The magic of being authentic and young leaders

It's friday, as you enjoy your weekend, here's something I want you think about. I would like to talk with you about the importance of authenticity for your success as a young leader. As discussed in the previous post, being put in a position of leadership itself doesn't guarrantee you will succeed as a leader. If there is one single secret I can share with you, it is the power of being authentic. The quality of being authentic, of being truthful, of being genuine in your intentions and actions, to me, is the single thing that sets you apart in whatever you do in life. There is no other area where this is more true than in your leadership.

In my career so far, I have had the honour of having led and managed several teams and worked with people who were sometimes triple and more my age. I have worked with people whose qualifications and experience I do not even come close to. Yet, I feel I did a fairly good job so far and have built wonderful relationships with mostly everyone I have worked with. Reflecting on this post, the best explanation for this seems to be my willingness to be authentic.
The truth is, people do not care so much about your age, your qualifications, years of experience, your looks etc. What moves people to be willing to work with you and support you is when they see that you are genuine. When people feel you are honest and that they can rely on you to do the right thing (not necessarily what favours them), then they are willing to give you the opportunity to lead. We all want people to willingly work with us to achieve the collective goals of the teams we lead. It's also true that by being the boss you can command people and they must follow your orders (sometimes they don't and won't), but this is not what we want. We want people to trust us and work with us wholeheartedly. For this, we cannot rely on our authority alone.
The easiest starting point is to stop thinking you have to have the answer to everything. It is why you have a team around you. When I work with people, I realise there are people in the group who may have different and sometimes even better ideas than what I know myself to be true, and I make every effort to make this clear and a unique advantage to achieve great results. I try to encourage people and call them on to take part in leading, or (in the case of facilitating trainings) to co-facilitate sessions with the team and share their own knowledge and experience.
If you know there's a member of your team better at handling a particular responsibility or situation, let them take charge, step back and give them your full support as they do so. You will be amazed at the magic this can bring to your leadership life, not to mention the lifelong friends and supporters you make. However, do not try to fake being genuine, well because being genuine actually means being genuine. People can easily see when you don't mean what you say.

Another important part of being a genuine leader is being a good judge. As a leader, you make many decisions every single day, you get to pass judgement on so many matters that if you are not careful these can become damaging to your leadership. Make sure you do not judge unfairly; give every party a chance to express their issues/concerns, look at the basic facts of the matter, call others to help when necessary and make your judgement based on the truth. If a senior crosses the line, let them (but also the junior offended) know they crossed the line and help them find ways to take responsibility and improve the situation. Know that if you lie or judge unfairly on behalf of someone, that same person loses respect for you.

Understand that people are only moved to follow leaders who are genuine, leaders who help them grow and contribute to the team's success. No one likes a leader who tries to keep a false face. I recommend you start paying more attention to the unique strengths and weaknesses every member brings to your team (including you, yes you have weaknesses too). Then find the courage to help people know you do not know how to solve every problem, and as much as possible learn to step back and support team members to take charge when they are best suited to do so. People will respect you for that.
Being authentic will give you the freedom and strength that will help you become a successful leader in whatever you do. Be authentic, be genuine, say the truth, let people know they can trust you, let them know you have their best interests at heart. And don't fake it!