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11 ways your School Counselors Serve as Leaders

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11 ways your School Counselors Serve as Leaders

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School counselors are uniquely equipped to bridge the gaps between administration, teachers, parents, and students. As the demands placed on everyone in a school community increase, it's vital that we view and include school counselors as part of our leadership teams. Let's make sure we recognize all they do and put their strengths to work for our students! Here are 11 ways school counselors serve as leaders in your building.

1. School counselors recognize and showcase diversity.

In many buildings, school counselors are considered the "heart" of the school. They help create an inclusive environment that is respectful, welcoming, kind, and open to all.

2. School counselors develop community partnerships.

Counseling staff work collaboratively with universities, community colleges, technical schools, local unions, military reps, and apprentice programs to provide a variety of opportunities for students. They are especially vital in ensuring underserved and first-generation students have access to and the tools to reach all possible post-high school options.

3. School counselors help during difficult situations.

Strengths such as listening, reflecting, and high emotional intelligence make school counselors valuable allies when trying to get buy-in from staff or the greater community on difficult issues. Counselors foster a culture of change via strong lines of communication and valuing input from all parties involved.

4. School counselors maintain strong home-school connections.

Counselors tend to be the liaison for parents when it comes to communicating with the school. This leadership role is especially important when assisting families who are not familiar with the school setting or have issues trusting staff.

5. School counselors maximize educational success.

School counselors can help to maximize the educational attainment of all students by providing students with mental health services (school or community-based) and developmental guidance that takes a proactive approach in helping students set and reach academic goals.

6. School counselors lead staff trainings.

Administrators who use their counseling staff (rather than outside contractors) to lead building-wide trainings can save a lot of money and gain quicker buy-in from staff. School counselors are experts on topics such as student engagement, positive discipline, suicide/self-harm, students-as-leaders, peer mentoring programs, and academic/social interventions for low-performing students.

7. School counselors protect and advocate for disadvantaged students.

Counselors identify and amend policies and practices that negatively impact disadvantaged students and advocate for equitable services for all students.

8. School counselors use expertise to bring data to life.

Like administrators, counselors are trained in data collection and analysis. They are skilled at using this information to drive decisions about placement, intervention, and overall student health and wellbeing.

9. School counselors mediate difficult situations between parents/students and staff.

Counselors are consistently looking for ways to support the relationship between school staff and parents. Acting as a mediator when one or both parties are upset about a situation is a critical way in which school counselors serve as leaders.

10. School counselors organize and lead crisis response.

Counselors are on the front lines after a tragedy has happened in a school or community. Staff, students, parents, and community members look to the counselors for guidance and support immediately following an event. Because of their training in emotional/mental, the counseling staff is critical in advocating for and teaching self-care to staff, parents, and students during a crisis.

11. School counselors empower and inspire.

School counselors inherently believe in people and work tirelessly to communicate that. By being visible and accessible at all times, their calming, caring, and encouraging presence helps support and empower staff in the building.

School counselors serve as leaders in many ways and we need to value their perspectives and strengths. They are vital to building positive learning environments in which students thrive.
Join our Facebook group Principal Life for more conversation about and insights into the challenges of school leadership.

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11 Ways Your School Counselors Serve as Leaders - WeAreTeachers

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School counselors are uniquely equipped to bridge the gaps between administration, teachers, parents, and students. As the demands placed on everyone in a school community increase, it's vital that we view and include school counselors as part of our leadership teams. Let's make sure we recognize all they do and put their strengths to work for our students!

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Learning to become more self-aware as a leader.

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The more that you, as a leader, manage each of these areas, the higher your emotional intelligence. So, let's look at each element in more detail and examine how you can grow as a leader.

Emotional Intelligence in Leadership

1. Self-awareness

If you're self-aware, you always know how you feel, and you know how your emotions and your actions can affect the people around you. Being self-aware when you're in a leadership position also means having a clear picture of your strengths and weaknesses, and it means behaving with humility.

So, what can you do to improve your self-awareness?

Keep a journal. Journals help you improve your self-awareness. If you spend just a few minutes each day writing down your thoughts, this can move you to a higher degree of self-awareness.

