Authentic Leadership: Morally Neutral? Part one.

Last week, we spent a few days travelling the North Island with Australian colleagues. We had fabulous and robust conversations (with a few about leadership), over many meals (along with a great NZ Chard or two), from which a doozy of a question emerged surrounding authentic leadership, that is:

Is authenticity alone morally neutral?

Read that again. Right? My brain went into overtime and ended up right here, writing and debating, and using my most favourite word, "Hegemony"!

I asked myself, "Has Authentic Leadership become hegemonized"?

I think most of us will agree that authenticity has become one of leadership’s favourite terms/theories. We praise authentic leaders. We encourage people to “be yourself.” We assume authenticity is inherently good.

I’m not so sure.

I think we’ve overused and misused this word/term/theory. Maybe, even worse, we’ve begun treating authenticity as if it were absolute evidence of good leadership.

Stay with me.

A person can be authentically generous, humble, courageous, and wise. A person can also be authentically cruel, selfish, reckless, or dismissive. Right? That's the truth. Welcome to Humanity. Which leads to...

...being true to yourself tells us nothing about whether the self you’re expressing is worthy of being followed.

Which can be a very sad truth.

That’s the problem with making authenticity the goal. I’ll be bold and put forward that it isn’t enough for a leader to be real. The deeper question is whether what is real in them has been shaped by the foundational attributes of Principled Leadership.

Without that, authenticity can become little more than "self-expression with authority attached".

It begins with a common mistake in the way we talk about authentic leadership, as if it carries moral weight by itself.

I may have thought this was the case many moons ago, but I don’t believe it does anymore.

For example, a leader might say, “I’m just being honest,” when they are actually being harsh. They might say, “This is just who I am,” when they are refusing to grow. They might claim transparency while using unfiltered emotions to control the room.

That kind of authenticity isn’t courage. It’s usually a lack of self-governance.

My Archie Bunker authenticity analogy continues to hold value. Archie was, in many ways, deeply authentic. He didn’t hide his beliefs. He spoke plainly. He was consistent. You always knew where he stood. But that didn’t make him admirable. It didn’t make him wise. It didn’t make him safe to follow.

That’s the point.

Authenticity tells us whether the outside matches the inside. It doesn’t tell us whether the inside is healthy, loving, just, humble, or mature. Sadly...

A leader who is authentically arrogant ... is still arrogant.

A leader who is authentically resentful ... is still resentful.

A leader who is authentically driven by fear ... will likely lead through fear.

So, the question is not simply, Am I being authentic? The better question is,

What is shaping the leader I am becoming?

Being principled is not the same as being a Principled Leader

Being authentic does not make you a Principled Leader, and being principled does not automatically make you one.

That distinction matters.

A person can hold strong personal principles but fail to embody them when things heat up.

They may believe in fairness, but play favourites when loyalty is tested.

They may value honesty but avoid the hard conversation.

They may speak of care but make decisions that protect their own comfort ahead of someone else’s dignity.

Personal principles can remain ideas. Principled Leadership asks them to become habits.

It is possible to admire justice and still act unjustly.

It is possible to believe in compassion and still lead with coldness.

It is possible to speak about integrity and still make small compromises that slowly train people not to trust us.

That is why Principled Leadership is not a personality trait, a brand, or a leadership style. It is a way of being formed.

It requires self-awareness, but it goes beyond self-awareness. Plenty of self-aware people can clearly describe their flaws and still refuse to change them. The harder work is staying aligned with the foundational attributes of Principled Leadership, especially when misalignment would be easier, faster, or more rewarding.

Principled Leadership begins when what we profess becomes what we practise.

Stay tuned. In Part Two, I share insights into how Principled Leadership is integral to being authentic.