Authentic Leadership: The Key to Career and Team Success

Real data shows that authentic leadership directly impacts success at work. When leaders are genuine and transparent, their team members are 1.4 times more likely to perform better and three times more likely to stay with the company, according to a McKinsey study¹.

Teams with authentic leaders also show more helpful and conscientious behaviour, which helps everyone work better together².

Being authentic also helps leaders advance their careers. When leaders are genuine, they build trust and make everyone feel included. This creates a workplace where new ideas flourish and team members feel confident to do their best work. For professionals who want to grow their careers and strengthen their teams, authentic leadership is a smart investment that gets real results.

What is Authentic Leadership and Why Does It Matter?

Being an authentic leader means staying true to your values, being honest, and building open relationships with your team. Bill George introduced this idea in his 2003 book Authentic Leadership, showing how it relies on five key elements: having clear goals and drive, matching words with actions, building connections, staying consistent, and showing care for others³. These elements help leaders earn trust and build strong teams.

Authentic leadership shapes more than just how people work together—it helps entire organisations succeed. Research shows it creates workplaces where everyone feels welcome, which is key for building diverse and fair teams. When people feel included, they’re more likely to take initiative and help others, making the whole organization stronger⁴. This leadership style also gets people more involved in their work, creating an environment where everyone feels valued and wants to do their best work.

The Measurable Impacts of Authentic Leadership on Team Performance

When leaders are authentic, teams perform better. The proof is in the numbers: teams show better productivity, are happier at work, and stay with the company longer. A study looking at 214 employees found that when leaders are genuine and transparent, people feel more connected to their work and come up with more creative solutions⁵. This helps teams succeed and creates a workplace where people want to give their best effort.

Real examples show how this works in practice. Take Whole Foods Market, where former CEO John Mackey’s honest and ethical approach helped keep employees around longer and got more work done. At Netflix, CEO Reed Hastings built a workplace that gives people freedom to make decisions, helping them work better together and try new things. This led to better content and more loyal customers, showing how being an authentic leader helps organizations succeed⁶.

When leaders focus on being genuine, they create workplaces where teams do their best work, leading to better results for everyone involved.

Authentic Leadership as a Career Accelerator

When you lead authentically, you do more than improve team results—you open new doors for your own career growth. By building genuine commitment and making space for new ideas, authentic leaders create workplaces where everyone can succeed. Research shows that when leaders are authentic, team members come up with more creative solutions, which leads to better work and more chances to advance⁵.

Being authentic also helps you build trust and real connections with others, which makes a big difference in long-term career success. When leaders are open and genuine, people want to work with them and support their ideas. This creates strong professional networks that help careers grow. This way of leading doesn’t just make teams work better—it helps leaders become trusted voices that others look to for guidance³.

Quantifying the ROI of Authentic Leadership

When leaders are authentic, their organizations see clear, measurable benefits. Teams with authentic leaders have better retention rates, spend less money replacing employees who leave, and see more helpful behaviors from team members, like being courteous and taking initiative. These improvements help teams work better together and build lasting success.

While it takes time to see results, the benefits are clear. Take the example of a midsize accounting firm that put $100,000 into helping its leaders improve. They tracked success by measuring practical things like fewer sick days taken and how happy people were at work. This shows how investing in authentic leadership helps both employees and the company do better, making it worth the effort for anyone looking to grow their career or build a stronger company⁷.

Taking the First Steps Toward Authentic Leadership

The path to becoming an authentic leader begins with knowing yourself and making sure your actions match your values. Take time to think about what matters to you and what drives your decisions. This helps you develop a clear leadership style and shows others they can trust you to do what you say¹.

Ask for honest feedback from your team. Good leaders listen carefully to their teams and make it easy for people to share their thoughts openly. When people tell you what’s working and what isn’t, you can spot areas for improvement and adjust your approach to better connect with your team.

Make sure your everyday actions reflect what you believe in. This means being open about how you make decisions and showing you care when things get tough. When your words and actions line up, people trust you more and you get better results. Building authentic leadership takes time, but starting with these basic steps will help you make real progress.

Sources:

1 https://www.forbes.com/sites/brentgleeson/2024/12/09/leadership-for-impact-driving-success-through-purpose-and-engagement/

2 https://ivyexec.com/career-advice/2023/the-role-of-authentic-leadership-in-building-trust-and-inspiring-high-performing-teams/

3 https://ivyexec.com/career-advice/2023/the-role-of-authentic-leadership-in-building-trust-and-inspiring-high-performing-teams/

4 https://www.cio.com/article/403234/authentic-leadership-building-an-organization-that-thrives.html

5 https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8139621/

6 https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/power-authentic-leadership-three-inspiring-case-studies-stamper

7 https://www.thomsonreuters.com/en-us/posts/corporates/organizational-resilience-roi-payoff/