, they say, and a little eccentricity won’t hurt either.
I love that this story constitutes business news--truly! No snark intended. I love that I've been asked to present with Ensight's Jeremy Wright at the New Communications Forum about Authenticity for businesses contemplating entering the social mediasphere. I love that people don't look at this word anymore and go, ewwww. How granola.
The fact is, authenticity hasn't changed, but our perception and understanding of it has. For one thing authenticity isn't synonymous with being woo woo or "out there". Companies that fake a green philosophy or open management style are Inauthentic. On the flip side, there are plenty of awkward types who inspire the best in people and understand their strengths and limitations; they are authentic, and effective.
As Daniel Pink says in A Whole New Mind: Competence has become a commodity.The only way to differentiate yourself in the business world today is to insist on being yourself. Ironically, it takes some of us years to come full circle back to the place we were, before we tried to be someone else.
Thanks, Rob, for forwarding the link. Tres vrai!
authenticity leadership executive development