Chapter 11
Pillar I: Developing Authenticity
The supreme quality of leadership is unquestionably integrity.
—DWIGHT D. EISENHOWER
Authenticity
- Lead authentically to inspire and motivate others:
- Commands esteem and confidence, inspires fair and moral behavior, and acts as a role model.
Now that we've identified four competencies—(1) authenticity, (2) coaching, (3) insight, and (4) innovation—that are believed to be important for successful leadership, where do we go from here? In this chapter, I hope to guide you along a pathway to continue improving your capabilities as a leader. The focus of this and the next three chapters will be on the four pillars identified in the previous chapter.
Simply reading leadership books like this one can only go so far in developing you as a leader. They can help shed light on areas you may not have considered before, reinforce ideas that you may have had, and provide you with a road map for change. However, it is crucial to remember that there is no “one size fits all” approach to developing leadership. People become great leaders through a variety of means. Some people take to it more naturally—the right skills come to them more easily through the rough and tumble of everyday life. It can be a trial-and-error experience.
Others have had a mentor, a wise leader in their life that skillfully guided them along. Some leaders, more and more these days, use a personal coach. This is someone who can walk them through the trials and tribulations of their day-to-day challenges. A good coach starts off with an assessment (like the EQ-i 2.0 or EQ 360) to quickly get a picture of the individual's strengths and weaknesses. As well, this provides the leader with some additional self-awareness, which is a significant first step toward change. Then, over time, the coach and leader together develop strategies that set the leader on course for improvement.
Leadership development courses are another route to change, and we have developed some that are being used by organizations for both high-potential, emerging, or future leaders, as well as current, or newly minted, leaders. These courses are often individualized to the organization's needs, but use the basic tenets of emotional intelligence as described in this book. Some of these courses use hands-on experiential exercises or simulations to emulate real-life leadership challenges that have been faced by organizations.
Becoming a More Authentic Leader
In the previous chapter, I presented our definition of authentic leadership:
An authentic leader serves as a role model for moral and fair behavior. A transparent approach commands esteem and confidence from employees.
The emotional skills that load on this competency are:
Self-Actualization
Emotional Self-Awareness
Reality Testing
Social Responsibility
Independence
Self-Regard
Authentic leaders have been described by different leadership experts in a variety of ways. While the original concept dates back to ancient Greek times and the philosophy of “know thyself,” the more modern perspective is attributed to Bill George, the former CEO of Medtronic, and his book Authentic Leadership.1
Summarizing the many characteristics of authentic leaders that have been proposed by a variety of leadership theorists, Kevin Kruse, in Forbes magazine, broke it down into four attributes2:
- Authentic leaders are self-aware and genuine.
- They are described as self-actualized individuals with an awareness of their strengths, their limitations, and their emotions.
- They show their real selves to their followers.
- They act the same in private and in public.
- They don't hide their mistakes or weaknesses out of fear of looking weak.
- They know that being self-actualized is an endless journey, which is never complete.
- Authentic leaders are mission driven and focused on results.
- They can put the mission and the goals of the organization ahead of their own self-interest.
- They do their job in pursuit of results, not for their own power, money, or ego.
- Authentic leaders lead with their heart, not just their minds.
- They have no fear of showing their emotions, or their vulnerability.
- They connect with their employees.
- Showing emotions does not make them “soft.”
- Communicating in a direct manner is important for successful outcomes.
- They use empathy with others.
- Authentic leaders focus on the long term.
- Bill George, for example, focused on long-term shareholder value, not on just beating quarterly estimates.
- Leaders realize that to nurture individuals and to nurture a company requires hard work and patience, but the approach pays large dividends over time.
In addition, authentic leaders: (1) act as role models, (2) inspire fair and moral behavior, and (3) command esteem and confidence.
