{"id":171191,"date":"2020-05-27T15:08:51","date_gmt":"2020-05-27T19:08:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.countingpips.com\/?p=171191"},"modified":"2020-05-27T09:11:27","modified_gmt":"2020-05-27T13:11:27","slug":"open-honest-and-effective-what-makes-jacinda-ardern-an-authentic-leader","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/2020\/05\/open-honest-and-effective-what-makes-jacinda-ardern-an-authentic-leader\/","title":{"rendered":"Open, honest and effective: what makes Jacinda Ardern an authentic leader"},"content":{"rendered":"
May 27, 2020<\/div>
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By Andrei Alexander Lux<\/a>, <\/strong>Edith Cowan University<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

The qualities that have made Jacinda Ardern New Zealand\u2019s most popular prime minister<\/a> in a century were on display this week as she took an earthquake in her stride during a live television interview.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re fine,\u201d she declared<\/a> cheerfully as the 5.9-magnitude quake shook New Zealand\u2019s parliament house in Wellington for 15 seconds. \u201cI\u2019m not under any hanging lights.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her coolness under pressure, self-discipline and the decisiveness of her government\u2019s response to the COVID-19 pandemic has led some to call Ardern the most effective national leader<\/a> in the world.<\/p>\n

But the key ingredient to her popularity and effectiveness is her authenticity.<\/p>\n

In the words of Helen Clark, New Zealand\u2019s prime minister from 1999 to 2008, Ardern is a natural and empathetic communicator who doesn\u2019t preach at people, but instead signals that she\u2019s \u201cstanding with them<\/a>\u201d:<\/p>

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\u201cThey may even think: \u2018Well, I don\u2019t quite understand why the government did that, but I know she\u2019s got our back.\u2019 There\u2019s a high level of trust and confidence in her because of that empathy.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

These insights are confirmed by my own research into authentic leadership.<\/p>\n

How we respond to authentic leaders<\/h2>\n

As a lecturer in business leadership, I\u2019m particularly interested in the value of authenticity in the workplace. Part of my research<\/a> (with colleagues Steven Grover and Stephen Teo) has involved surveying more than 800 workers across Australia to find out how the behaviour of their leaders shapes their feelings about work.<\/p>\n

For better or worse, leaders often represent the entire organisation to their employees. How we feel about our boss transfers into how we see the company as a whole, just as political leaders represent the nation.<\/p>\n

The results from that survey were decisive: employees were, on average, 40% more likely to want to come to work when they saw their line manager as an authentic leader; and those who came to work because they wanted to were 61% more engaged and 60% more satisfied with their jobs.<\/p>\n

At a time when careers routinely span multiple organisations and the nature of work becomes more transient, these results demonstrate the value of positive personal connections in the workplace.<\/p>\n

Our research also sheds light on four qualities we value in authentic leaders.<\/p>\n

But first, let\u2019s dispel a common misconception.<\/p>\n

What authentic leadership isn\u2019t<\/h2>\n

Authentic leadership doesn\u2019t just mean \u201cbeing true to yourself\u201d. This notion has led some to describe the likes of Donald Trump<\/a> as authentic.<\/p>\n

But authentic leaders are not simply callous, self-serving individuals with no social filter. According to Claudia Peus and her co-authors of a seminal 2012 article<\/a> on authentic leadership:<\/p>\n

\u201cAuthentic leaders are guided by sound moral convictions and act in concordance with their deeply held values, even under pressure. They are keenly aware of their views, strengths, and weaknesses, and strive to understand how their leadership impacts others.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

1. Authentic leaders know themselves<\/h2>\n

Authentic leaders manifest the Ancient Greek maxim to \u201cknow thyself\u201d. They know what truly matters to them, and their own strengths and weaknesses.<\/p>\n

Our values are often hidden assumptions; revealing them requires an active and honest process of personal reflection.<\/p>\n

Before we can lead others, we must first lead ourselves.<\/p>\n

2. They follow a moral compass<\/h2>\n

Authentic leaders have the courage to stand up and act on their values, rather than bending to social norms. Doing what you feel is right is rarely easy, especially when lives are on the line, but that\u2019s when it matters the most.<\/p>\n

An example comes from the last time businesses around the world were struggling this badly, the 2008 global financial crisis. When the board of US-based manufacturing company Barry-Wehmiller<\/a> wanted to discuss layoffs, chief executive Bob Chapman refused.<\/p>\n

Instead, Chapman asked everyone to take four weeks\u2019 unpaid leave, saying<\/a>: \u201cIt\u2019s better that we should all suffer a little than any of us should have to suffer a lot.\u201d The company has since gone from strength to strength under his \u201ctruly human leadership<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n

3. They appreciate their own biases<\/h2>\n

Authentic leaders are aware of their own biases and strive to see things from multiple viewpoints. We cannot know all sides to an issue and must work to understand and respect others\u2019 perspectives before forming opinions or making decisions.<\/p>\n

Acting in the best interests of the collective requires a lucid and compassionate understanding of how our actions affect other people.<\/p>\n

4. They are open and honest<\/h2>\n

Authentic leaders cultivate open and honest relationships through active self-disclosure. Dropping one\u2019s guard and letting people in isn\u2019t always easy, especially in the workplace. Yet only when we allow ourselves to be vulnerable in front of another person can they open up to us in return.<\/p>\n

Australian prime minister Scott Morrison appears to have learnt this lesson since the beginning of the year, when his response to Australia\u2019s catastrophic bushfire season led to unfavourable comparisons with Ardern.<\/p>\n

After the Morrison government revealed a $A60 billion budgeting error<\/a> over its COVID-19 JobKeeper package, he swallowed his pride and accepted fault, acknowledging that \u201cresponsibility for the problem ultimately rested with him<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a stark contrast to Trump\u2019s refusal to admit any mistake<\/a> in his handing of the US response.<\/p>\n

Authenticity: the power to unite<\/h2>\n

Support for an authentic leadership approach isn\u2019t unanimous. A notable critic, professor Jeffrey Pfeffer, has stated that<\/a>: \u201cLeaders don\u2019t need to be true to themselves; in fact, being authentic is the opposite of what they should do.\u201d<\/p>\n

But our research reveals the power of authenticity to unite people behind a collective cause. Relationships built on mutual trust and shared values are the key.<\/p>\n

Jacinda Ardern\u2019s unprecedented popularity mirrors these results. When we see authentic leadership, we know instinctively that we prefer it.\"The<\/p>\n

About the Author:<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Andrei Alexander Lux<\/a>, Lecturer in Leadership and Organisational Behaviour, Edith Cowan University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Andrei Alexander Lux, Edith Cowan University The qualities that have made Jacinda Ardern New Zealand\u2019s most popular prime minister in a century were on display this week as she took an earthquake in her stride during a live television interview. \u201cWe\u2019re fine,\u201d she declared cheerfully as the 5.9-magnitude quake shook New Zealand\u2019s parliament house […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-171191","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","no-post-thumbnail"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=171191"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171191\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":171192,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/171191\/revisions\/171192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=171191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=171191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.investmacro.com\/forex\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=171191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}