Essay On Authentic Leadership

Authentic Leadership The role of being a leader has been a fluid one for me; one that has taken many turns and many transitions through the years. People throughout my life have always told me that I was meant to be a leader. When asked why due to my own curious mind, they would always tell me that it was because I am charismatic and a great communicator. I have always excelled and moved up quickly in the workplace so getting to know my true, authentic self as a leader was very important. What I have found is that staying true to your morals and ethics was the most important part of authentic leadership. “No one can be authentic by trying to imitate someone else” (George, Sims, McLean, & Mayer, 2007). I have spent many years leading by example …show more content…
Being in a role of leadership means that you have the “capacity to lead” (“Leadership, 2016). When thinking about authentic leadership, we have to consider what it means in general and realize that different people’s ideas of maintaining authenticity will differ from each other. To me, the term “authentic leadership” means staying true to oneself, their morals, ethics, and core beliefs, and leading from what is true within our hearts versus what we have been told and therefore, what is programmed in our minds. Leaders trying to lead authentically need to discover their strengths and weaknesses and capitalize on those to build their own unique path to success. What may work for one leader, may not work for another. Bill George, a world renowned business leader and academic states that leaders have to stay true to themselves even if it means having to “go against the grain. You have to go against what prevailing wisdom is telling you and certainly go against what securities analysts are telling you” (George, 2014). Authentic leadership to me means marching to the beat of your own drum and finding your unique tune. When leadership and natural confidence melts together, it radiates naturally and people will