2. Self-regulation

Leaders who regulate themselves effectively rarely verbally attack others, make rushed or emotional decisions, stereotype people, or compromise their values. Self-regulation is all about staying in control.

This element of emotional intelligence, according to Goleman, also covers a leader's flexibility and commitment to personal accountability.

So, how can you improve your ability to self-regulate?

Hold yourself accountable. If you tend to blame others when something goes wrong, stop. Make a commitment to admit to your mistakes and to face the consequences, whatever they are. You'll probably sleep better at night, and you'll quickly earn the respect of those around you.

Practice being calm. The next time you're in a challenging situation, be very aware of how you act. Do you relieve your stress by shouting at someone else? Practice deep-breathing exercises to calm yourself. Also, try to write down all of the negative things you want to say, and then rip it up and throw it away. Expressing these emotions on paper (and not showing them to anyone!) is better than speaking them aloud to your team. What's more, this helps you challenge your reactions to ensure that they're fair!

3. Motivation

Self-motivated leaders work consistently toward their goals, and they have extremely high standards for the quality of their work.

How can you improve your motivation?

Re-examine why you're doing your job. It's easy to forget what you really love about your career. So, take some time to remember why you wanted this job. If you're unhappy in your role and you're struggling to remember why you wanted it, try the Five Whys technique to find the root of the problem. Starting at the root often helps you look at your situation in a new way. And make sure that your goal statements are fresh and energizing. For more on this, see our article on Goal Setting.

4. Empathy

For leaders, having empathy is critical to managing a successful team or organization. Leaders with empathy have the ability to put themselves in someone else's situation. They help develop the people on their team, challenge others who are acting unfairly, give constructive feedback, and listen to those who need it.

If you want to earn the respect and loyalty of your team, then show them you care by being empathic.

How can you improve your empathy?

Respond to feelings. You ask your assistant to work late - again. And although he agrees, you can hear the disappointment in his voice. So, respond by addressing his feelings. Tell him you appreciate how willing he is to work extra hours, and that you're just as frustrated about working late. If possible, figure out a way for future late nights to be less of an issue (for example, give him Monday mornings off).

5. Social Skills

Leaders who do well in the social skills element of emotional intelligence are great communicators. They're just as open to hearing bad news as good news, and they're experts at getting their team to support them and be excited about a new mission or project.

Leaders who have good social skills are also good at managing change and resolving conflicts diplomatically. They're rarely satisfied with leaving things as they are, but they don't sit back and make everyone else do the work: they set an example with their own behavior.

So, how can you build social skills?

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Emotional Intelligence in Leadership - Learning How to Be More Aware

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Relating to others is vital in today's workplace. Learn how to build your emotional intelligence (EI) with this article.

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Anyone trying to come up to speed on emotional intelligence would have a pretty easy time of it since the concept is remarkably recent, and its application to business newer still. The term was coined in 1990 in a research paper by two psychology professors, John D. Mayer of UNH and Peter Salovey of Yale. Some years later, Mayer defined it in HBR this way:

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How Emotional Intelligence Became a Key Leadership Skill

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A reading list to bring you up to speed.

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Emotional Intelligence and Effective Leadership

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Emotional Intelligence and Effective Leadership

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When most people imagine intelligence, they picture a mathematician solving equations, a novelist writing great works of literature or a philosopher expounding on wise principles.

But brilliance takes many forms, not least of which is the ability to comprehend and manage emotions. Known as emotional intelligence, this trait is often overlooked, yet crucial for success as a business leader.

Here's what having emotional intelligence provides you with:
Acute Awareness
One of the defining features of emotional intelligence is the ability to comprehend the effects of your feelings. This is crucial for making sound, objective decisions when your pride and self-esteem are at stake. All leaders must face situations where their emotions make a decision seem better than it is.

If you previously expressed support for a certain strategy, for example, your pride will be tied up with that strategy, making it harder to recognize if it isn't working. Leaders who have emotional intelligence are more likely to realize when pride and other emotions are influencing their thinking, allowing them to make more rational, impartial choices.
Impact Interpretation
In addition to reigning in your own feelings, emotional intelligence makes it easier to anticipate and respond to others' sentiments. As much as we may want for it to be objective, business is an emotional experience.

