Authentic Leadership as a Disruptive Tool
By Marissa Alexander (she/they), Lead Consultant & Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (JEDI) Specialist, Endura Consulting
“What do you think, Marissa?” I stop typing mid-search, deer-in-headlights, and hover over the unmute button. I have no idea what was just said and now they want my opinion. I’ve got two options, I can throw around some buzzwords and take up space without really answering the question or I can be honest.
“I’m so sorry, I wasn’t listening. I was distracted looking for that document you mentioned before. Can you repeat yourself?”
Admitting you made a mistake, let your mind wander, or actively started multi-tasking during a meeting used to be a big no-no in leadership. It was seen as unprofessional, irresponsible, or disrespectful. But aren’t we all guilty of doing that in meetings? After all, we are just people trying to survive in this increasingly fast-paced society. The news changes minute to minute, everyone is perpetually connected, and urgency underlines so many of our decisions. It’s hard not to be doing more than one thing at all times just to stay on top of workload, current events, and basic life necessities. As much as we would all like to be able to only focus on one thing at a time, that is not the way our world is going. So why are we still acting as if this is such a shameful and unprofessional thing? I’ll give you one guess….
You’re right! It’s white supremacy culture AGAIN! White supremacy culture tells us to strive for perfection and professionalism. This means never admitting you are a human capable of mistakes - especially not as a leader!
Well, as a flawed human being and leader, I disagree. I think being authentically yourself, even if that means sharing that sometimes you get distracted during meetings, is a much stronger way to lead - and to live. Frankly, we can all tell when someone wasn’t listening and is now making stuff up. Isn’t that way more disrespectful and wasteful of our limited time?
Authentic leadership includes self-awareness- that means acknowledging your strengths and admitting your weaknesses. You can’t be great at everything, and pretending you are is exhausting. It’s much easier to be honest with yourself and your colleagues, and work accordingly. This might look like delegating appropriately, using external tools (reminder apps for the win), and leaning on the strengths that make up your team. Self-awareness can also look like being open about your values and priorities so your team understands your vision. For example, I value my team being well over hard deadlines, so will often encourage pushing back deadlines when possible in favour of rest. At Endura, we value working transparently with our clients, so we are flexible and open about expectations early in the process. This self-awareness allows clients, partners, and colleagues to better understand who they’re working with and bonus, it builds strong, trusting relationships.
Authentic leadership also means bringing in your humility and modesty. If you can move away from ego-centered leadership, you will have a stronger team, better working relationships, and loyal staff members. When we lean into collaboration and humility, we unlock work that is much more in depth than anything we could do on our own. Win-win. Your team feels successful, valued, and encouraged to keep working together and you are trusted and appreciated as a leader!
Authenticity in leadership also looks like showing up as an authentic version of yourself. This might look like communicating in your own voice (not the weird “professional one” we were all taught), expressing yourself through clothing, or making your beliefs and values clear in your workspace. These windows into you as a person, make it easier for your team to understand you as a leader. They also create a space where others feel comfortable to be more authentic as well. To clarify, this does not mean dropping the boundaries between you and your team (no oversharing about your love life or joining in on office gossip.) But being open about the things that matter to you (“I went to the Pride Parade this weekend”) or being honest about how you are showing up (“I’m a little tired today because my dog was howling late last night”) can make the working environment feel both authentic and safe.
Disrupting the status quo doesn’t always have to be a huge process. Shifting into a more authentic version of yourself at work is enough to positively impact your team, your partners, and your clients.
Sometimes the most revolutionary thing you can do is to show up just as you are.
