leading from within: the true test of character

You have to live a life you want to lead.

There is no escaping the fact that when we show up for work and for our leadership roles, we bring the entirety of ourselves to the table. We bring our convictions, our strengths, our fears and our weaknesses, along with our insecurities, knowledge of our past failures, our pride in past accomplishments and our desire to lead our teams successfully.
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I believe that to be a leader of true character requires a connection with, and acceptance of, our whole selves. I also believe it requires not only a vision of where you are taking the organization you are leading, but a clear personal vision that clarifies why you’re working with, and leading, that organization in the first place.

It involves understanding who you are, within yourself, at your most personal and deepest level.

For only by being truly connected with ourselves at every level, by facing this truth, and by having a personal vision can we come into our roles as leaders and say to our followers (in essence), “This is who I am, this is what I believe, this is where I am heading, and this is why I am heading in that direction.  Please follow me.”

By sharing this with our followers and letting our leadership flow from within, our followers can:
1. Hold us accountable and expect actions to match our words
2. Understand our character, from which we will lead

Glen Senk, former CEO of Urban Outfitters
One CEO I admire profusely for being so connected to, and honest about, his vision, values and personal character is Glen Senk, former CEO of Urban Outfitters. In an interview with Glen that was published in Knowledge@Wharton, Glen was quoted as saying (after a reference to him successfully battling cancer in 1989), “You realize you have to take responsibility for doing what is right for you,” Senk noted. “You have to live a life you want to lead.”
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Senk added that focusing on living what he called an “authentic” life has paid huge dividends. “A lot of my friends who went on to be very successful in investment banking or law or consulting … are not as happy as I am. There is not a day that I don’t wake up bounding out of bed and can’t wait to get to work.”

The words, “You have to live a life you want to lead” are some of the most powerful words one can express, believe in and commit themself to as a leader.  Glen knew relatively early on that his vision meant following his love of retail, of which he said, "I love the theater of retail. I love that I can control every part of the experience — the product itself, the pricing, the way the product is sold, the way we communicate and so on."

The fact that he was so committed to this vision that he applied for a job at Bloomingdale’s 46 times before landing a job with them speaks volumes about the power, and compelling nature, of his personal vision.

And vision played a role later in his career when he took a risk and left Williams-Sonoma to work for Richard Hyne at Urban: “I went from supervising 200 people, having two assistants and flying on the Concorde [at Williams-Sonoma] to running one store that did less than $1 million,” Senk said. “I had a vision for myself and what it could be. And I believed so strongly in the culture [Hayne] had created at Urban.”

Senk described that culture as one where creative, collaborative and curious people are given the freedom to operate almost like entrepreneurs. Diversity — including diversity of race, religion and political views — is also central to that vision. “Dick Hayne is a Republican,” Senk noted. “I’m the first openly gay CEO of a Fortune 1,000 company.” … “We believe as a company in hiring diversity, not because it is politically correct, but because diversity makes us stronger. I look for people who complement me, not [people] who look at the world the same way that I do.”

I believe that an understanding of, and commitment to, a culture that demonstrates the values you profess, is a critical result of character-based leadership. You may not agree with a leader’s values, but a leader demonstrates their true character by being the foremost steward of company values, and by imbuing those values in the corporate culture.

One should give honest consideration to whether it makes sense to work at a company where your values do not match the leader’s. As Glen points out with poignant truth: "If it is not a culture fit, you probably will not do well. Spend time in the lunch room, spend time with the receptionist — spend time with the real people in the organization if you want to know what the culture is really like."

Glen is a brilliant example of a leader who is genuinely connected to his inner self, to his personal vision, purpose and values, and to living it all through his leadership. As we aspire to be leaders of true character, especially in this new world that is literally rising from the ashes, we can look to him and the path he has blazed for inspiration.

​Photo by Aziz Acharki on Unsplash