Page 200 - HBR Leader's Handbook: Make an Impact, Inspire Your Organization, and Get to the Next Level

Leading Yourself 189

Do I have skills and style to build rapport with others and positively influ-
ence action? Where am I strongest, and less strong? Why?

HOW SHOULD I BEST POSITION MYSELF TO DO THE WORK? Given what you
have learned about when you are most and least effective and how you han-
dle relationships, how should you shape the role that you play, and the con-
text you operate in, so you can be your best? Leaders will usually have some
choice in their roles and work arenas—or better yet, will create some choice
for themselves—so they can be as productive and effective as possible.
What kinds of contributions play to your strengths? Can you delegate
responsibility in others to complement your efforts, especially where you
have less skill or energy? Can you create the kind of working environ-
ment—both around you and more broadly in the organization—in which
others can thrive to support or add to what you do? Can you take on differ-
ent roles from time to time so that you can learn and renew yourself or see
the business from different perspectives over time?

Authenticity—or not?
Examining your style and habits will likely lead you to the concept of au-
thenticity. In today’s workplaces, many people praise leaders who seem au-
thentic, meaning that they seem comfortable in their own skin or don’t act
at odds with who they really are. Sometimes, people simply mean someone
who has a relaxed style or is informal in a personable way. Sometimes, au-
thenticity can also be invoked as an excuse for an objectionable manner,
as in “he’s rude and very emotional, but hey, at least he’s authentic,” or to
justify various kinds of unfiltered behavior by a leader, even one who can
be abusive or uncaring for others.
The original definition of the concept was more nuanced and orga-
nizationally constructive. In their classic HBR article “Discovering Your
Authentic Leadership,” Bill George, Peter Sims, Andrew N. McLean, and
Diana Mayer insisted—as we do, too—that it’s not helpful to stipulate some
cookie-cutter ideal of leadership behaviors that might not fit who you are
as an individual. Instead, the authors argue that the best leaders—