The Power of an Authentic Leader
A Leadership Fable to unlock and embrace your authentic leadership style
Kathy Rusher
Copyright 2020 by Kathy Rusher
All rights reserved.
The Core Values Index or CVI is trademarked and copyrighted by Taylor Protocols, Inc. All references to the CVI are made with the expressed permission of Lynn Taylor and Taylor Protocols, Inc. Copyright Taylor Protocols, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Contents
This book is dedicated to all my colleagues, clients, and vendors throughout the years, especially those who worked with me during my tenure at
Bunch & Associates.
Introduction
Ive always been energized by mentoring new leaders. In doing so, Ive recognized common elements that many new leaders share. These fundamental traitswhether innate or environmentalform the baseline for any new leaders journey. Reflecting on how Ive addressed these opportunities with so many others through the years has distilled the larger concept of leadership to a more individual approach, which I call authentic leadership .
Unwavering confidence is the natural result when new leaders find their own unique leadership style and experienced leaders develop their authentic leadership style. Confident leaders build strong, productive teams.
I thought an effective way to share my leadership insight would be to frame it in conversations with a character who represents the core of this mentor relationship. My leadership experience is represented here by the character Emily, who has thirty years of leadership experience and is now focused on mentoring people. As her leadership evolved over time, she noticed a unique process in her own style that informed how she helped develop other leaders. Using this process, through personal interactions, she coaches and guides leaders to identify, embrace, and leverage their individual leadership styles.
Anyone interested in learning more about this process can sign up for one complimentary fifteen-minute coaching session with the author, Kathy Rusher, who has over twenty-five years of experience in leadership. Visit KathyRusher.com and complete the Lets Have a Conversation section to get started.
Part I
Applying for a Promotion
E mily sits at her desk working in her home office. The room is well lit by a large window where morning sunlight streams in over several potted plants and a neat, organized desk. She picks up her coffee mug as a cat strolls casually across the desk toward her laptop. When her cell phone rings from its charging station on the bookshelf behind her, Emily picks it up, looks at the number, and answers the call.
E: Hello, this is Emily.
N: Hi, Emily, this is Natasha Dunham.
E: Well, what a pleasant surprise. How are you doing?
N: Well good, I guess.
E: What do you mean?
N: Well welldo you have a minute to talk?
E: Of course! This sounds important. Let me put on my shoes and go outside. You know me, I always do better walking and talking.
There is a brief pause while Emily walks outside. She resumes the conversation as she puts on her walking shoes and heads toward the sidewalk for a walk-and-talk.
E: Okay, Natasha, whats going on?
N: Well, Marie Barnett approached me the other day about a position that will be available soon. Im not sure if you know Marie. Im pretty certain that she started after you left the company.
E: No, I dont believe I know her.
N: Well, shes sort of intimidating and makes me nervous. Anyway, she thinks I should apply for this position that is coming available.
E: Well, that sounds like a nice complement.
N: Yes, especially coming from her. For this position, I would lead a team of people in another division. Ive been in the same division since I started working there, so Im nervous about moving to another one. How can I lead people who know more about the job than I do? Plus, Ive never managed anyone in my life. What makes her think I can do this?
E: Of course you can do this, if you want to.
N: Im concerned that if I dont apply, it will hurt me in the future. I'm just not sure what to do.
E: Natasha, you have been in several leadership positions within the company. People just havent reported directly to you. I remember the Brownstone implementation you managed with twelve different teams across the nation. That was impressive.
N: Thanks.
E: But, let me ask you an important question.
N: Whats that?
E: Do you want to be a leader? Im not asking if you want a promotion, a higher-level title, more money, a better office, or more authority. Im asking if you want to mentor employees, build a high-performance team that others dream to be on, and truly invest your time and energy into these people. Im asking because I truly believe that you cant be your best leader if you dont really want to lead. If you apply for the job, lets make sure youre doing it for the right reasons.
N: Honestly, Emily, you have made such a positive impact on my life, which is one of the reasons I called you for advice. Id love to be able to make a positive contribution in someones life like you have in mine.
E: Aw, thank you, Natasha. We made a good team, didntt we?
N: Yes!
E: So, weve established that you are interested in becoming a leader.
N: Yes, but I still dont know how. You always seemed so confident and put together. How do you do that?
E: Let me tell you a story. I was in my middle 20s when I first became a leader. Prior to being promoted, I was the person everyone went to for advice. I was so confident and comfortable in my position and didnt realize taking the promotion was a game changer for me. All of a sudden, I felt like I had no idea what I was doing and realized people were counting on me and looking to me for direction.
N: So, what did you do?
E: Well, first, I focused on my initial meeting with my new staff. What did I want to convey? What type of leader did I want to be and what type of team did I want to have? What would be my legacy?
N: Those are tough questions.
E: They really are. Natasha, this initial meeting is critical, but you have to make sure that initial meeting is in line with what youll execute later.
N: How did you do it?
E: So, for me, I first wrote down fundamental ideals that I believed contributed to my success in the past, ideas which truly resonated with me. I utilized this process of writing down my core values throughout my business career. This list is not a stagnant one but one that evolves as you have more interactions in your leadership career. This process really helped me realize what was important to me and it ensured my actions were always in line with what I communicated to my staff.
Take a moment, Natasha, and just think about what your initial list would be.
N: Wow, what a cool exercise. I guess Id say:
- Being empathetic
- Putting quality first
- Being drama-free
- Meeting deadlinesthey arent guidelines
Emily, I learned the last one from you. Your team was the only group that consistently met the established due dates. I noticed the interaction and body language of those who didnt meet the deadlines versus your team who did. Your team had a sense of urgency and importance around those dates and everyone worked together to meet them. I definitely want a team like that.
