Ever worked with an inauthentic leader? The physical reaction will tell you all you need to know about why discovering who you truly are and showing up as you could unlock so much potential in your organisation. 

Authentic leadership is extremely sought after, both as a quality in leaders and the opportunity for this to be realised in practice by leaders. A recent NFER study highlighted how teacher autonomy over their professional development lead to greater job satisfaction. All too often the potential for autonomous leadership is dangled in front of prospective takers only to be a pipe dream with a reality that is highly scrutinised, highly pressured performance goals and agendas. But with increasing demands for transparency, trust, and integrity in leadership, being authentic isn’t just an advantage - it’s a necessity. So what does it mean to truly lead authentically, and how can leaders cultivate this quality in a way that is genuine and sustainable?

Authentic leadership isn’t about adopting a fixed persona, unloading all your personal challenges, or being everything to everyone. It’s about leading in alignment with who you really are - your values, beliefs, strengths, and even vulnerabilities. Achieving this level of authenticity requires deep self-awareness, emotional intelligence, and a willingness to develop. In this blog, we’ll explore how leaders can develop authentic leadership using principles from human development and developmental coaching to become more effective, grounded, and inspiring leaders to embrace autonomy in their workforce too.

1. Start with Self-Awareness

At the core of authentic leadership is self-awareness. To lead authentically, you must first understand who you are- what are your values, motivations, strengths, and weaknesses; where have they developed from and how have they been shaped over time? This involves taking a deep, honest look at yourself to acknowledge both the qualities that drive your success, the areas where you need to grow and the potential limitations placed on you that you may not need to carry any further.

Developmental coaching plays a critical role in fostering this kind of self-awareness. Through reflective practices and guided conversations, coaching helps leaders identify unconscious patterns and biases that may be influencing their leadership style. By understanding your true self, you can lead from a place of authenticity rather than conforming to external expectations or pressures or making assumptions about how others would want you to lead (the same external factors that have created habits and limiting patterns of belief).

Key takeaway: By becoming more self-aware yourself, you develop a solid baseline and direction from which to move forward. 

2. Align Leadership with Personal Values

Leading authentically means aligning your actions with your core values. Leaders who know what their values are (these can change over time), can clearly communicate their values to others and who make decisions that reflect them are more likely to inspire trust and buy-in within their teams. It is important to note here that decision making and leadership according to your own values does not guarantee your team will be on board. There are many instances (and many of us will have experienced this) where a values clash can occur between team members so it is equally important to understand the values of your team too. Where this is the case it is for the leader to carefully navigate any conflict through utilising qualities such as empathy, perspective taking and communication to explore how value alignment within the team can be achieved - this is where developmental coaching comes into its own!

Building your awareness of your own values as a leader also enables you to build appreciation and understanding for the values of others and how their values may influence their behaviours and decisions. The benefits of this are ten-fold, not only are you better able to understand how you work with individuals effectively (based on your own values) but also how those individuals work best with you, their roles, each other and within the organisation (based on their own values). This values alignment is the foundation in enabling the organisation to thrive!

Staying aligned with your values isn’t always easy, especially in challenging or high-pressure situations. Developmental coaching can help leaders and their teams clarify their values and understand how to make decisions that are consistent with the emerging principles the team set out. By working through difficult situations with a coach a team can create a shared set of principles that all align with despite the variation in values, seeing the diversity as a strength. This way leaders can explore how to remain true to their values and the team’s principles even when the path isn’t clear or when facing resistance. That it is co-created allows it to be one step removed and therefore more objective about holding each other accountable -de-personalising the challenge.

Key takeaway: Identify your core values and use them as a compass for your leadership. Authenticity comes from consistency—ensure your decisions and actions reflect what you truly believe in.

3. Embrace Vulnerability and Imperfection

A common theme emerging from our previous blogs is that of being vulnerable in leadership and creating a climate of psychological safety and trust. It wouldn’t be right to talk about authenticity without vulnerability. Authenticity requires a willingness to show vulnerability. Too often, leaders feel pressure to project an image of invulnerability and perfection, in many ways this can come across as authoritarian; adopting an outdated ‘parent’ like persona, where the parent is always right. This has been my own experience from the first days of stepping in front of my first class, I was told by another teacher to “never let them know that you don’t know the answer”. This couldn’t have been more wrong and I am sure (and hope) that the general approach to this has changed since; as some of the richest teaching moments I gave my students were from not knowing the answer and entering into deep exploratory discussions and research tasks (side note - it also sets a dangerous precedent for spreading inaccurate information and is an unhealthy model for future generations) . True authenticity comes from acknowledging that you don’t have all the answers and that you, like everyone else, are a work in progress. What matters here is the approach to not knowing and having the skill, competence and confidence to navigate the process with others.

In a developmental coaching framework, vulnerability is not seen as a weakness but as a gateway to deeper connection and trust. When leaders are open about their struggles, they create space for their teams to be vulnerable as well, fostering a culture of honesty and psychological safety. Furthermore, it gives the space needed for others, this could be merely in a supportive capacity or more specific in opening up the opportunity for collaboration or  joint decision making and solution finding. It is within this space that the greatest growth often comes; not only are we tuning into ourselves and listening by noticing and voicing our vulnerabilities, we give the opportunity for others to step up, listen and respond. When all of this  is modelled to others it eventually becomes part of the culture. It goes without saying that just because we are being vulnerable and others may be joining us in the solution finding process that their solutions are not necessarily the right solutions. Vulnerability and imperfection are grey areas. There is no black and white because people are complex; being a leader is complex but being open and letting ‘light’ in enables everyone to see things we might have missed, view things from a different perspective and engage in shared experiences.

