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Discovering Your Authentic Leadership
Superior results over a The first two people Mulcahy talked with, both
sustained period of time of whom ran big operating units, decided to
is the ultimate mark of leave, but the remaining 98 committed to stay.
an authentic leader.
Throughout the crisis, people in Xerox were
empowered by Mulcahy to step up and lead in
order to restore the company to its former
greatness. In the end, her leadership enabled
Xerox to avoid bankruptcy as she paid back
$10 billion in debt and restored revenue
growth and profitability with a combination of
cost savings and innovative new products. The
stock price tripled as a result.
•••
Like Mulcahy, all leaders have to deliver
bottom-line results. By creating a virtuous
circle in which the results reinforce the effec- the fulfillment of authentic leadership.
tiveness of their leadership, authentic leaders
are able to sustain those results through good
times and bad. Their success enables them to
attract talented people and align employees’
activities with shared goals, as they empower
others on their team to lead by taking on
harvard business review • hbr.org • february 2007
Purchased by Ken Hampian (kchampian@charter.net) on March 15, 2013
greater challenges. Indeed, superior results
over a sustained period of time is the ulti-
mate mark of an authentic leader. It may be
possible to drive short-term outcomes with-
out being authentic, but authentic leadership
is the only way we know to create sustainable
long-term results.
For authentic leaders, there are special re-
wards. No individual achievement can equal
the pleasure of leading a group of people to
achieve a worthy goal. When you cross the fin-
ish line together, all the pain and suffering you
may have experienced quickly vanishes. It is re-
placed by a deep inner satisfaction that you
have empowered others and thus made the
world a better place. That’s the challenge and
Reprint R0702H
To order, see the next page
or call 800-988-0886 or 617-783-7500
or go to www.hbr.org
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