1、Discovering Your Authentic Leadership(HBR)MANAGING YOURSELFDiscovering Your Authentic LeadershipWe all have the capacity to inspire and empower others. But we must first be willing todevote ourselves to our personal growth and development as leaders.by Bill George, Peter Sims, Andrew N. McLean, and

2、Diana MayerURING THE PAST 50 YEARS,leadership scholars have con-ducted more than 1,000 studies in an attempt to deter-mine the definitive styles,characteristics,or personality Dtraits of great leaders.None of these studies has produceda clear profile of the ideal leader.Thank goodness.If scholarshad

3、 produced a cookie-cutter leadership style,individuals wouldbe forever trying to imitate it.They would make themselvesinto personae,not people,and others would see through themimmediately.No one can be authentic by trying to imitate someone else.You can learn from othersexperiences,but there is no w

4、ay youcan be successful when you are trying to be like them.Peopletrust you when you are genuine and authentic,not a replica ofsomeone else.Amgen CEO and president Kevin Sharer,whogained priceless experience working as Jack Welchs assistant in| February 2007 Harvard Business Review 129Mick Wi

5、gginsYELMAGCYANBLACK|MANAGING YOURSELFDiscovering Your Authentic Leadershipthe 1980s,saw the downside of GEs cultMany readers of Authentic Leader-ries to understand who they were atof personality in those days.“Everyoneship,including several CEOs,indicatedtheir core.In doing so,they discoveredwanted

6、 to be like Jack,”he explains.that they had a tremendous desire tothe purpose of their leadership and“Leadership has many voices.You needbecome authentic leaders and wantedlearned that being authentic madeto be who you are,not try to emulateto know how.As a result,our researchthem more effective.som

7、ebody else.”team set out to answer the question,These findings are extremely encour-Over the past five years,people have“How can people become and remainaging: You do not have to be born withdeveloped a deep distrust of leaders.authentic leaders?”We interviewed 125specific characteristics or traits

8、of aIt is increasingly evident that we need leaders to learn how they developedleader.You do not have to wait for a tapa new kind of business leader in thetwenty-first century.In 2003,BillAnalyzing 3,000 pages of transcripts,our team was Georges book,Authentic Leadership:startled to see you do not h

9、ave to be born with specificRediscovering the Secrets to CreatingLasting Value,challenged a new genera-characteristics or traits of a leader.Leadership emerges tion to lead authentically.Authenticfrom your life story.leaders demonstrate a passion for theirpurpose,practice their values consis-tently,

10、and lead with their hearts as welltheir leadership abilities.These inter-on the shoulder.You do not have to beas their heads.They establish long-term,views constitutethe largest in-depthat the top of your organization.Instead,meaningful relationships and have thestudy of leadership development every

11、ou can discover your potential rightself-discipline to get results.They knowundertaken.Our interviewees discussednow.As one of our interviewees,Youngwho they are.openly and honestly how they realized& Rubicam chairman and CEO Anntheir potential and candidly shared theirFudge,said,“All of us have

12、 the spark oflife stories,personal struggles,failures,leadership in us,whether it is in busi-Article at a Glanceand triumphs.ness,in government,or as a nonprofitThe largest in-depth study ever under-The people we talked with ranged involunteer.The challenge is to under-taken on how people can become

13、 andage from 23 to 93,with no fewer than 15stand ourselves well enough to discoverremain authentic leaders shows that anper decade.They were chosen based onwhere we can use our leadership gifts toindividual does not have to be borntheir reputations for authenticity andserve others.”with any universa

14、l characteristics oreffectiveness as leaders,as well as ourDiscovering your authentic leader-traits of a leader.personal knowledge of them.We alsoship requires a commitment to develop-solicited recommendations from othering yourself.Like musicians and ath-The journey to authentic leadershipleaders a

15、nd academics.The resultingletes,you must devote yourself to abegins with understanding the story of your life. Most authentic leaders group includes women and men fromlifetime of realizing your potential.reported that their stories involveda diverse array of racial,religious,andMost people Kroger CE

