The 10 Key Qualities of Authentic Leaders

I’ve worked for a Fortune 500 company that refused to empower employees; a company where the leaders criticized you every step of the way, as much as they could; and a company where the qualities and values espoused by the management team in the interview were shunned upon once those values were put into action in reality.

For the record, I’m not being negative here, nor am I judging some of my former managers who most likely never had proper leadership training. I’m simply stating the facts, and I’m doing so for your benefit.

I’ve been studying authentic leadership for more than two decades. I’ve chatted with billionaires, politicians, bestselling authors, and icons across five different continents, and I’m constantly practicing what I preach through experimentation. Here are ten key qualities every authentic leader must learn to integrate into their leadership development toolkit:

1. Authentic leaders empower the people they work with (notice how I said the people they work with, as the best leaders work with and for others). They refuse to micromanage others, and they give people the room to fully prove themselves. You’d be surprised what people will do for you once you give them a real chance. Sadly, millions of employees around the world are never given a real chance to prove themselves. Their potential is suffocated by overly judgmental and controlling bosses.
2. Authentic leaders show how it’s done. Yes, they delegate…eventually. But they only delegate after actively demonstrating how to properly do the job over a period of time.
3. Authentic leaders have integrity. They are true to their word and follow-up on their promises.
4. Authentic leaders praise and encourage others. This does not mean authentic leaders are afraid to give constructive feedback, as giving others feedback is important. But they give feedback respectfully, and they sandwich constructive feedback with praise.
5. Authentic leaders lead with generosity. They frequently ask questions like how can I help? and how may I serve you?
6. Authentic leaders admit when they’re wrong. They don’t sit around looking for who’s to blame. They ask questions like what’s next? and where do we go from here?
7. Authentic leaders seek to remain as unbiased as they can. Every human being has natural biases and tendencies — that’s normal. But the exceptional human being seeks to be objective as possible in every situation, getting different perspectives and all sides to a given story.
8. Authentic leaders take time for themselves. Society has sold us a bill of goods that we must constantly be in “go go go” mode. The best leaders know they must take time to recharge their batteries, and in doing so they become even more effective in their day-to-day work.
9. Authentic leaders are always learning and meeting new people. They read books, attend networking events and seminars, introduce themselves to new people, and constantly seek to broaden their horizons.
10. Authentic leaders are confident, yet humble. This is a challenge at times, but authentic leaders are always striving to find the balance point. They know they are worthy and fully believe in themselves and their abilities, yet they are down-to-earth, practical, and focused on implementing behaviors they can put into practice today.

This is only the tip of the iceberg as far as authentic leaders go, but it’s a great start. Apply some of these tips today and watch as your authentic leadership prowess soars.

Jeff Davis is a bestselling author, professional speaker, world traveler, and humanitarian. In June of 2017, he’ll be publishing his next book The Power of Authentic Leadership: Activating the 13 Keys to Achieving Prosperity Through Authenticity. For updates on this book, please subscribe to Jeff’s YouTube channel.