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  • Being An Authentic Leader

    man-fingers-crossed

    When I was sitting in my Sunday lecture, my teacher brought home what it meant to be hypocritical when discussing Jesus’ interaction with the leaders of his time, The Pharisees. Jesus openly criticized their actions to his followers in Matthew 23:2: “Therefore, whatever they [Pharisees] tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do their works. For they speak, but do nothing.4 They fasten heavy loads that are hard to carry and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with their finger.”

    Sadly, many workers face some less than genuine managers that fail to inspire them for greater performance.  In this blog discussion, we will explore the the concept of authentic leadership in today’s society.

    Competition is fierce across the globe. Managers are often forced to act genuine with their employees because financial circumstances force them to behave in ways that are in the best interest of shareholders and investors, not their employees.  Yet, organizations need talented and inspired employees who go beyond the basic requirements to excellence.  Yet, employees are reluctant to give this type of performance to self-serving leaders who do not care about them.

    Forbes contributing writer Victor Lipman, in his article “The Foundational Importance of Trust in Management,” notes the alarming levels of distrust among workers.  According to a Gallup survey, 70% of workers are disengaged in the organization.[1]  Lipman found several contributing factors to this problem, which were: disingenuous communication, lack of modeling behavior, and financial pressure. Lipman explains, “As a manager myself, I recognized it was critical for my employees to trust me if I expected them to be fully productive on my watch.”  With trust on the downturn with numerous layoffs and higher unemployment, managers must be sincere and genuine with their workforce if they want a different type of performance.

    CRITICAL VIDEO

    Organizations must foster authentic leadership in today’s environment. Leadership denotes the ability to influence others.  When the adjective of authentic is modified on the word, something special emerges.  The adjective authentic conveys “something that is real or genuine and not counterfeit.”  In the case of the Pharisees, they were influencers of their followers.  However, the reality of the matter was that their type of leadership was not genuine or sincere. Authentic leadership defines the leader’s ability to have honest relationships with followers through transparent relationships.  In this mode, the leader may leave himself/herself vulnerable to others.

    Bill George, author of Authentic Leadership, describes authentic leadership as ‘a leadership style that is consistent with a leader’s personality and core values, and that is honest, ethical and practical.’[2]  Dr. Richard Daft, author of Management, further outlines the following key characteristics of authentic leadership: (a) Authentic leaders pursue their purpose with passion; (b) Authentic leaders practice solid values; (c) Authentic leaders lead with their hearts as well as their heads; (d) Authentic leaders establish connected relationships; and Authentic leaders demonstrate self-discipline.[3]  With these traits, authentic leadership would be synonymous with an unselfish leadership approach.

    In closing, today’s workers want managers who can inspire them for higher performance. However, workers are not looking for managers who are not genuine in their relationships with them. By utilizing authentic leadership in their organizations, managers will be better able to build these types of positive relationships with workers. Start today!

    Please explain the concept of authentic leadership from your professional or personal experience.

     

    © 2016 by Daryl D. Green

     

    [1] “The Foundational importance of Trust in Management” by Victor Lipman

     

    [2] Authentic Leadership by Bill George

    [3] Management by Richard Daft

     

  • Grit in Effective Leadership

    GRIT-mental-toughness1

    As the U.S. presidential election goes into full swing following both major conventions, voters will be considering which candidate will serve best as the nation’s leader.  This decision is not an easy one, as both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton have some of the worst favorability ratings in history.  Ideally, voters should be thinking about candidates’ character traits, but most will prioritize self-interest and vote based on their pocketbooks.  Media pundits will analyze every insignificant point as if it is…well, significant.  In the face of global terrorism and financial uncertainty, what character trait genuinely sets a successful leader apart?  Problems will arise.  Trouble will come, and leaders who possess intrinsic drive will have the highest chance of overcoming obstacles and external factors in their environment.  We will examines the nature of grit for leaders caught in today’s chaotic world.

    Effective leaders have a special quality called “grit,” which refers to a drive to overcome all sorts of hurdles.  People define grit in various ways: according to Gostrengths.com, grit is “a personality trait possessed by individuals who demonstrate passion and perseverance toward a goal despite being confronted by significant obstacles and distractions.”  Along similar lines, blogger AJ Julian wrote an article on grit in education in which he shared an outstanding acronym: Guts, Resilience, Integrity, Tenacity.[1]

    (more…)

  • Fathers Are Critical in Today’s Families

    fathers-day-2016

    In 2012, Desmond Hatchett, a Knoxville resident, made a big impression in the news. At the time, the 33 year old man was requesting relieve from his child support payments. According to news sources, Hatchett had 30 children by 11 different women.  However, Hatchett struggled with his financial commitments with his children due to his low paying minimum wage job.  For many people across the nation, this story struck a moral cord. (more…)

  • Mother’s Day:The Right Model for Today’s Generation

    MOTHERS-diverse
    Line of multi-ethnic mothers holding their babies

    Here’s a tribute to all good mothers this month! I want to especially thank my mother, Annette Green Elias, and my wife, Estraletta Andrews Green, for being two godly women in my life.  [I want to share an excerpt from one of my 2012 columns.]