One of the best comments about authentic leaders is from Mark Bonchek in the Harvard Business Review where he writes, “being authentic is a bit like being cool—sometimes the harder you try, the less you are.”3
Becoming More Authentic
How does one become more authentic as a leader? Let's look at some of the key emotional intelligence factors and how you can further develop them to improve your ability to demonstrate authenticity.
Self-Actualization
Self-actualization is a significant factor that loads on all four of our pillars of successful leadership. Self-actualization is strongly related to overall work success and performance. It can be summed up in three words: pursuit of meaning. While this may sound philosophical, as a leader it means finding purpose and enjoyment in your role and performing to your fullest potential. When you have a higher sense of accomplishment and resolve, then you are motivated, both as an individual and as an influencer, for your team or organization to strive for greatness.
Leadership Implications
A self-actualized leader is perceived as a role model and as someone who is striving to learn, develop new skills, and willing to grow to fully optimize their talents. Strong self-actualized leaders permeate the entire organization as employees may emulate their approach. This drive for self-fulfillment stimulates higher productivity and greater employee satisfaction.
One Step at a Time
To develop your self-actualizing skills, you should have an action plan. You should have specific goals that are personal, professional, leadership oriented, and organizational. Transcribing your objectives is a great strategy to solidify your action plan as you work toward greater self-actualization. By writing your action plan on paper or sharing it with a colleague, you solidify your goals. Choose one small strategy for making your life more enriching and share this with a colleague or place it in your calendar. Alternatively, consider whether there is there a way you can get your whole team involved in adding more meaning to the workday. Research clearly demonstrates that the likelihood of successful goal attainment increases by the mere fact of simply writing down your goals.
Capitalize on Strengths
You are already aware of your passions, though at times you may not realize it. List tasks in which you excel (e.g., chairing meetings, producing comprehensive financial reports, sales, presentations), and try to incorporate these activities throughout the workday. If you feel unsure of your areas of strength, pinpoint pursuits in which you receive many compliments, or ask your colleagues for feedback. These activities will reinvigorate your zeal for work and improve your productivity.
Authentic people are seen as competent and demonstrate expertise in their chosen field. So, it's important to keep up your expertise and stay current in your chosen field. If you are a professional, it doesn't mean you have to be as hands on as someone practicing in your profession (lawyer, engineer, scientist, etc.). But it's helpful to scan and keep up to date with the latest developments in the field. You will likely rely on experts in these areas, but it's good to know what questions you should be asking them.
Be Real/Transparent
As a leader, you are under constant scrutiny. People all around—employees, customers, shareholders, partners, frenemies, competitors, even your own family members—are watching you. Not that you should be paranoid, but that's the reality. Some people look up to you; they're on your side. Others watch you, looking for slip-ups or failures, especially in this digital age when slip-ups are more visible than ever before. Whether it's Twitter, YouTube, or Instagram, there are endless channels on social media with the potential to expose you to millions of people (if you do something really egregious). These are mostly people you never had any desire to know or for them to know you. Reputations that have taken decades to build, today, can be destroyed in nanoseconds.
Transparency, for a leader, has always been important. But in today's world the rules have changed dramatically. What was passable language, or behavior, in the days of the TV series Mad Men no longer flies today. What's acceptable, or “politically correct” in today's world fits within a new, narrower band of rules. You can cross these rules if you choose, but beware—there can be consequences.
For example, University of Toronto professor Jordan Peterson decided he would choose the pronouns he wanted to use when addressing transgendered students in his class, rather than have them be dictated to him.4 While framing the conflict as a freedom of speech issue, Peterson made a number of salient and rational points. However, his YouTube video on the subject, with more than 165,000 views to date, has become quite controversial. The topic, not central to his previous areas of research, has now consumed much of his life. In fact, for tens of thousands of people he has now been defined by this conflict. This example should illustrate the point that standards for behavior are consistently changing and leaders should be aware that, in presenting your views on social media, you can quickly lose control over the dialogue. This, in turn, may turn your original argument into something that is more harmful to you and others than you ever intended.
