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Video Summaries of Authentic Leadership

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1-Page Summary of Authentic Leadership

The Need for Trust

The United States owes a lot of its success to scoundrels like Enron and WorldCom. They have exposed the corruption in our corporate governance system, which has benefited them financially. Scoundrels have been part of every generation of capitalism, but they seem to be no different than most managers today – just richer.

Enron and WorldCom showed us just how fragile trust is in the business world. Our economy depends on it, but corporate executives seem to be lacking in their ethical convictions. Intel’s Andy Grove said that he was embarrassed and ashamed to be a businessman, and even Bill George at Medtronic – who helped build up this company – found himself reluctant to tell people what he does for a living!

The Shareholder Situation

The problem isn’t with managers. The problem is shareholders who put too much emphasis on shareholder value. Enron and WorldCom proved this to be true when they collapsed due to excessive focus on shareholder value. Yes, focusing closely on shareholder value helped make companies more efficient and competitive, but free options grants made CEOs rich, which resulted in many senior managers profiting from the sale of stock just before their company’s collapse.

It’s not fair to blame the shareholders alone. The public also deserves some of the blame because they made heroes out of people who were unscrupulous and blinded themselves with greed. Newspapers, television news organizations, and other media are at fault too for glorifying these rich individuals by writing stories about them. BusinessWeek even named Tyco’s Dennis Koslowski “CEO of the Year!”

The Enron and WorldCom scandals show us how easy it is for companies to blame the investors when they are caught doing something illegal. It’s because the executives are only incentivized to do what benefits them, not other parties. This can be easily fixed if managers were selected based on their long-term vision, rather than how much profit they generate in a quarter or even a year.

The Authentic Leader

Leading a big company is not easy. It’s lonely at the top, and many people want to be leaders without knowing why they should lead or what they’re leading for. They crave wealth, status and prestige that come with leadership so badly that they’ll do anything to get there, even if it means putting up a front or pretending to be someone else entirely.

But this is not leadership. Real leaders have high ideals, strong standards and are honest with themselves. They know who they really are and what their goals in life are. As Krishnamurti said, “Relationship is the mirror by which we see ourselves as we truly are.”

A good leader has a strong sense of character. Therefore, it’s not worth trying to become like someone else; instead, you should emulate their character traits. Authentic leaders have five key traits: * They know why they do what they do and have a clear purpose in life.

• Leaders need to have firm values. They should lead with and from the heart, build relationships that connect them with others, discipline themselves, etc.

Transformation

Hard experiences can be the best teachers. They can help people become better and stronger than they were before. For example, Bill George’s wife had a hard experience with breast cancer. It made her realize that she wanted to do more in life and gave her the determination to succeed at everything she does. Lance Armstrong also experienced a similar situation with cancer, which helped him gain new perspective on his life and inspired him to win four Tour de France titles.