The Art of Authentic Leadership

Organizations that place a premium on conformity at the expense of authenticity incur hidden costs.

By Valerie Echter

“Authentic leadership” is a relatively new concept for the business sector. For many successful leaders, logical and rational left-brain thinking is the norm. Right-brain, emotional, and heart-centered thinking just doesn’t work in the cut-throat business world, right? Think again!

As our understanding of emotional intelligence evolves, infrastructure is seeing an increased level of self-awareness, self-management, and relationship management practices in its workforce. From CEOs to front-line employees, there’s a quest for more transparency. With the prevalence of false information at every turn, employees simply want the facts — the authentic version of each story or person we meet, good or bad.

What is Authentic Leadership?

Authentic leadership requires vulnerability, transparency, a developing sense of self-awareness, and strong moral values focused on ethics and integrity. Victoria Taffet is the Continuous Improvement Manager at Colas Inc., the corporate office of Colas USA, a vertically integrated materials and road construction company comprising eight subsidiaries operating throughout the continental US and Alaska. She is on the Steering Committee for WE USA, an internal women’s platform that supports, educates, and engages both women and men to be authentic leaders in diversity, equity, and inclusion.

This year, Taffet served as a leader in WE USA’s newly launched mentorship program. According to Taffet, “authentic leadership means a person has a good understanding of themselves, their priorities, and trusts their thoughts, feelings, motives, and values.” She continues, “They are responsive to feedback and look to resolve conflicts in honest and non-manipulative ways while being mission-driven and focused on results. They are genuine with others and lead with their hearts, not just their minds.”

As Taffet alluded, authentic leadership requires one to utilize logical and empathetic qualities, all while being grounded by strong moral standards. Cecilia Cain, Construction Manager for Delta Companies Inc., a Colas USA subsidiary in Missouri, adds that authentic leadership takes passion, which fuels purpose, relationships, connectedness, and open communication; integrity, and consistency.

Why is Authentic Leadership Important for Infrastructure?

Authentic leaders promote honest and open communication, keeping everyone abreast of coming changes, sharing the “why” behind decisions, and truly listening to everyone’s ideas and concerns. Missed communication isn’t cheap when projects are now bid with high production and low margin, which doesn’t leave room for error.

“I think of my toddler’s toy gears on the fridge,” says Cain. “In construction we have many ‘gears,’ such as employees, equipment, a mixture of materials, trucking, quality control and subcontractors, owners, inspectors, and the public. Each gear connects in one way or another and, should one stop, they all come to a stop. Having authentic leadership in our industry keeps all ‘gears’ aware and involved, which in turn keeps every ‘gear’ in motion. The result is great teamwork that produces high-quality products and projects.”

Infrastructure is seeing an influx of employees who want to work for an organization that allows them to be authentic to who they are, what they love, and how they can contribute their unique talents in the world. “Individual authenticity is very important for organizations,” adds Taffet. “People who are authentic bring their whole selves to their jobs and participate fully and honestly in the workplace.”

There are even hidden costs to those organizations who do not embrace authenticity. “Organizations that place a premium on conformity at the expense of authenticity incur hidden costs. Managers who put on a false front or who struggle with feelings of inauthenticity exhaust so much of their energy that they often find themselves depleted and losing interest in their work,” Taffet says. “In addition, inauthenticity can often be recognized by others and become a disruptive, negative force, adding to uncertainty and distrust.”

How are Women Uniquely Poised to Practice Authentic Leadership?

As a female leader ascending the ranks at Colas USA, Taffet has learned how to step into her personal power and be true to herself. “It takes a lot of energy to behave in ways that are out of sync with our true values, priorities, hopes, characteristics, and style,” she says. “An alignment between your values and behaviors can re-energize life at work and at home.” Much of her professional success comes from years of being dedicated to becoming more self-aware and confident in who she is.

