Scan Magazine | Business | Column / Calendar
Authentic on five million pounds a year? By Steve Flinders
The Institute of Leadership and Management (ILM) has made authenticity one of its Five Dimensions of Leadership (their capitals), and I am trying to understand what this means. If someone offered me an authentic Rembrandt, I would understand what we were talking about. If I hear ‘he’s very authentic’, I imagine an actor playing a role convincingly. Presumably the ILM wants it to mean something else. “Authentic leaders are self-aware” is the title of the article on the subject in the latest issue of their magazine. This is one component of authenticity, and I won’t dispute that this is a critical characteristic of good leadership (although, saying what this means would take up another article). The ILM’s survey of leaders reveals that they “had wide-ranging views on what it means
to be authentic”, which rather confirms my view that nobody knows, “but many of them talked about the importance of being able to bring your whole self to work”. Does this mean that I should be bringing my pub persona and others to the office? What about people – like trainers – who can be very different at work and at home? What about the cultural tendency in some countries, such as Germany, to cultivate a professional identity that masks the private? Do we damn the Germans as inauthentic because of this? We are also told that “authentic leaders ... are true to their values ... and act ... ethically”. But flicking through the magazine, I do not notice any debate about the astronomical pay cheques being picked up by FTSE CEOs. Does that make them inauthentic? I wonder how, by this definition, any leader can be authentic in an organisation ruthlessly dedicated to shareholder value maximisation.
‘Authenticity’ has been hijacked by people who prefer jargon to clear thinking. The obfuscation does not hide the devils in the detail.
Steve Flinders is a freelance trainer, writer and coach, based in Malta, who helps people develop their communication and leadership skills for working internationally: steveflind@aol.com.
Business Calendar
By Heidi Kokborg | Photo: DUCC
Scandinavian business events you do not want to miss this month Manchester Swedish language meet-up Whether you are looking for someone with the same level of Swedish ability as you, someone who speaks English, someone to practise your Swedish with or someone with advice on travelling to Sweden, this meet-up is for you. Every meet-up has a mix of new and familiar faces – from absolute beginners to native speakers, as well as people who are simply interested in Swedish culture and meeting new people. Date: 20 July, 7pm Venue: Premier Inn Piccadilly, 72 Dale Street. M1 2HR, Manchester www.coscan.org.uk
Academics World 220th International Conference on Management and Information Technology (ICMIT) This event aims to bring together leading academic scientists, researchers and research scholars to exchange and share experiences 80 | Issue 102 | July 2017
and research results about management and information technology. It is also a forum to discuss and present the most recent innovations, trends, concerns, practical challenges and solutions in the fields of management and information technology. Date: 3-4 August Venue: Oslo, Norway www.academicsworld.org
World Water Week in Stockholm World Water Week in Stockholm is the annual focal point for the globe’s water issues. This year, it will address the theme ‘water and waste – reduce and reuse’. Everyone from experts and business innovators to decision-makers and young professionals from different countries and businesses will come to World Water Week to network, exchange ideas, get inspired and develop solutions to the water challenges we face in today’s world.
Date: 27 August-1 September Venue: City Conference Centre, Drottninggatan 71b, Stockholm, Sweden www.worldwaterweek.org