16、O David Dillonovercoming difficult experiences andsocioeconomic backgrounds and na-has seen become good leaders were self-using these events to give meaning totionalities.Half of them are CEOs,andtaught.Dillon said,“The advice I give totheir lives.the other half comprises a range ofindividuals in ou

17、r company is not to ex-profit and nonprofit leaders,midcareerpect the company to hand you a devel-Authentic leaders work hard at under-leaders,and young leaders just startingopment plan.You need to take respon-standing and developing themselves.on their journeys.sibility for developing yourself.”The

18、y use formal and informal supportAfter interviewing these individuals,In the following pages,we draw uponnetworks to get honest feedback lessons from our interviews to describeand help ground themselvwe believe we understand why morees. They tem-per their need for public acclaim and than 1,000 studi

19、es have not produced ahow people become authentic leaders.financial reward with strong intrinsicprofile of an ideal leader.AnalyzingFirst and most important,they framemotivations.3,000 pages of transcripts,our team wastheir life stories in ways that allow themstartled to see that these people did no

20、tto see themselves not as passive ob-It may be possible to produce short-identify any universal characteristics,servers of their lives but rather as indi-term outcomes without being authen-traits,skills,or styles that led to theirviduals who can develop self-awarenesstic, but authentic leadership dr

21、ivessuccess.Rather,their leadership emergedfrom their experiences.Authentic lead-long-term results. The integrity of au-from their life stories.Consciously anders act on that awareness by practicingthentic leaders helps to sustain orga-subconsciously,they were constantlytheir values and principles,s

22、ometimesnizational results through good times and bad.testing themselves through real-worldat substantial risk to themselves.Theyexperiences and reframing their life sto-are careful to balance their motivations|130Harvard Business Review February 2007 |MANAGING YOURSELFDiscovering Your Authen

23、tic Leadershipcult experience in their lives.They de-scribed the transformative effects ofthe loss of a job; personal illness; theuntimely death of a close friend or rel-ative; and feelings of being excluded,discriminated against,and rejected bypeers.Rather than seeing themselvesas victims,though,au

24、thentic leadersused these formative experiences togive meaning to their lives.They re-framed these events to rise above theirchallenges and to discover their passionto lead.Lets focus now on one leader in par-ticular,Novartis chairman and CEODaniel Vasella,whose life story was oneof the most difficu

25、lt of all the peoplewe interviewed.He emerged from ex-treme challenges in his youth to reachthe pinnacle of the global pharmaceuti-cal industry,a trajectory that illustratesthe trials many leaders have to gothrough on their journeys to authenticleadership.Vasella was born in 1953 to a modestfamily i

26、n Fribourg,Switzerland.Hisearly years were filled with medicalproblems that stoked his passion to be-come a physician.His first recollectionswere of a hospital where he was admit-ted at age four when he suffered fromso that they are driven by these innerstory of your life is not your life.It isfood

27、poisoning.Falling ill with asthmavalues as much as by a desire for exter-your story.”In other words,it is yourat age five,he was sent alone to thenal rewards or recognition.Authenticpersonal narrative that matters,not themountains of eastern Switzerland forleaders also keep a strong support teammere

28、 facts of your life.Your life narra-two summers.He found the four-montharound them,ensuring that they live in-tive is like a permanent recording play-separations from his parents especiallytegrated,grounded lives.ing in your head.Over and over,you difficult because his caretaker had anreplay the eve

29、nts and personal interac-alcohol problem and was unresponsivetions that are important to your life,at-to his needs.Learning from Your Life Storytempting to make sense of them to findAt age eight,Vasella had tuberculo-The journey to authentic leadershipyour place in the world.sis,followed by meningit

30、is,and was sentbegins with understanding the story While the life stories of authenticto a sanatorium for a year.Lonely andof your life.Your life story provides leaders cover the full spectrum of expe-homesick,he suffered a great deal thatthe context for your experiences,andriencesincluding the posi