    With the media bombards us with unrealistic expectations for mothers, it is any wonder that today’s mothers feel under huge pressures to be perfect. Stay-at-home mothers feel  guilt of not provides financially as it takes two people to make ends meet. Working mothers feel the guilt of attempting to balance a career and a family at the same time. Any person worth any salt would recognize that mothers are often the glue that holds families together.   (more…)

  • Job Strategies for Professionals

    depression-business-women

    Are you fearful about your career future? Good people can’t find jobs. College graduates are losing Hope. Our world is filled with uncertainty. My co-author William Bailey and I wrote our latest book, Job Strategies for the 21st Century: How to Assist Today’s College Students during Economic Turbulence.  Through our research, we found that there is a huge disconnect between what organizations are looking for in potential employees, and what today’s job seeker are providing. I will share some of the key insights from our undertaking. (more…)

  • Executive Presence—Guest Blogger

    Leadership-1

    EXECUTIVE PRESENCE—YOUR LEADERSHIP “IT” FACTOR

    George Washington had it.

    As did Lincoln.

    Vince Lombardi too.

    So also have countless leaders over the centuries.

    It’s the elusive secret of successful leadership: leaders with presence radiate a magnetic effect that comes from being authentic and inspires people to trust them. (more…)

  • Authentic Leadership in a Global Environment

    dishonest -fingers cross-managers

    Today’s employees expect managers to model corporate values. Sadly, some managers do not take this invisible code seriously.  Hypocrisy is the rule of the day. When I was sitting in my Sunday lecture, the instructor brought home what it meant to be hypocritical when discussing Jesus’ interaction with the leaders of his time, The Pharisees. Jesus openly criticized their actions to his followers in Matthew 23:2: “Therefore, whatever they [Pharisees] tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do their works. For they speak, but do nothing. They fasten heavy loads that are hard to carry and lay them on men’s shoulders, but they themselves will not move them with their finger.” Sadly, many workers face some less than genuine managers that fail to inspire them for greater performance.  In this post, we will examine the concept of authentic leadership in today’s society. (more…)

  • All I Want for Christmas Is You: Understanding the Nature of Good Relationships

    Mariah Carey

    Helen was a highly successful career woman. Her star shined bright in her corporation. Yet, in spite of these corporate accomplishments, Helen had no meaningful relationships. Her husband was distanced due to Helen’s businesslike approaches to her. Helen’s three children resent her because she was emotional absent in their lives. On the dark days when Helen was alone and uninterrupted, she longed for more meaningful relationships.

    During a Christmas banquet, Pastor Nathan Wilson was the keynote speaker and led a lively topic on All I Want for Christmas Is You. In his speech, Pastor Wilson harked on the true meaning of Christmas as the birth of Jesus Christmas instead of the commercialization of the holidays. (more…)

  • Showing a Spirit of Gratitude

    Has our society forgotten how to be appreciative?  Many people are too busy running the rat race to say, “Thank you.”  I remember sitting in a Sunday school class of young students during my college experience at Southern University.  One student was saying how ungrateful he had been toward his parents.  I also felt guilty.  My parents bought me my first car while I was in high school; most students did not have cars.  I had envisioned receiving a brand new car.  Well, I did not.

    I got an old 1973 Dodge Charger.  I was disappointed.  But, I ended up falling in love with that old car which I later called “The New Wave Cruisemobile.”  My car was far more dependable than most automobiles.  I remember never having said “Thank you” for my car – I had also taken my parents for granted.  Our society does not teach us that being appreciative is a virtue.  We will examines the importance of developing a spirit of gratitude as a competitive advantage toward employability. (more…)

  • Valuing Servant-hood for Today’s Leaders

    handshakes-business

    When I was growing up, my mother was the youth director of our church.  In elementary school, there are pressures about being cool.  I was an active church member (and yes, a choir boy in the literal sense).

    My mother expected her children to be the model young person, which involved participating in church required activities.  For me, that meant participating in morning worship where the youth were required to lead devotion periodically. A call for volunteers would go out to the youth.  Of course, most of my peers felt comfortable rejecting those requests to participate. (more…)