Courageously Authentic
I try to live each day as authentic as possible. I try to be the same person whether I am at home, at church with my Christian friends, or engaging my Islamic immigrant friends. Whatever the audience, I try to point people to Jesus. However, it is living in authenticity that can become so challenging. Christian friends and supporting churches want me to live my life with more direct evangelism of Muslims. Muslim friends want me to be their friend and not try to change them. I am in a losing situation if I full-heartedly fall to one side over the other. How then do I live in this grey zone authentically?
In this week’s reading Rethinking Leadership: A Critique of Contemporary Theories, leadership consultant, Annabel Beerel covers many different leadership practices. While she may cover many different practices in her comprehensive book, this essay will focus primarily on authentic leadership which she categorizes with transformational leadership. However, I have one critique of her work to address before continuing. Her book is full of critiques of leaders, and “the superficial leadership development programs”[1] especially as they navigated the Covid pandemic, yet she does not give much conclusive evidence or data to really back up many of her criticisms. We may all feel that many leaders failed during Covid, but can that be supported?
Speaking of authentic leaders Beerel states they “have an ability to be true to themselves. There is no fabrication or posturing. They are consistent. They are not erratic.”[2] Let’s pick this quote apart a bit. With the onset of such strong anti-immigrant policies as we have seen in the last two weeks, I have spoken out more vocally on the subject than I have in the past. This has landed me in a bit of hot water with some audiences. Yet have I been authentic?
In speaking out was I true to myself? Yes, certainly.
Was I fabricating or driving an emotional response in speaking out? No, in fact I waited a few days to respond to the issue so I might separate emotion and present an honest perspective.
Was I consistent? Yes. I have consistently been pro-human.
Was I erratic? No, I calculated the risk and benefit and determined a need to speak up.
In another highly valued book on leadership theories, Northouse writes, “Authenticity is important and valuable to good leadership, but how authenticity relates to effective leadership is unknown.”[3] Possibly in a less direct manner, Beerel does what Northouse said is unknown by helping connect authenticity to effectiveness as a leader. She connects authenticity and leadership by addressing the topic of courage. While courage and authenticity are separate words, I do think that they are fairly connected. It is difficult to be authentic without courage. “Leading in a time of crisis require multiple skills. These include a calm demeanor, the courage to speak to reality, an ability to find clarity amid chaos, a capacity for deep empathy, and sensitivity to timing.”[4]
I have some hard conversations coming up this week which will need courageous authenticity. I could easily withdraw and take the easy way out. Yet is that leadership? Am I willing to set ego aside and speak plain truth when a false narrative is what others might want to hear? Over the last two years, authors such as Bebbington, Friedman, and Wright have helped me bring clarity to the maps I am using, and the maps others are using. We are not using the same maps. Using different terminology, Beerel uses the term “sensemaking” and states it is “useful when our understanding of the world becomes unintelligible in some way.”[5] Last week’s reading also offered a good reminder of the need to make sense of the world or understand our own maps first. Hutchinson writes, “To be effective in a multicultural, multinational, globalized world, leaders must be agile and realize that their first job is to find out what’s going on in their own context and make sense of it!”[6]
If I had more space, I might seek out how the idea of sense-making and map-making goes along with the idea promoted by Beerel as “vertical learning” which she describes as “the transformation of how one thinks, feels, and makes sense of the world. It is the development of mental, psychological, and emotional complexity.”[7] Vertical learning is a term that I had not heard before. Is this a Christian posture or a religious posture? Do we obtain vertical learning by seeking out wisdom as found in the book of Proverbs? Does vertical learning make a 2D map into 3D? These are some questions I might need to think through a bit more.
Will I be courageously authentic this week? Yes. This is who I am and always have been. Even when it is hard, I have always been willing to speak into situations that I feel the Holy Spirit leading me to speak into. I don’t need to speak into every situation, but I do need to speak into the situations in which I am knowledgeable and passionate about. I am reminded that there are people watching. As I have received emails and messages in anger and disgust this week, I have also received messages full of hope and support. Shane Parrish reminds me that “there’s someone out there looking up at you and using your behavior as their North Star.”[8] So, may my courageous authentic behavior help point people in the direction of Jesus, the true North Star.
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[1] Annabel C. Beerel, Rethinking Leadership: A Critique of Contemporary Theories, 1 Edition (New York: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group, 2021), 2.
[2] Beerel, 299.
[3] Peter G. Northouse, Leadership: Theory and Practice, Eighth Edition (Los Angeles: SAGE Publications, 2019), 210.
[4] Beerel, Rethinking Leadership, 165.
[5] Beerel, 146.
[6] “Illuminaire,” Illuminaire, 2024, 29.
[7] Beerel, Rethinking Leadership, 379.
[8] Shane Parrish, Clear Thinking: Turning Ordinary Moments into Extraordinary Results (New York, NY: Portfolio/Penguin, 2023), 87.
About the Author
Adam Cheney
I grew up in California, spent five years living along the beautiful coast of Kenya and now find myself working with refugees in the snow crusted tundra of Minnesota. My wife and I have seven children, four of whom have been adopted. I spend my time drinking lots of coffee, working in my garden, and baking sourdough bread.One response to “Courageously Authentic”
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Great post Adam.
In your essay, you mention the concept of “vertical learning” and its impact on how one thinks, feels, and makes sense of the world. How has your understanding and application of vertical learning influenced your approach to leadership, especially in moments that require courageous authenticity? Can you share an example of a situation where vertical learning played a crucial role in your decision-making process?