While there are few saints among us walking around today, as a leader, if you want to be successful, you will need to carefully choose your public battles, if at all. While we all want the world to be a better place, you will need to decide whether there is a cause for which you are willing to put aside much of what you have already built as a leader. It is rare that you will support a cause that is universally accepted and, although your support may benefit your organization and you as a leader, you must be willing to defend your actions. Especially if your stance is political, getting involved in causes can have unpredictable consequences.
The more you can be yourself, that is, live in your own skin, 24/7, the less you need to worry about transparency. Not that you behave the same when you are directing your employees at work as when you are with your family at home, but you should be your natural self in both cases. We don't put on a Superman or Superwoman suit before we head off to work and leave Clark Kent or Kristen Wells behind. Also, putting on an act for long periods of time does not work well. People see through it, and if they feel you are fake with them, well, they tend to be fake with you. As a leader, you need to be honest and transparent in your behavior with others.
Emotional Self-Awareness
If you have a solid understanding of what brings about your emotions, it is much easier for you to regulate your behavior and control the impact your emotions have on employees in your organization. Authentic leaders are more conscious of their emotions and the impact they have on performance than most people. Emotional self-awareness will enable you to lead with composure and a full understanding of your impact on others. As well, it will be more likely that you will choose a course of action based on your gut feeling in time-constrained situations.
You will more easily generate respect, admiration, and honesty from employees when you are viewed as highly self-aware. One step in getting there is to take time to contemplate your behaviors instead of acting rashly, thereby considering your own emotional response as well as those of others.
Leadership Implications
As a leader, you need to develop a thorough grasp of your emotional triggers and reactions. This in-depth understanding will help you develop a more streamlined decision-making process as you incorporate your emotions into your role as a leader. Knowing your emotional triggers and reactions will enable you to use this emotional knowledge to effectively navigate through challenging or difficult situations.
Organizational Implications
Your capacity to grasp subtle emotional nuances will help you take calculated risks that support the organization in meeting its strategic goals. Once you are comfortable with, and know your emotional triggers and reactions, you will be better able to lead with authenticity, and with an open approach, helping you gain credibility and buy-in from employees. You will be able to manage tense and perhaps overwhelming situations with ease, and you will be able to use and recognize your full spectrum of emotions.
Be a Role Model
Once you are better able to manage your emotions, you can be innovative, successfully take risks, and gain the trust of your employees. The most prominent leaders have an aptitude for remaining composed in competitive situations and under mounting pressure and duress. Your ability to be aware of your emotions will serve as a model of composure and ensure that employees feel secure and content to overcome any potential challenge.
As you become better at emotional self-management, talk about it with employees. Welcome presentations or seminars at your workplace on the topic. You can hire an expert to teach employees about understanding emotions and the impact of their emotions on others.
Weigh the Evidence
As you become more skilled at understanding your emotions, you may tend to be overly reliant on your emotional barometer to make decisions. Be mindful to incorporate objective evidence.
Intuition can only carry you so far. While a deal may feel right, data may not support the intended strategy. Be sure to seek counsel from colleagues, involve members of your team, and emphasize facts to support your proposed course of action.
Reality Testing
Your ability to be realistic can impact your perception of being authentic. Reality testing is a key contributor to how you make decisions as a leader, and whether your approach is seen as grounded, objective, and in touch with the work environment, or disconnected and biased.
It's important to be tuned in to your team and the organizational landscape. You may habitually deal with everyone in the same way, not always adjusting your approach to individual needs. You may set goals for yourself and others that are unrealistic. You can benefit from creating goals based on data and reasonable expectations.
Leadership Implications
As an authentic leader, it's important to convey an appropriate level of objectivity for your direct reports to see you as a fair, accurate, and in-touch leader. Your leadership style can be even-keeled, particularly if you have good impulse control. However, you should be aware that there may be times, particularly when under stress, when your emotions and personal biases can cloud your objectivity.
