People are better leaders when they are themselves

A couple of weeks ago, I was working with a person who is very new to leadership. They're in an organisation where the artifacts on the wall tell everyone to be innovative while the payoff for trying to innovate is often to be told "not yet, we're not ready."

She was feeling some confusion about what she should be rewarding and encouraging in her team, and her question to me was: "What kind of leader should I be here?" Fair enough, it's a valid question, and yet one that pushes a reactive button in me. It's one of the most common questions I get asked by people who are early in their leadership career. That, along with "What's the best kind of leader?" See, I reckon the best kind of leader is the one that's you. Sure, there are some good practices to skill up in - things like creating belonging, coaching your people, building strong teams, expecting people to stretch and focusing on achieving great results. But the leaders who I see making real difference are the ones who take some counsel from good advisors, stay informed through self-learning, and then go and author their own style - the one that's the authentic them.

In Discovering Your Authentic Leadership, Bill George challenges leaders to grow their self awareness, clarify what motivates them, and tune in to their values - then bring that package to the way they lead their teams. That stuff comes from your own life experiences, the people who have influenced you, the lessons you've learnt. You're way less likely to get the ultimate answer from a book, a teacher or a development programme. (Oh, and get comfortable with never being finished either - you'll be a way more effective leader if you're always green and growing).

Here's how I set it up with leaders I work with:

The basic message is, you want a little bit of "leading practice" guidance, and a little bit of informed teaching, then the real difference is up to the individual leader. It needs people to be a bit adventurous and experimental to discover how they can be their best selves as a leader. To understand they've already got what it takes by leading in their own way. For organisations, the challenge is to set the right environment for leaders to find their own best way of leading.

Which raises the next question – what are some great examples you’ve seen of workplaces who create the right conditions for leaders to bring their best selves?