31、tive impactyear,as his parents rarely visited him.through it,you can find the inspirationof parents,athletic coaches,teachers,He still remembers the pain and fearto make an impact in the world.As theand mentorsmany leaders reportedwhen the nurses held him down duringnovelist John Barth once wrote,“T

32、hethat their motivation came from a diffi-the lumbar punctures so that he wouldnot move.One day,a new physician ar-Bill George, the former chairman and CEO of Medtronic, is a professor of management prac-rived and took time to explain each stepof the procedure.Vasella asked thetice at Harvard Busine

33、ss School in Boston. Peter Simsestablished “Leadership Perspectives,”a class on leadership development at the Stanford Graduate School of Business in California.doctor if he could hold a nurses handAndrew N. McLeanis a research associate at Harvard Business School. Diana Mayeris a forather than bein

34、g held down.“Ther-mer Citigroup executive in New York. This article was adapted from True North: Discover Youramazing thing is that this time theAuthentic Leadershipby Bill George with Peter Sims (Jossey-Bass, forthcoming in March 2007).procedure didnt hurt,”Vasella recalls.|132Harvard Business Revi

35、ew February 2007 “Afterward,the doctor asked me,Howadvanced rapidly through the Sandozwas that?I reached up and gave him amarketing organization.big hug.These human gestures of for-When Sandoz merged with Ciba-giveness,caring,and compassion madeGeigy in 1996,Vasella was named CEOa deep impres

36、sion on me and on theof the combined companies,now calledkind of person I wanted to become.”Novartis,despite his young age andThroughout his early years,Vasellaslimited experience.Once in the CEOslife continued to be unsettled.When herole,Vasella blossomed as a leader.Hewas ten,his 18-year-old siste

37、r passedenvisioned the opportunity to build aaway after suffering from cancer forgreat global health care company thattwo years.Three years later,his fathercould help people through lifesavingdied in surgery.To support the family,new drugs,such as Gleevec,which hashis mother went to work in a distan

38、tproved to be highly effective for pa-town and came home only once everytients with chronic myeloid leukemia.three weeks.Left to himself,he and hisDrawing on the physician role modelsfriends held beer parties and got intoof his youth,he built an entirely newWhen the 75 members of Stanford Graduate S

39、chool ofBusinesss Advisory Council were asked to recommend themost important capability for leaders to develop,theiranswer was nearly unanimous:self-awareness.frequent fights.This lasted for threeNovartis culture centered on compas-years until he met his first girlfriend,sion,competence,and competit

40、ion.whose affection changed his life.These moves established Novartis as aAt 20,Vasella entered medicalgiant in the industry and Vasella as school,later graduating with honors.a compassionate leader.During medical school,he sought outVasellas experience is just one ofpsychotherapy so he could come t

41、odozens provided by authentic leadersterms with his early experiences andwho traced their inspiration directlynot feel like a victim.Through analysis,from their life stories.Asked what em-he reframed his life story and realizedpowered them to lead,these leadersthat he wanted to help a wider range of

42、consistently replied that they foundpeople than he could as an individualtheir strength through transformativepractitioner.Upon completion of hisexperiences.Those experiences enabledresidency,he applied to become chiefthem to understand the deeper purposephysician at the University of Zurich;of thei

43、r leadership.however,the search committee consid-ered him too young for the position.Knowing Your Authentic SelfDisappointed but not surprised,Vasella decided to use his abilities to in-When the 75 members of Stanfordcrease his impact on medicine.At thatGraduate School of Businesss Advisorytime,he h

44、ad a growing fascination withCouncil were asked to recommend thefinance and business.He talked with themost important capability for leaders tohead of the pharmaceutical division ofdevelop,their answer was nearly unan-Sandoz,who offered him the opportu-imous: self-awareness.Yet many lead-nity to joi

45、n the companys U.S.affiliate.ers,especially those early in their ca-In his five years in the United States,reers,are trying so hard to establishVasella flourished in the stimulatingthemselves in the world that they leaveenvironment,first as a sales representa-little time for self-exploration.Theytiv