Organizational Implications
You may have great and inspiring aspirations for the organization, but matching possibilities with capabilities will create the buy-in you need. You need to set realistic goals and ensure that others, particularly those in other teams, can trust that your decisions are rooted in evidence. Leaders who can accurately size up external events and solve problems based on this assessment tend to be capable of greater achievements.
Fearing the Worst, or Sugarcoating Reality?
Under times of stress, some leaders rely less on reality testing skills and fall victim to fearing the worst-case scenario or sugarcoating reality. Which of these two extremes best describes you when you are not seeing things realistically?
If you worry about catastrophes, remember that sometimes the best actions involve risks. Don't be stymied by worst-case scenarios that may never occur. Is there evidence that there is real danger? Try running your catastrophe hypothesis by a third party to see whether it has any truth. If you tend to sugarcoat reality, try playing the role of devil's advocate, and find data to more accurately describe the current situation. Also, watch other's reactions to your positivity; if there is hesitation in their voice or body language, they likely see your positive outlook as unrealistic.
Opening the Books
Keeping up-to-date data at your fingertips will ensure you have objective information ready to fuel strong decisions and goal-setting processes. Provide yourself and your team with critical business unit or departmental data (e.g., profit and loss, sales, product development costs) to make intelligent decisions with your team. Information is a form of power and can combat the tendency to color reality with our own personal biases. Instill this power in your team. Validate theories and assumptions and avoid targets that have no basis in hard data.
Encourage your team to take the pulse of the organization by constantly listening and responding to what they hear so they can serve the needs of their people.
Be Socially Responsible
Socially responsible leaders are authentic leaders. Social responsibility calls for leaders to act in a moral and responsible manner, promote the greater good, and be a strong voice in their teams, organizations, and communities. A socially responsible leader takes most, if not all, opportunities to help the team and the organization. Their concern for others, whether at work or in the community, is demonstrated through the selfless contributions they make. They are receptive and engage in nonjudgmental listening. These leaders also keep their word and deliver what they promise.
To be a socially responsible leader you should consistently demonstrate your social conscience and coach those you lead. You can be a Good Samaritan who helps others without expecting anything in return. This type of leader gains fulfillment from a variety of sources, including activities outside of work.
Leadership Implications
Socially responsible leaders believe in coaching and serve as champions for their team and community. You will need to uphold the moral and ethical compass in your leadership approach and often place your team's goals ahead of your own agenda. You may also want to consider contributing to a charity, or involving your team in fundraising. Be mindful that being helpful to the point where you do all the work is not truly helping or coaching; allow your direct reports to spread their wings and grow on their own.
Organizational Implications
Get involved in a variety of social and leadership pursuits both inside and outside of the workplace (e.g., charity involvement, fundraising). You need to consistently promote employee engagement, morale, mentoring, and other development practices that help build talent in your team and others in the organization. One note of caution is to be wary that such involvement may involve taking on too many responsibilities, which may adversely impact the quality of your work or personal well-being.
Reflect and Focus
Being a successful leader is not a solo activity. Real success comes from helping your team members reach professional goals and individual improvement. Always supporting others, however, can take away the time you need to spend on yourself as a leader. Try to ensure that you are not avoiding your current emotional state, goals, and functioning by focusing too heavily on others. This can be made easier by active reflection.
For example, reflect on how you spent your time last week. What activities and tasks did you spend your time on?
Which of those tasks were for the betterment of yourself, your family, your work, those you lead, and others? If you are over involved in any area, adjust your schedule for the next month and refocus your efforts.
Inspiring Initiative
Inspiring others to be socially responsible can create an overall feeling of meaning while contributing toward the greater good. Leverage your passion for causes you care about by reaching out to your team and organization (e.g., setting up a community support group within the organization). Brainstorm several activities that you, your team, or the organization as a whole can engage in. Ensure these activities are in line with your organization's vision and are of benefit to the employees.