Key takeaway: Don’t be afraid to show vulnerability. Authentic leaders are those who are honest about their challenges, and this honesty builds deeper, more trusting relationships with others.

4. Cultivate Emotional Intelligence

All of the above requires a high level of emotional intelligence (EQ). It encompasses everything from self-awareness, self-regulation, empathy, and social skills; and it goes both ways. Leaders need to be able to communicate their own emotions to others in a clear, specific, open yet professional manner. Equally, they need to be perceptive to those that they lead and the different ways they may communicate their own emotions, whether this be directly through a conversation (remember all the subtle nuances of body language, eye contact, tone of voice that give you additional information here) or their behaviour. Getting to know staff and having the space to be open goes a long way here. It's a horrible feeling leaving a meeting with a leader where you feel:

1. They’re not telling you the whole story or are keeping something back

2. They haven’t actually listened to what you said

3. That you’re not able to be completely honest with that leader because it won’t lead to a collaborative solution/ satisfying outcome

4. That everything was very transactional but you still have a lot of feelings about the situation that haven't been aired

Leaders with strong emotional intelligence can connect with others on a deeper level, understand their team’s needs, and respond to situations with empathy and understanding. EQ helps leaders build strong relationships and maintain authenticity, even in complex, emotionally charged situations.

Emotional intelligence can be cultivated through developmental coaching, which helps leaders become more aware of their emotional responses and develop strategies for managing them effectively. 

Key takeaway: Build emotional intelligence by practicing empathy, self-regulation, and active listening. This helps you stay authentic in your interactions.

5. Lead with a Growth Mindset

As is probably fairly obvious by now, authenticity isn’t about being static or fixed in your identity. Leaders with a growth mindset believe that their abilities and qualities can evolve through learning and effort as well as an understanding that values can change over time. Such leaders are open to feedback, willing to learn from mistakes, and continually strive to improve.

Developmental coaching helps leaders cultivate this mindset by encouraging a focus on learning and development rather than perfection. Instead of fearing failure or resisting change, authentic leaders see challenges as opportunities for growth or are able to view change more dynamically to work with it in a way that fits with their role. This openness to learning enables leaders to be more flexible, resilient and, ultimately, more authentic in their leadership journey.

Key takeaway: Embrace a growth mindset, viewing challenges as opportunities for learning rather than threats to your authenticity. Authentic leaders are not afraid to admit that they are constantly evolving.

6. Act with Integrity

Potentially the most important of all, integrity is a non-negotiable aspect of authentic leadership. Leaders with integrity do what they say they will do, follow-through with their commitments, and act in accordance with their ethical standards. This consistency builds trust (an essential quality), both within the team and across the broader organisation. When staff do not think their leader has integrity, they are unlikely to buy-in to the vision and decisions of that leader because they ultimately don’t have trust for the leader or feel safe to be vulnerable. 

Developmental coaching can help leaders stay connected to their sense of integrity by encouraging reflection on how their actions align with their ethical standards and values. When leaders are faced with tough decisions or competing priorities, coaching can provide the space to explore how they can stay true to their values and lead with integrity, even when the stakes are high.

Key takeaway: Always act with integrity. Authentic leaders are consistent in their actions, ensuring that their behaviour aligns with their ethical values and commitments.

7. Stay True to Your Leadership Vision

Every authentic leader has a unique vision of what leadership means to them and all educators have a vision of what they believe education should be. Staying true to this vision requires clarity, focus, and a commitment to leading in a way that feels authentic to your values and principles. This vision is not set in stone- it evolves as you grow and adapt to new challenges.

Developmental coaching helps leaders craft and refine their leadership vision, ensuring it is both aspirational and aligned with their authentic selves. A coach can support leaders in navigating the tension between external expectations and personal values, helping them stay connected to their leadership vision even when pressures arise.

Key takeaway: Develop a clear leadership vision that reflects your authentic self, and stay true to it as you grow and adapt. Your vision will serve as a guiding force in maintaining authenticity throughout your leadership journey.

Conclusion

Leading authentically is a continuous, evolving process. It requires self-awareness, emotional intelligence, vulnerability, and a strong commitment to personal growth and integrity. By integrating human development principles and developmental coaching, leaders can foster deeper connections with themselves and others, leading from a place of true authenticity.

Authentic leadership is not about perfection—it’s about embracing your humanity, aligning with your values, and leading with purpose. As you grow and develop, so too will your capacity to lead authentically, inspiring others and creating a lasting, positive impact on your team and organisation.

If you are interested in exploring cutting edge coaching or team opportunities further for either yourself or your team and the benefits it can offer more widely for your organisation, we would be delighted to discuss options further. Please book a discovery call or contact us at info@glasshouselab.com.

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Resources:

NFER study: https://tdtrust.org/autonomy20/