46、e and later as a product manager,andstrive to achieve success in tangibleYELMAGCYANBLACK|MANAGING YOURSELFDiscovering Your Authentic Leadershipways that are recognized in the externaland a stint with Citigroup,he joinedresonated as true.”Pottruck realizedworldmoney,fame,power,status,or aCharles Schw

47、ab as head of marketing,that he could not succeed unless herising stock price.Often their drive en-moving from New York to San Francisco.identified and overcame his blind spots.ables them to be professionally success-An extremely hard worker,PottruckDenial can be the greatest hurdleful for a while,b

48、ut they are unable tocould not understand why his new col-that leaders face in becoming self-sustain that success.As they age,theyleagues resented the long hours he putaware.They all have egos that need tomay find something is missing in theirin and his aggressiveness in pushing forbe stroked,insecu

49、rities that need to belives and realize they are holding backresults.“I thought my accomplishmentssmoothed,fears that need to be allayed.from beingthe person they want to be.would speak for themselves,”he said.“ItAuthentic leaders realize that they haveKnowing their authentic selves requiresnever oc

50、curred to me that my level ofto be willing to listen to feedbackespe-the courage and honesty to open upenergy would intimidate and offendcially the kind they dont want to hear.and examine their experiences.As theyother people,because in my mind I wasIt was only after his second divorce thatdo so,lea

51、ders become more humanetrying to help the company.”Pottruck finally was able to acknowl-and willing to be vulnerable.Pottruck was shocked when his bossedge that he still had large blind spots:Of all the leaders we interviewed,told him,“Dave,your colleagues do not“After my second marriage fell apart,

52、David Pottruck,former CEO of Charlestrust you.”As he recalled,“That feed-I thought I had a wife-selection prob-Schwab,had one of the most persis-back was like a dagger to my heart.I waslem.”Then he worked with a counselortent journeys to self-awareness.An all-in denial,as I didnt see myself as other

53、swho delivered some hard truths: “Theleague football player in high school,saw me.I became a lightning rod for fric-good news is you do not have a wife-Pottruck became MVP of his collegetion,but I had no idea how self-servingselection problem; the bad news is youteam at the University of Pennsylvani

54、a.I looked to other people.Still,some-have a husband-behavior problem.”After completing his #99ff99MBA at Whartonwhere in my inner core the feedbackPottruck then made a determined ef-fort to change.As he described it,“I waslike a guy who has had three heart at-tacks and finally realizes he has to qu

55、itsmoking and lose some weight.”These days Pottruck is happily re-YOURDEVELOPMENTASANAUTHENTICLEADERmarried and listens carefully when hiswife offers constructive feedback.He ac-As you read this article, think about the basis for your leadership developmentknowledgesthat he falls back on his oldand

56、the path you need to follow to become an authentic leader. Then ask your-habits at times,particularly in high stressself these questions:situations,but now he has developed1.Which people and experiences in your early life had the greatest impactways of coping with stress.“I have hadon you?enough suc

57、cess in life to have that foun-2.What tools do you use to become self-aware?What is your authentic self?dation of self-respect,so I can take theWhat are the moments when you say to yourself, this is the real me?criticism and not deny it.I have finally3.What are your most deeply held values?Where did

58、 they come from? Havelearned to tolerate my failures and dis-your values changed significantly since your childhood? How do your valuesappointments and not beat myself up.”inform your actions?4.What motivates you extrinsically?What are your intrinsic motivations? HowPracticing Your Values anddo you

59、balance extrinsic and intrinsic motivation in your life?Principles5.What kind of support team do you have?How can your support team makeThe values that form the basis for au-you a more authentic leader? How should you diversify your team to broadenthentic leadership are derived fromyour perspective?your beliefs and convictions,but you6.Is your life integrated?Are you able to be the same person in all aspects of yourwill not know what your true values arelifepersonal, work, family, and community? If not, what is holding you back?until th