Developing Authentic Leadership

1. Developing Authentic Leadership Presented by Kelvin J. Cochran

2. Study of Great Leaders • 50 years and 1000 leadership studies • Determine definitive styles • Determine characteristics • Determine personality traits • Determine core values Still no clear profile of the ideal leader

3. Discovering Authentic Leadership • “All of us were born originals, some of us will die as copies” • No one can be authentic by being a copy • People trust a genuine leader “Leadership has many faces. Being who we are and cultivating our purpose is more important than emulating someone else.”

4. Authentic Leadership Cloning successful leaders from history and the present will not assure successful leaders in the future.

5. Authentic Leadership If we were able to take the best of all character and personality traits of the best of successful leaders and inject them into each aspiring subordinate, we would set them up for failure.

6. Authentic Defined: • Conforming to facts and therefore worthy of trust, reliance or belief • Authentic leaders are always in the process of conforming • We are all a work in progress

7. Authentic Leaders • Demonstrate a passion for their purpose • Practice their values consistently • Lead with their hearts and heads • Establish long-term meaningful relationships • Have self-discipline to get results Authentic leaders know who they are.

8. Authentic Leaders To Become an Authentic Leader You: ______________________________ • Do not have to be born with specific character and personality traits • Do not have to wait for approval • Do not have to be at the top • Must discover your potential and fulfill your leadership destiny

9. Authentic Leaders Five areas of focus for Authentic Leadership ______________________________ • Life stories • Practicing your values and principles • Balanced motivations • Building a strong support team • Living an integrated, grounded life

10. I. Your Life Story Learning From Your Life Story ___________________________ • Your life narrative is a recording playing in your head • Keeps your experiences in context with your vision • Inspires our dreams and destiny • Your resume is not who you are

11. I. Your Life Story The Full Spectrum of Experiences ___________________________ • Impact of parents • Athletic coaches • Teachers • Mentors

12. Your Life Story Transforming Effects of Crucibles ______________________________ • Poverty • Loss of a job • Personal illness • Death of a relative or friend • Being excluded • Discriminated against • Rejected by peers

13. Knowing Yourself • Self-awareness--the most important capability for leaders to develop • Most common tendencies: • Strive to achieve success: money, fame, power, status • Achieves unsustainable success Knowing our authentic selves requires courage and honesty to openly examine our experiences

14. The Value of Feedback • Two things I should stop doing • Two things I should start doing • Two things I should continue doing

15. II. Practicing Values and Principles “The values that form authentic leadership are derived from beliefs and convictions, but you will not know what your true values are until they are tested under pressure.”

16. Practicing Values and Principles It is easy to list your values and live by them when things are going well. When your success, your career or even your life hangs in the balance, you discover what’s important, what you are prepared to sacrifice and what compromises you are willing to make. Leadership principles are values translated into action.

17. IAFC Board Values • Member-Driven • Leadership • Integrity • Professionalism • Dedication

18. IAFC Board Values • Confidentiality • Respect • Continuous Learning and Improvement • Collaboration and Teamwork • Open Communications

19. III. Balancing Motives Because authentic leaders need to sustain high levels of motivation and keep their lives in balance, it is critically important for them to understand what drives them to do what they do.

20. Extrinsic Motives ______________ Recognition Social Status Promotions Financial rewards Peers, Parental Expectations Intrinsic Motives ______________ Personal growth Helping others Social causes Making a difference Balancing Motives

21. IV. Building Your Support Team • Authentic leaders build their networks over time, as their experiences, shared histories, and openness with people close to them create the trust and confidence they need in time of trial and uncertainty. • Leaders must give as much to their supporters as they get from them so that mutually beneficial relationships can develop.

22. Building Your Support Team Authentic Leaders Build Support Teams ________________________ • Counsel during uncertainty • Help in times of difficulty • Celebrate in times of success

23. Multifaceted Support Structure • Spouses/Significant others • Families • Mentors • Close Friends • Colleagues

24. Personal and Professional Support Groups • Professional • Professional associations • Conferences • Personal • Community service organizations • Civic groups • Golfing buddies • Small group meetings

25. V. Integrated Life: Staying Grounded To lead a balanced life, leaders need to bring together all of its constituent elements—work, family, community, and friends—so that you can be the same person in each environment.