As a first step, identify a plan of action to build social responsibility within your organization; identify specific roles and a time frame in which to complete the plan of action.
Independence
Being independent means you are capable of feeling, thinking, and working on your own, a critical skill that all great leaders have in common. When this skill is well developed, you are willing and capable of holding your own ideas and making necessary decisions required for your team on your own. You are unlikely to be swayed by popular opinion, which can help you maintain an established direction for your team.
You should be comfortable providing direction and working on your own. You should be able to work without emotional dependency on others, and not require their reassurance. You should be accepting of responsibility for your decisions, knowing that at times people will disagree with you.
Leadership Implications
An independent leader does not depend on others to make important decisions. Being self-directed, you can analyze a situation, formulate a response, and move into implementation mode without second-guessing your decisions. This skill is crucial for a leader, especially when difficult decisions need to be made and direction is limited. At the same time, be careful not to neglect the emotions and opinions of your team, which could possibly leave them feeling alienated, and eventually disengaged.
Organizational Implications
You should be able to voice your thoughts and opinions, adding your own perspective to the discussion table and influencing the direction of your organization. Be an active participant in generating ideas rather than a passive receiver. Keep a close eye on how often you go off in your own direction rather than building coalitions. Teams that strive for the same values and goals build strong organizations.
Stay Connected
While being emotionally independent is important for leading a team, being completely autonomous can hurt the amount of buy-in you receive from them. Keep the lines of communication open with team members.
There is always a risk of being too independent. If you find that you are displaying any of these four qualities, then it may be time to scale back your independence:
| Ignorance: | Are people feeling like I am ignoring facts in an effort to pursue my own agenda? |
| Know it all: | Do I think I know everything, and thus my team's advice is not needed? |
| Detached: | Am I hurting collaborative relationships and engagement by not including others? |
| Closed door: | While I have an open-door policy, is my behavior distancing myself from my team? |
Listening to Feedback
To ensure that you do not hurt any key relationships throughout the organization, balance self-directed thought with the ability to seek advice and feedback. You do not have to be a fan of an idea to entertain the thought process of others and explore different perspectives. Doing so can help gain the support of others and perhaps even generate new possibilities.
Examine a few of your past decisions. What did your decision-making process look like? Who did you connect with to seek advice or a differing point of view? How well did you follow along the input that was given to you?
Next time when you are seeking advice from your team, note the different perspectives before presenting a counterthought. Then reflect on those notes and think through the feedback and the possible impact on your decision.
Summary
Authentic leaders know themselves. They are self-aware. They really know their strengths and limitations by being honest with themselves. They don't have to worry about how they will come across to others. Their persona is the same, whether in private or public. They don't have to worry about how they've presented themselves in one place or at one time, and whether they will come across congruently with the same people in a different time or place.
Authentic leaders are not ego driven, nor are they driven by power or money. They are more interested in learning, self-improvement, and helping others. Authentic leaders focus on results—setting both short-term and longer-term goals. They are not afraid of looking vulnerable and can own up to mistakes. These leaders can be comfortable showing emotions, when and where appropriate. They find it easy to connect with employees and are trusted by them.
Being present is an important part of being a leader. While there is no shortage of activities that can keep leaders busy today, it's as important as ever to get away from your computer screen and smartphone and interact with the people in your organization. Getting to know people, having casual conversations adds to your being seen as a regular person, someone employees can relate to. Communicate directly with everyone in your organization and behave genuinely regardless of formal job titles. As a role model who pursues excellence and continues to grow, it is important for you, as leader, to offer employees ample opportunities for training and development.
