BMA eBook - Manual / Resource - Page 48
Managing Authenticity
eralizations about status and societies, though
we can draw some comparisons. For instance,
some societies focus more on people’s ascribed
status—attributes that are perceived as innate
to particular individuals. Others focus more on
people’s achieved status—attributes and roles
that individuals attain through their own endeavors. At the most general level, American
society places great emphasis on achieved status; the belief that where you’re going outweighs where you’ve been lies close to the
heart of the American dream. This is not to say
that American society always acts according to
this belief. Many commentators worry that the
growing gap between rich and poor in the
United States will decrease the prospects of social mobility for many. Even so, the idea that
you will get your chance remains strong.
In other societies, elite status remains relatively fixed. For example, the French business
elite comprises individuals educated in the
grand écoles—often from all the same rather
privileged backgrounds. In Asian societies, especially in China, family and geography remain highly relevant to people’s understanding
of their origins.
The variability of social status has important
implications for leaders. The relative fluidity of
American society, with an avowed emphasis on
aspirations, is reflected in followers’ attitudes
toward their leaders. The Yale-educated Yankee aristocrat George W. Bush, for example,
can pose as a regular guy from Texas and be
believed because Americans, unlike Europeans, will accept that he can transform himself,
and they will respect his aspiration to do so.
That kind of metamorphosis simply wouldn’t
seem authentic in Britain; to the working-class
voter, once an aristocrat, always an aristocrat.
Authentic leaders are comfortable in their
skin; they know where they come from and
who they are, and they know how to use their
backgrounds to build a rapport with followers.
Authentic leaders are not threatened by people with other origins; they welcome them.
They are sensitive in communicating their origins and are aware of the differences in cultural attitudes toward their backgrounds. As
Albert Einstein once said, “I speak to everyone
in the same way, whether he is the garbageman or the president of the university.” That
statement reflects not only Einstein’s comfort
with himself but also with the more open society he chose to live in.
Conform—But Only Just Enough
When picking which aspects of themselves to
reveal, and to whom, authentic leaders must
judge just how much they need to conform to
social and organizational norms. The challenge for these executives is to create just
enough distance from the norms so followers
will perceive the leaders as special and attractive. It’s a very fine judgment call: Too much
conformity can render leaders ineffective; too
little can isolate them.
Graham, a dynamic sales guy in a fastmoving, Boston-based consumer goods business that we advise, provides a good illustration of what happens when a leader conforms
too much. He was, and is, a very effective salesman, albeit in an old-fashioned, in-your-face
kind of way. Some people found him brash. We
thought he was very bright but a little too
A Man For All Seasons
Critics of British Prime Minister Tony Blair
often contend that because of his desire to
maximize his personal appeal, Blair moves
between different, contradictory selves, lacking any central personal beliefs. We would argue, however, that Blair’s winning ways stem
not from sacrificing himself on the altar of
electability but rather from his consummate
skill in managing his authenticity. His behavior in a single dramatic week in early July
2005 exemplified how well he does this.
The week began with the Bob Geldof- and
Bono-inspired Live 8 pop concert, an event to
harvard business review • december 2005
raise awareness about poverty in Africa. That
was followed by Blair’s trip to Singapore to
lobby the International Olympic Committee,
during which he danced a gleeful jig in public when the UK bid to land the 2012 Summer
Games was successful. Also that week, he attended the G8 summit in Scotland, where he
was able to make headway in addressing
some of his most passionate concerns. Then
Blair was urgently called back to London because of the terrorist bombings there.
In each of these instances, Blair played different roles to attract followers in different
ways. Yet despite the different behaviors he
exhibited, Blair was able to communicate a
core self; he always connected powerfully
with his known personal passions—for pop
music, sport, the elimination of poverty in Africa, and the defeat of terrorism. Indeed, his
performance that week wrung praise even
from his critics. As Andrew Rawnsley wrote in
the Observer, “People turn admiring when
they observe [Blair’s] capacity to read, articulate, and mould critical political moments.”
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