26. Integrated Life: Staying Grounded • Think of your life as a house, with a bedroom for your personal life, a study for your professional life, a family room for your family and a living room to share with your friends. • Can you knock down the walls between these rooms and be the same person in each of them?

27. Integrated Life: Staying Grounded • Steady and confident presence • No zero-sum game personal and professional • Resonates in high stress conditions • Model a fitness culture • Spiritually connected • Community service oriented • Cherishes humble beginnings

28. Empowering Others • There is no success without a successor • Develop leaders at every level • Empower others to step up and lead • A reputation for building relationships • Attracts talented people

29. Rewards of Authentic Leadership • Pleasure of group achievement • Crossing the finish line together • Satisfaction of empowering others • Making the world a better place

30. Personal Change • One person can not change another person. Arthur’s engagement dinner • Most people need to look at the way they look at change. “I sure hope things will change.” • The only way things will change for me is when I change.

31. Personal Change “I don’t know why I am this way.” • You are the way you are because that’s the way you want to be. “We can not become what we need to be by remaining what we are.” -Dupree • When you make the right personal change, other things begin to turn out right

32. Personal Change We’ve got to align ourselves with purposes greater that ourselves…. • Needs • Motives • Goals

33. Personal Change Stop Seeking Achievement Where You Are the Primary Beneficiary • You get the credit • You get the benefit “What have you done for someone else lately?”

34. Personal Change Change K,S,A’s • Increase – you still don’t know everything • College • Conferences • Professional Associations

35. Change Motives “Make A Difference Everyday” • Community • Department • Divisions • Groups • Individuals • Stakeholders

36. Change Brokers • Effective Fire Chiefs are “change brokers” • Leadership that changes things to make things better for others….

37. Six Steps To Successful Personal Changes I. When you change your thinking, you change your beliefs. II. When you change your beliefs, you change your expectations. • When you change your expectations, you change your attitude. • When you change your attitude, you change your behavior. • When you change your behavior, you change your performance. • When you change your performance, you change your life.

38. I. When you change your thinking, you change your beliefs. • Everything begins with a thought. • What we think determines who we are. Who we are determines what we do. • Our thoughts determine our destiny. Our destiny determines our legacy. • People who go to the top think differently than others. • We can change the way we think.

39. II. When you change your beliefs, you change your expectations. • Beliefs That Help You Change • Change is personal • Change is possible • Change is profitable • Basic Beliefs That Motivate You • Have a plan for your life. • Know the plan for your life • Want to be successful • Be continually obedient and change oriented to be successful • When you grow and change, you add value to self and others

40. III. When you change your expectations, you change your attitude. • Positive Expectations Produce • Excitement • Conviction • Desire • Confidence • Commitment • Energy

41. IV. When you change your attitude, you change your behavior • The Choice Within You • Choice #1 – Evaluate your present attitude • Choice #2 – Is your faith stronger than fear. • Choice #3 – Write a statement of purpose • Choice #4 – Determine if you have a desire to change

42. IV. When you change your attitude, you change your behavior • The Choice Within You • Choice #5 – Live one day at a time • Choice #6 – Change your thought pattern • Choice #7 – Develop good habits • Choice #8 – Continually choose the right attitude.

43. V.When you change your behavior, you change your performance. • Two Mistakes that We Make • We wait for others to change our circumstances • We wait for our circumstances to change our behavior

44. VI. When you change your performance you change your life. Changing your performance in professional and personal relationships will enhance your entire life!

45. Six Steps To Successful Personal Changes I When you change your Thinking, you change your Beliefs. II. When you change your Beliefs, you change your Expectations. • When you change your Expectations, you change your Attitude. • When you change your Attitude, you change your Behavior. • When you change your Behavior, you change your Performance. • When you change your Performance, you change your Life.

46. References • The Fire Chief of the Future • Chief Fire Officer’s Desk Reference • Chapter 25, by Kelvin J. Cochran • Discovering Your Authentic Leadership • Harvard Business Review, February 2007 • Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value • Bill George, 2003

47. Thank You!