As an authentic leader, you will want to develop these distinct qualities:
- Self-Awareness: Continuing to self-reflect and better understand your strengths, challenges, and values
- Relational Transparency: Open sharing of your thoughts and emotions, balanced by an appropriate emotional expression
- Balanced Processing: Welcoming opposing points of view and being fair-minded about them
- Internalized Moral Perspective: Having a strong positive ethical foundation demonstrated in relationships and decisions that are resistant to outside pressures
Example of Authentic Leadership
Who Is Authentic?
One leader that has been described as authentic in his leadership style is Howard Schultz, the former CEO of Starbucks. Schultz was born to a family with a truck driver father and grew up in a blue-collar household. He escaped his surroundings through involvement in sports and the Boys & Girls Clubs of America.
In a number of media interviews, Schultz stresses what has been his “passion.” His passion, however, has not been coffee but, rather, about “building a company that treats people with dignity and respect.” He said coffee is what Starbucks makes as a product, “but that's not the business we're in.”5
Schultz, in an interview with Oprah, talked about his father who struggled with a series of blue-collar jobs, never able to find meaning or fulfillment in his work. He reported a breaking point when his father was injured on the job, with no health insurance or workers' compensation. Schultz recalled that the experience left a lifelong impression on him.
“It was not the calling of coffee, but the calling to try to build a company that my father never got a chance to work for,” said Schultz. “When we began Starbucks what I wanted to try to do was to create a set of values, guiding principles, and culture.” According to Schultz, Starbucks was the first company in America to offer comprehensive health insurance and ownership in the form of stock options to all of its employees, including part-time workers. Schultz demonstrates authenticity by not masking what his passion is, by demonstrating care for all employees, and by committing his business to the development of a better world through meaningful employment.
Among the awards Schultz has received are the FIRST Responsible Capitalism Award and the Rev. Theodore M. Hesburgh, C.S.C., Award for Ethics in Business at the Mendoza College of Business at the University of Notre Dame.
Being Real and the Culture of Reality TV
One of the more dramatic influences on our perception of being authentic or “real” today has been the influence of reality TV. While the readers of this book are not likely to be the main audience for this form of entertainment, many of the people you work with are. If you don't believe me, just check out the statistics.
The ratings among viewers 18 to 49 during a specific period in the summer of 2016, that looked at both broadcast and cable TV, showed that:6
- Nine of the top 10, and 16 of the top 25, broadcast shows were reality TV.
- Three of the top five shows were Big Brother episodes.
- ABC had seven unscripted shows in the top 25, Fox had three, NBC had two (not counting Olympics), and CBS had one (though Big Brother shows up three times).
- Sixteen of the top 25 shows on cable—not including wrestling—were unscripted.
- Nine of those 16 cable shows were documentary Shark Week specials on Discovery.
- The top three cable series were reality TV: Love & Hip Hop Atlanta, Keeping Up with the Kardashians, and Black Ink Crew.
A Canadian TV ratings poll for 2016 reported that the top three of the four most-watched TV shows in Canada were reality shows:7
- The Amazing Race Canada
- MasterChef Canada
- Murdoch Mysteries
- Big Brother Canada
Wearing another of my hats, I'm the psychology consultant, and help screen candidates for many reality TV shows. In addition to the three above (The Amazing Race Canada, MasterChef Canada, and Big Brother Canada), I also have worked on Real Housewives of Toronto, Game of Homes, Scare Tactics, The Bachelor Canada, Intervention Canada, Panic Button, and many others. I've screened and worked with many hundreds of people who want to be on reality TV shows.
Probably the most asked question I get about reality TV is, “isn't it fake, don't they script it?” Actually, no. While I'm not at liberty to give examples from shows I work on, I can shed light on this issue by commenting on Andy Cohen's, creator of the Real Housewives franchise, interview in the New York Times.8 In the interview, he talked about the “reality” of reality TV. One of the most-watched episodes of Real Housewives of New York was when one of the housewives, Aviva Drescher, got angry at Le Cirque and threw her prosthetic leg, in what was described as a last-ditch effort to make her onscreen presence more interesting. Well, that was the last we saw of Aviva, she was eliminated from the show.
