My reflection blog this week is to reflect on the YouTube video “Harvard’s Bill George: Inner work for Authentic Leadership.” George had three points: Inner work involves having real-world experiences, process that experience through some type of reflection, and one should seek honest feedback from others. Using the three points I will define some real-world experiences that have been instructional for me, how did I take time to reflect, and who has provided valuable feedback. Additionally, outline any practices that have affected my leadership abilities. (George, 2012)

In the Bill George’s Authentic leadership approach it “focuses on the characteristics of an authentic leader” George goes on to define that authentic leaders have five characteristics: understanding their purpose, strong values to do the right thing, establishing trust relationships, demonstrate self-discipline and act on their values, and they are passionate about their mission” (p197) (Northouse, 2016)

The New Leader

In 2011, I was selected for a new lead position over a group of employees, whom where my working peers prior to the promotion. A couple of the employees were doing tasks that I was not familiar with, so I called a meeting to get a familiarity of all the assignments, risks, and issues. There was one employee who was argumentative and upset because she did not get the position of the lead. She had the boldness to call me out in front of the team causing frustration and tension with the other team members. She said she was not participating in my meeting because she was supposed to have the lead position. I was completely shocked and went numb because I didn’t know what to do. I took a pause, the girl left, and I continued on with the meeting. I know the other team members felt uncomfortable as I could tell by their silence and facial expressions.

I went to my director, explained what happened and requested she be moved off of my team and put on another one. So she was removed. There were times I had to work with her in order to complete a project. I kept my distance and did everything I could to not have to work with her. One day one of my teammates let me know that the distance and animosity was very clear amongst the entire team. This animosity was making others feel extremely uncomfortable. The team didn’t want to be caught in the middle of our behaviors.

That feedback was hard to hear. I immediately started to reflect on my own behavior and what experience was I leaving my team members. I was not setting the example, or acting mature.  I was letting another person’s attitude define who I was, caused my blood pressure to continuously be high and output of the team was tense.

I began leading projects with a different purpose, which included making sure I treated all individuals equally with respect, including the girl who was mad. I keep my focus on the mission, respected each role, and encouraged everyone to participate with the trust it would be a positive environment. Over time the tension between myself and the other employee began to be less transparent.

In my reflection realized my actions were not authentic at all, but very selfish and childish. I should have never removed the employee from the team as that hurt her worse than not getting the lead position. I was not being true to the mission, but true to myself.

Ten months later, the company decision to move the entire program to another state. During this transformation, all the leads lost their leader positions. This employee and I were not equal working partners. Although I had a trust issues with her, I still worked with her as if nothing ever happened. A couple months later she took a promotion to another program. I was happy for her and let her know it. A few months later I started to get job requisitions that would allow me to obtain a promotion, from this employee. I remember thinking why would she do that? I thought she didn’t like me. I had to again reflect on the intent of this action. I realized at that point is that she was never mad at me, she was mad at management.

As a young leader, I knew my purpose and responsibilities on the team. I failed at doing the right thing by having her removed from the team. I spent time reflecting at the beginning, but I think the reflection was off as it wasn’t until she sent me a job requisition that I realized I had the entire situation wrong. I believe that a person’s actions are based on their beliefs and experiences. By removing her from the team, it was not a positive experience to the employee. Additional feedback from other team members made me realize I was being very reactive verses being supportive.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I have many real-world experiences where I have to reflect the situations and obtain feedback to ensure I either do or don’t do something in the future. Feedback is powerful if you have individuals that will give you true honest feedback, even if it is negative. One of the pillars in my works initiative of Culture of Accountability (COA) includes feedback and how you respond to the feedback.  One of the hardest lessons for me was obtaining feedback and then reflecting on the message being received and not acting on it. I not sure if I am the authentic leader, as I am reflecting on the characteristics of this type of leader. I will say that I try hard at being authentic by establishing trust and accountability. Although I didn’t learn from another leader, I learned from my own behavior.

References

George, B. (2012, November 1). Harvard's Bill George: Inner Work for Authentic Leadership. Retrieved September 27, 2016, from YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmPu2LQ84ts

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publication.