Bad news from work can shock or dismay your employees, while good news may make them unreasonably optimistic. Emotional intelligence means you can tell ahead of time how others will react and develop a strategy to keep them grounded.
Mental Health Management
Those with emotional intelligence have an easier time assessing the emotional and psychological state of their employees. This makes it easier to determine if someone is suffering from:

* Anxiety

* Depression

* Grief

* Trauma

* Eating disorders

By recognizing threats to your employees' mental health, you can provide them with the support and professional resources they need to recover. Not only is this good for their health but it promotes a more harmonious, productive workplace.
Cultivated Communication
Leaders with emotional intelligence have an improved ability to gauge others' responses to their words and actions. This makes it easier for you to tell if your employees really understand what you are saying or are confused but unwilling to say so. You can then refine your messages accordingly, developing reliable ways of communicating with everyone who works for you.

Emotional intelligence also makes it easier for you to listen to what other people are saying clearly and without judgment, ensuring that others can always give you the information you need.
Helpful Humor
Never underestimate the value of humor in business. A good joke or clever play on words can cheer up dismayed employees, win over skeptical customers and draw positive attention to your brand. If you have emotional intelligence, it will be easier to tell what people will find funny. You can also determine in which situations humor will be appropriate, finding the proper balance between serious work and lightheartedness.

While intelligence is important, emotional intelligence is a key to success in leadership and in being able to relate to others. When dealing with others, truly try to place yourself in their situation. It will help you choose the best method to solve problems and achieve your goals.

How has emotional intelligence helped you to make sound and informed decisions?

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Council Post: Why Emotional Intelligence Is Indispensable For Leaders

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When most people imagine intelligence, they picture a mathematician solving equations, a novelist writing great works of literature or a philosopher expounding on wise principles. But brilliance takes many forms, not least of which is the ability to comprehend and manage emotions.

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Research by the respected Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) in the U.S. found that the primary causes of executive derailment involve deficiencies in emotional competence. Each year, CCL serves more than 20,000 individuals and 2,000 organizations, including more than 80 of the Fortune 100 companies. It says the three main reasons for failure are difficulty in handling change, inability to work well in a team, and poor interpersonal relations.

International search firm Egon Zehnder International analyzed 515 senior executives and discovered that those who were strongest in emotional intelligence were more likely to succeed than those strongest in either IQ or relevant previous experience. Research that has been done on the relationship between emotional intelligence (EQ) and IQ has shown only a weak correlation between the two.

The Carnegie Institute of Technology carried out research that showed that 85% of our financial success was due to skills in "human engineering", personality, and ability to communicate, negotiate, and lead. They found that only 15% was due to technical ability. In other words people skills or skills highly related to emotional intelligence were crucial skills. Nobel Prize winning Israeli-American psychologist Daniel Kahneman found that people would rather do business with a person they like and trust rather than someone they don't, even if that that person is offering a better product at a lower price.

People would rather do business with a person they like and trust rather than someone they don't, even if that that person is offering a better product at a lower price.

To test out his findings, think of the last time you purchased a major item, a home, automobile, or large appliance where you had to dealings with a salesperson. Was the person someone who you liked and trusted? In my talks, I have found that whenever I asked that question, inevitably the entire audience answered that, yes, the person they bought a large item from was someone they liked and trusted. This theory about why salespeople with the right people skills do better than those who lack them is borne out by a study carried out by the Hay/McBer Research and Innovation Group in 1997. In a study carried out in a large national insurance company in 1997, they found that sales agents weak in emotional areas such as self-confidence, initiative, and empathy sold policies with an average premium of $54,000, while those strong in 5 of 8 emotional competencies sold policies on the average worth $114,000.

Much of the research that has been done on emotional intelligence has been at the executive leadership level. The higher up the organization, the more crucial emotional intelligence abilities are as the impacts are greater and felt throughout the entire organization. There have been some studies, however, that show impacts at all levels.

The higher up the organization the more crucial emotional intelligence abilities are as the impacts are greater and felt throughout the entire organization.

For example, a study by McClelland in 1999 showed that after supervisors in a manufacturing plant received training in emotional competencies such as how to listen better, lost-time accidents decreased by 50% and grievances went down from 15 per year to three. The plant itself exceeded productivity goals by $250,000.