In explaining the experience of reality TV, and that particular outcome, Cohen stated, “It is very real to them, and by the way, when it's not, they're off the show.” In reality TV, the best scenes are real experiences of emotion—anger, fear, excitement, panic, revenge, passion. While situations are often created, with all the cameras around, you just can't fake the emotion; trying to fake it is like trying to be cool—it just doesn't work.
Why Is This Relevant to Leadership?
One of the lessons that can be learned from reality TV has to do with being real, in other words, being your authentic self. Although the situations in reality TV may seem less than realistic, viewers remain engrossed with the actions of characters that are viewed as the most authentic. Whether they are “good” or “bad” characters is often secondary.
As an interesting aside, these shows can give us a bit of insight into some of our cultural differences. For example, the show Big Brother is produced in about 40 countries. In the U.S. version, some of the most popular and winning characters include Dan Gheesling (known for backstabbing, lying, and dominating the house), Dr. Will Kirby (Evil Dr. Will, built people up, then tore them down), “Evel Dick” Donato (used loudmouth tactics to get what he wanted), and Rachel Reilly (an emotional train wreck). You may start to see a pattern here.
In the Canadian version, some of the most popular and winning characters are Emmett Blois (outgoing, friendly, social, an adventure seeker), Jon Pardy (friendly, social, big drinker, goofy Newfie), Sarah Hanlon (great social player, several friendmances, gets along with everyone), and Gary “Glitter” Levy (social player, funky, outgoing, fabulous).
These choices may be a reflection on our societies and may help us better understand our choices in leaders. For example, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau is known for being friendly and outgoing.
Our fascination with authenticity goes far beyond reality TV: consider this—while at least half of Americans found many of Donald Trump's behaviors distasteful, he still managed to captivate his audience, and many people argued that this was due to his authenticity. Once again, if you find that hard to believe, look at the data. Here were the TV ratings of the 10 most watched TV shows in the United States in 2016 per Nielsen.9
| No. | Show | Viewership (in millions) | Date | Network |
| 1 | Super Bowl 50 | 111.9 | Feb. 7, 2016 | CBS |
| 2 | First presidential debate | 84.0 | Sept. 26, 2016 | CPD |
| 3 | Third presidential debate | 71.6 | Oct. 19, 2016 | CPD |
| 4 | Super Bowl 50 post-game show | 70.0 | Feb. 7, 2016 | CBS |
| 5 | Second presidential debate | 60.3 | Oct. 9, 2016 | VOA |
| 6 | World Series Game 7: Cubs vs. Indians | 40.5 | Nov. 2, 2016 | FOX |
| 7 | Vice presidential debate | 37.0 | Oct. 4, 2016 | CPD |
| 8 | Redskins vs. Cowboys | 35.1 | Nov. 24, 2016 | FOX |
| 9 | Donald Trump RNC acceptance speech | 34.9 | July 21, 2016 | VOA |
| 10 | 88th Academy Awards | 34.4 | Feb. 28, 2016 | ABC |
| Compiled by Wikipedia. | ||||
Notice that four of the top 10 most-watched shows featured Donald Trump, and one his running mate. While Hillary Clinton was also featured in three of these, her media coverage was nowhere close to Trump's. And even though many of Trump's behaviors were distasteful to some, voters continually praised his authenticity (perhaps using terms like “politically incorrect”), which was a quality that many people found lacking in Hillary Clinton.
Although Trump's perceived authenticity may have been a critical factor for voters, it remains to be seen how his authenticity will translate in the longer term as president regarding the actual results achieved. While this chapter encourages authenticity in leaders, it also notes that leaders who don't fulfill promises will eventually see their credibility damaged. Going forward, I encourage leaders to practice authenticity. In most cases, followers will be vigilant and take to task leaders who promise more than they can deliver or fail to make good on promises.