Taffet continues, “Women are uniquely poised to practice authentic leadership and lead by example because we understand more than most how being out of alignment between core values and behaviors can create a lot of undue stress. Only in the last nine years of my career have I become who I truly am.”

Cain, another rising leader within Colas USA, agrees that women are uniquely poised to practice authentic leadership because they tend to be more empathetic and compassionate. This was even a key finding in a 2019 study by Leonardo Christov-Moore, a UCLA postdoctoral fellow in psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences, and Dr. Marco Iacoboni, director of the Neuromodulation Lab at the UCLA Ahmanson-Lovelace Brain Mapping Center. They studied the brain activity of people as they reacted to images of pain in others.

“Our data suggest that females are better at feeling others’ pain, at really getting the feeling that the other person is having right now,” said Christov-Moore in a UCLA news release. “Female participants in the study showed relatively higher activation in a sensory area of the brain associated with pain than their male counterparts.”

What are the Challenges to Authentic Leadership?

“The biggest challenge comes from within for women in any leadership role in an organization because we are still influenced by the past,” Taffet notes. “After entering the business world, we try to live up to organizational norms and expectations based around male-centric companies. I was one of those women trying to look, act, and be someone I wasn’t for many years.”

Many women in infrastructure feel the need to prove themselves, versus being considered on a level playing field with their male counterparts. Therefore, many women have tried to act similar to the men around them, which inherently opposes their true self. The result is a disengaged employee who will likely leave the industry when the pressure to “fit in” becomes too much.

Another challenge to authentic leadership is when some leaders are being authentic, but others aren’t. Taffet adds, “It sends mixed messages to the employees, which in turn creates fear [of] being authentic themselves. It can slow the evolution of authenticity within an organization.” Cain warns of the challenges associated with being compassionate, including the fine line “between being genuine and not coming across as fake.”

Do Authentic Leaders Help Attract and Retain Talent?

According to Cain, the answer is a resounding yes! “Being authentic helps recruits feel more comfortable. They know where they stand, and they know they have a team to back them up; it creates a great learning environment. If a new hire feels comfortable, they are more compelled to step out of their comfort zone and show us what they truly have to offer. Everyone is good at something, so it’s creating an authentic environment that allows us all to find out what exactly that skillset is.”

Taffet agrees that we all need to be matched to the job. “The first step to finding that match is being authentic and being open to being yourself. The second step rides on the organization’s ability to say, ‘OK, this person doesn't seem to really be a good fit in this position; let's talk with them and help guide them to where their talents, abilities, and passions lie.’” She notes that many organizations are too quick to move on, losing valuable and highly talented employees.

Humanity is evolving and organizations need to value that evolution. “If employees can go to management and be authentic and figure out who they are within your organization, it’s ultimately going to make the organization even better,” said Taffet. “Employees are not afraid to go to a different company if they feel their true self isn’t being valued. If you want to be an organization that's around 20 years from now, you need to focus on what's important to the younger generation.”

Conclusion

Being brave and authentic in challenging situations is something that we must practice and continue to lean into. Taffet compares the journey to her work as a continuous improvement manager. “I go in with the mindset that I'm going to be as authentic as I can each day. The key is to say or do something more authentic than I would have in the past and gauge how that is accepted. Some groups are more accepting of my authentic approach than others, and that’s OK. They are on their own authentic path as well.”

Authenticity is basically being vulnerable enough to be yourself and know that not everybody is going to accept you for who you are. We all have different missions and purposes in our lives. Quite possibly one of our biggest feats as humans is to authentically connect with others to create the things that we’re meant to create.

As our industry moves towards openness and acceptance of every employee being themselves at work, we will see industry benefits manifest as innovation, sustainability, and recruitment. Everyone’s unique abilities and authentic style will help us create the best solutions that meet the needs of employees, customers, and organizations.

About the Author: Valerie Echter is a freelance social media strategist and content creator for the construction, asphalt, and engineering sectors.