Be clear on what you stand for, but flexible in how you express it
Authentic leadership is an issue that often surfaces in coaching sessions with senior leaders who have been schooled to demonstrate heroic and courageous leadership but also encouraged to be human and vulnerable.
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Ella faced a dilemma. Newly promoted to CFO at a large German commercial bank, she felt in over her head. Just 11 months earlier, she had joined from an upstart bank in London. Though she had been marked as part of the CFO succession plan, she hadn’t had time to fully embed herself in the system or adjust to the ways of working. She was still being described as a “newbie” in meetings and had only just begun to network properly with senior colleagues.
The previous CFO had left suddenly on permanent medical leave and the department was far from stable. Ella felt insecure in her new C-suite role, up on the 33rd floor of the Frankfurt headquarters, with its plush carpets and concierge service. There was also a fair degree of jealousy and scepticism from long-serving vice-presidents now reporting to her. She was already worried about the upcoming finance all-hands meeting, where she was expected to outline her vision.
On one hand, she wanted to lay out a bold set of transformational ideas that would translate into a winning strategy. On the other, she sensed it might be better to express some of her anxiety and surprise at this unexpected “battlefield” promotion. The latter would be more authentic but might expose her as weak from the outset. The former would demonstrate inauthentic confidence. As she headed home for the weekend, she predicted a couple of sleepless nights ahead.
As usual, the answer is simple yet complex: It’s wise to start from the inside out, with a clear sense of your values. Knowing your strengths and weaknesses doesn’t mean sharing everything. But being honest about what you still need to learn signals both humanity and a willingness to grow.
[This article is republished courtesy of INSEAD Knowledge, the portal to the latest business insights and views of The Business School of the World. Copyright INSEAD 2024]