The same principles apply in all areas of life, whether at work or in relationships. Everyone wants to work with people who are easy to get along with, supportive, likeable, and can be trusted. We want to be beside people that do not get upset easily and can keep their composure when things do not work out according to plan.

Self-awareness. The first thing that is essential for any degree of emotional intelligence is self-awareness. People with a high degree of self-awareness have a solid understanding of their own emotions, their strengths, weaknesses, and what drives them. Neither overly critical nor unrealistically hopeful, these people are honest with themselves and others. These people recognize how their feelings impact them, other people around them, and their performance at work. They have a good understanding of their values and goals and where they are going in life. They are confident as well as aware of their limitations and less likely to set themselves up for failure.

We can recognize self-aware people by their willingness to talk about themselves in a frank, non-defensive manner. A good interview question is to ask about a time that the interviewee got carried away by their emotions and did something they later regretted. The self-aware person will be open and frank with their answers. Self-deprecating humor is a good indicator of someone who has good self-awareness. Red flags are people who stall or try to avoid the question, seem irritated, or frustrated by the question.

Ability To Self-Regulate Emotions. We all have emotions which drive us and there is nothing we can do to avoid them. People who are good at self-regulation, however, are able to manage their emotions so that they do not control their words and actions. While they feel bad moods and impulses as much as anyone else, they do not act upon them. People who act upon their negative feelings create havoc, disruptions, and lasting bad feelings all around them. We feel before we think and people who constantly react from an emotional state never wait long enough to allow their thoughts to override their emotions.

People who self-regulate have the ability to wait until their emotions pass, allowing them to respond from a place of reason, rather than simply reacting to feelings. The signs of someone who is good at self-regulation are reflection, thoughtfulness, comfort with ambiguity, change, and not having all the answers. In an interview, look for people who take a little time to reflect and think before they answer.

Empathy. Empathy is another important aspect to look for when hiring. Someone who has empathy will have an awareness of the feelings of others and consider those feelings in their words and actions. This does not mean that they will tiptoe around or be unwilling to make tough decisions for fear of hurting someone's feelings. It simply means that they are aware of, and take into consideration the impact on others. They are willing to share their own worries and concerns and openly acknowledge other's emotions. A good way to look for empathy in an interview is to ask a candidate about a situation where a co-worker was angry with them and how they dealt with it. Look for a willingness to understand the source of the co-workers anger, even though they may not agree with the reasons for it.

Social skills. Social skill is another area of emotional intelligence that is highly important in the workplace. To have good social skills requires a high level of the other skills aforementioned as well as the ability to relate and find common ground with a wide range of people. It goes beyond just friendliness and the ability to get along with others.

People with social skills are excellent team players as they have the ability to move an agenda along and keep focus while at the same time remaining aware of the emotional climate of the group and possess the ability to respond to it. These people are excellent at making connections, networking, and bringing people together to work on projects. They are able to bring their emotional intelligence skills into play in a larger arena. To look for social skills in an interview, ask questions related to projects and difficulties encountered around varying agendas, temperaments, and getting people to buy in.

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Why Emotionally Intelligent People Are More Successful

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Research by the respected Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) in the U.S. found that the primary causes of executive derailment involve deficiencies in emotional competence. Each year, CCL serves more than 20,000 individuals and 2,000 organizations, including more than 80 of the Fortune 100 companies.

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While servant leadership is a timeless concept, the phrase "servant leadership" was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in The Servant as Leader, an essay that he first published in 1970. In that essay, Greenleaf said:

"The servant-leader is servant first... It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead. That person is sharply different from one who is leader first, perhaps because of the need to assuage an unusual power drive or to acquire material possessions...The leader-first and the servant-first are two extreme types. Between them there are shadings and blends that are part of the infinite variety of human nature.

"The difference manifests itself in the care taken by the servant-first to make sure that other people's highest priority needs are being served. The best test, and difficult to administer, is: Do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society? Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived?"

A servant-leader focuses primarily on the growth and well-being of people and the communities to which they belong. While traditional leadership generally involves the accumulation and exercise of power by one at the "top of the pyramid," servant leadership is different. The servant-leader shares power, puts the needs of others first and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible.

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What is Servant Leadership? - Greenleaf Center for Servant Leadership

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While servant leadership is a timeless concept, the phrase "servant leadership" was coined by Robert K. Greenleaf in The Servant as Leader, an essay that he first published in 1970. In that essay, Greenleaf said: "The servant-leader is servant first... It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first.

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Servant leaders are a revolutionary bunch–they take the traditional power leadership model and turn it completely upside down. This new hierarchy puts the people–or employees, in a business context–at the very top, and the leader at the bottom, charged wi

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"If your actions inspire people to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams

When Nathan and I started TeamGantt, we decided to buck tradition and take a different approach. As leaders of the company, we care more about being part of the team and setting people up for success than making sure everyone knows who's boss.

That's why servant leadership is our go-to leadership style.

Let's take a closer look at what servant leadership is and the 10 characteristics that define a servant leader.

What is servant leadership?

Servant leadership is a management style that prioritizes the team's growth and well-being over the organization's or leader's own ambitions. Unlike traditional leaders, a servant leader focuses on coaching and developing individuals, not just achieving the goals of the organization.

Servant leadership traces its origins to Robert Greenleaf. In his 1970 essay "The Servant as a Leader," he described servant leadership like this:

"The servant-leader is servant first... It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first."

A lot of companies look at employees as cogs in a wheel who exist solely to help the organization advance its goals. Leaders act as taskmasters who dole out authority and don't care how work gets done, as long as it's delivered on time. Servant leadership flips the typical leadership script by putting people ahead of power.

10 key principles of servant leadership

So what does it take to be a servant leader? Servant leaders share a common set of core characteristics. Follow these 10 principles to put servant leadership to work with your team.

1. Listening

Listening is at the heart of servant leadership. If a team member's talking, give them your full focus and attention-no interruption allowed! It's a simple way to make your team feel valued so they know you care.

2. Empathy

A lot goes into empathy, but when it comes to servant leadership, it basically comes down to getting to know your team. Find out what makes them tick, and learn their strengths and weaknesses. That way you can let your team members shine and maybe even help them turn their weaknesses into strengths.

3. Healing

Some team members may come to you from a previous job that had a really toxic work environment-and you have the privilege to help them heal.

Don't worry: It's not as hard as it sounds. Healing is as simple as creating a healthy work environment that has work-life balance built in. It's also about giving people the tools they need to succeed so they feel like a valued member of the team.

4. Self-awareness

I've already mentioned the importance of understanding your team's strengths and weaknesses. But it's just as important to do a little self-reflection of your own.

Take inventory of your own strengths and weaknesses, and figure out how you fit into the overall team. Then use yourself in ways that benefit the team and the company. Recognizing your own limitations can help you see opportunities to leverage your team's strengths more clearly.

5. Persuasion

Slick sales tactics may come to mind when you think of persuasion. But that's not what we're talking about here.

Servant leaders use persuasion to build consensus and get buy-in from their team. That way everyone feels like they have a stake in the team's success.

6. Conceptualization

You've got to know where you're going as a leader and a company. After all, how else will you carve a positive path for your team?

TeamGantt enables you to keep the big picture in mind without losing focus on the day-to-day. For example, the Project Health Report makes it easy to see how all your projects are tracking, while Workloads enables you to keep a finger on the pulse of your team.

7. Foresight

Another key characteristic of servant leadership is taking the knowledge you've learned in the past and applying it to the future so you and your team can continue to grow.

Project post-mortems or retrospectives are a great tool for figuring out what worked-and what didn't-so you can fine-tune your process with each project. You can also use TeamGantt's baselines feature to compare your original plan to your actual timeline and pinpoint opportunities to improve.

See how baselines work in TeamGantt.
8. Stewardship

Stewardship is simply leading by example. It's your job to set the tone for your team, so don't ask people to do things you wouldn't do yourself.

At TeamGantt, I lead the development team. One way I put this into practice is by being the first person to sign up for 2:00 a.m. deployments. If something goes wrong, I'll take the heat. This goes a long way toward building trust-a must for any well-functioning team.

9. Commitment to the growth of people

If you want your team to grow, you've got to invest in people. One simple way we do this is by providing an annual conference budget so team members can develop the skills they need to thrive in their role.

We also conduct 360 performance reviews each year. As a leader, you can only see so much. A 360-degree review brings peer and even direct report feedback into the process so you have a more complete picture of performance and can identify meaningful opportunities for growth.
Watch this video to learn how we build unity and morale on our remote team.

10. Building community

Teams who trust each other work together to get more done. That's why it's important to cultivate relationships among your team.

As a fully remote team, we have to be extra-intentional about this. We bring the whole team together once a year for our annual team meetup, while smaller teams get together more often. We make sure to build in time for fun between business strategy so trust has room to grow. It's worth the investment!

Apply the servant leadership style to project management

Servant leaders know there's always more to learn-and we can help you out with that. The Art and Science of Project Leadership is an online video course that can help you embrace the servant leadership style as you grow your project management skills. Watch the classes anytime, from anywhere-and it's totally free!

I recommend starting with An Introduction to Project Leadership-not just because it's the first in the series-but because it lays the foundation for what it means to be a great project leader.

Lead the way!
Remember: You don't have to have a manager title or a team of direct reports to be a servant leader. If you lead projects in any way, you have the power of positive influence and can set your team and organization up for success.

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The 10 Principles of Servant Leadership | TeamGantt

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"If your actions inspire people to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, you are a leader." - John Quincy Adams When Nathan and I started TeamGantt, we decided to buck tradition and take a different approach.

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5 Characteristics of Authentic Leadership

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5 Characteristics of Authentic Leadership

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Authentic leaders are seen as genuine, or "real." Authentic leadership is still forming as a theory, but more research has been done the past few decades due to people's insecurity in leadership and their desire to have leaders who are honest and "good" (Northouse, 2016). My current supervisor, Beth, whom I just started under a month ago, is a great example of an authentic leader according to Bill George's practical approach to authentic leadership.

George's model focuses on the different qualities an authentic leader has (or can develop). If a leader demonstrates these qualities or characteristics, they will be a more authentic leader and their followers will respond positively and the organization will benefit. There are five dimensions described by George, and each are associated with an observable characteristic: purpose and passion, values and behavior, relationships and connectedness, self-discipline and consistency, and heart and compassion (Penn State, 2017). Beth displays all of these.

Authentic leaders have a sense of purpose, knowing what they are about and where they are headed (Northouse, 2017). Purpose manifests itself as passion. Passionate people are interested in what they are doing, are inspired and intrinsically motivated, and care about the work they are doing (Northouse, 2017). About a month ago, the work at the office was restructured. A new unit was created for a specific part of our job. I was placed in that unit under Beth who was selected to lead. Beth demonstrates passion for this new job, as she shows she cares about figuring out the best way to accomplish the work, and spends a lot of time running reports and brainstorming ways to help the new unit succeed.

Secondly, authentic leaders have values, know what they are, and don't compromise on those values (Northouse, 2017). This quality manifests itself through the leader's behavior, authentic leaders acting in accordance with their values. Beth clearly values that work is does according to policy and in the best interest of our clients. She does not let people take shortcuts if they are against policy, and will not compromise the rules. I see her as a better leader because of this, compared to other supervisors I have dealt with that do not follow policy at all times.

Thirdly, authentic leaders build relationships with others and have connectedness with their followers. They are willing to share their experiences and listen to others' experiences, and are communicative with their followers (Northouse, 2017). Beth does this often, she talks to us about her work and personal life sometimes, and listens when we talk about our lives as well. She is open about what changes are occurring, the thought process behind them, and demonstrates respect of all of us. Because she connects with us, we respect her in return, understand what is going on, and are more committed to her goals and ideas.

The fourth dimension of authentic leadership is self-discipline, which gives leaders focus and determination: ability to focus on a goal, and move forward towards that goal even in the face of setbacks (Northouse, 2017). This is consistency. Self-disciplined leaders remain cool, calm, and consistent during stressful situations (Northouse, 2017). Beth has demonstrated this a lot in the past month. Implementing our new process has come with a lot of confusion, stress, and situations coming to light that need adjustments. Beth has consistently kept her cool and kept all of us on track. She stays focused, adjusts what needs changed, keeps us in the loop, and moves forward.

Finally, authentic leaders have heart, which shows in their compassion. They are sensitive to others' needs and are willing to help them (Northouse, 2017). Beth has done this by noticing when we are stressed about the process (it has caused our workloads to increase dramatically and deadlines to shorten immensely). She checks in with us as a group and individually to see how we are dealing with everything, and what she can do to relieve the stress. She seems like she is genuinely concerned about her followers' well-being and wants to alleviate as much as she can.

Overall, all of these qualities of Beth are what make her an authentic leader. Her passion, behaviors, ability to connect, consistency, and compassion are all inspiring. It is clear through these actions that she cares about her job, the work, how to accomplish it, and how to keep her followers happy, productive, and focused. We know that no matter how stressful or complicated this new process is, Beth has our back, wants to find the best approach to get the work done, and will help us genuinely. I wish more leaders would display this level of authenticity.

References:

Northouse, Peter G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and Practice (7 th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc.

Pennsylvania State University. (2017). Lesson 12: Authentic Leadership. In PSYCH485: Leadership in Work Settings: Spring 2017. Retrieved from: http://psu.instructure.com.

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Five Characteristics of Authentic Leadership

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Authentic leaders are seen as genuine, or "real." Authentic leadership is still forming as a theory, but more research has been done the past few decades due to people's insecurity in leadership and their desire to have leaders who are honest and "good" (Northouse, 2016).

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Executive Search | Executive Recruiters * Y Scouts

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A recently coined but widely accepted term, "Authentic Leadership" is a modern and more inclusive approach to leadership.

Authentic Leadership works on the principle that a leader can prove their legitimacy by nurturing sincere relationships with their subordinates and giving importance to their input.

An authentic leader encourages their subordinates to be more open; they appreciate their support in the success of the organization. Their leadership style promotes both individual and team performance.

Do you think you have the qualities to be an authentic leader? Read on and find out.

1. Self-awareness

An authentic leader reflects upon all of their actions and decisions and examines their own strengths and weaknesses without any bias. They put in a lot of effort to overcome their fears and uses their strengths to the maximum.

2. Lead with heart

An authentic leader is all heart. They are not afraid to dig deep, and they lead their team with courage and empathy that only comes from listening to the heart.

3. Focus on long-term results

Authentic leaders don't waste precious time unnecessarily worrying over temporary setbacks, or less than stellar results in the previous quarter. Their focus is always long-term. They know that patience and hard work do take time but yield rich results in the long run.

4. Integrity

Strength of character is essential for an authentic leader. They don't say things which they don't mean, and they earn respect because of this quality. People trust them because they keep their word, no matter what it takes.

5. Lead with vision

Authentic leaders lead with purpose and vision. They always add value to people they interact with and help them realize higher professional goals which lead to better personal lives as well. They push themselves and others around them to raise the bar and aim for excellence.

6. Listening skills

An authentic leader is always a good listener, even when someone else contradicts their views. In fact, they are even willing to consider those ideas with an open mind and change their opinion if the arguments make sense.

7. Transparency

Authentic leaders believe in open communication and combine their directness with empathy, which more often than not brings success. The image they project in public is not drastically different from how they really are in private. They don't hide their mistakes and weaknesses and have the courage to actually be who they really are.

8. Consistency

Consistency is another hallmark of authentic leaders. They aren't fickle and they stick to their principles. Their behavior is consistent, and they are not easily swayed by superficialities.

9. Share success with the team

This is something that sets an authentic leader apart from other leaders. They not only build a good team but also give credit where it is due and shares success and achievements with the entire team.

10. Drawing on experience

There is no better teacher than life, and these leaders draw from lessons learned from their life experiences. Their stellar leadership skills slowly evolved from real-world experiences and life stories.
Y Scouts is an executive search firm that helps nonprofits and social enterprises find exceptional leaders. We believe the right leaders make all the difference. We have pioneered a revolutionary approach to identify exceptional leaders and match them to the positions you need. We're passionate about the power of the right connections. Contact us if you are looking to find an exceptional leader. Or, to be considered for exceptional leadership opportunities with our clients, please take the first step by joining the Y Scouts Leadership Community.

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10 Authentic Leadership Characteristics, Attributes and Traits

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John C. Maxwell