2. of our strengths, recognising and trading off our
weaknesses and taking full self-accountability for
the impact we have on others. What authentic
leadership is not about is adopting the styles or
traits of other leaders.”
– Steve Robinson
“Authentic leadership for me encompasses the
whole leader and a leader cannot be authentic just
some of the time or when times are buoyant. It is
about showing the behaviours of an authentic leader
all of the time and not just ‘in pockets’. An authentic
leader demonstrates their ability to exhibit the right
behaviours especially when needed in times of
change and challenge. A high level of self-awareness
is of paramount importance and the foundations
required for being an authentic leader. A leader
cannot be authentic with others if they do not
understand what this looks like for them.”
– Victoria O’Dea
“I had no idea that being your authentic self could make me as
rich as I’ve become.
If I had, I’d have done it a lot earlier.” –Oprah Winfrey
It’s amazing how many of us have two sides to our personality,
a ‘work me’ and a ‘home me’. At work,
we often try to come across a certain way, whether it’s to garner
more recognition or to fit in with our
managers and colleagues; we end up changing ourselves and
how we act. This is especially true in
leadership, where managers often feel pressure to fit their
personality to match their role. The problem
is that by ‘acting the role’ of leader, those around them often
4. There is a perceived level of expectation around
what a great leader should do and how she/
he should behave. These expected norms can
create myths about leadership being inspirational,
exhibiting unrelenting confidence, having
unwavering decision making, showing unshakeable
self-belief and revealing no signs of personal
weakness. In authentic leadership, whilst some of
these may well help in the execution of the role, the
real test is somewhat more grounded.
Authentic leaders:
Continually commit to their own learning in
order to understand themselves as a person and
how they and others see the world
Deep self-awareness is the foundation here. And it
builds and grows – it’s a lifelong journey of learning
from experiences and being able to share these
along the way. They resonate with others by telling
stories of success and defeat, of good times and
tough times and of accomplishments and setbacks.
Truly knowing their values – who they are, what do
they believe in, what’s the right thing to do – for
the right reason and in the right way is often all that
leaders have to help navigate by when the deep mist
of uncertainty prevails.
Have an ability to get their ego out of the way -
they truly empower and develop others
‘Big ego leadership’ lies at the opposite end of
the continuum to authentic leadership. Authentic
leadership holds out the first and foremost principle,
‘it’s not about me’. It’s akin to the truly brilliant
6. Authentic Leadership – To thine own self be true
How to be an authentic leader
An in-depth study by the Harvard Business
Review of effective leaders ranging in ages
from 23 to 93 found that there is no “cookie
cutter leader”. Every person interviewed had
a different idea of what an ideal leader looks
like, with each individual having a unique
combination of characteristics, traits, skills
and styles that led to their own success. The
one common theme was that all the leaders
were consciously or subconsciously taking in
their real-world experiences continuously, and
using those experiences to frame who they
were at their core. As a result, they found the
“purpose of their leadership and learned that
being authentic made them more effective”.
This study is one that we all can learn from,
whether we’re managing other people
professionally or not. That’s because the
study shows that leaders are not born leaders;
they become great leaders throughout the
course of their life by taking in experiences
and letting it guide them and their leadership
style. That is a tactic anyone can adopt well
before they reach managerial level, or even
before they enter the workforce.
Conclusion
The rampant pace of change in our world in
itself requires agility, flexibility and adaptability
of leadership styles and approaches to an ever-
8. Authentic Leadership – To thine own self be true
Steve Robinson,
CEO and Founder, Si Consulting Ltd
Steve is an experienced business
leader and consultant with a highly
diverse and successful background
in multi-disciplined leadership. As
owner and CEO of Si Consulting,
he works with leaders and teams
in developing and sustaining their
performance and impact. Steve adds a powerful mix
of useable and sustainable approaches that will see
individuals, teams and organisations achieving greater
performance.
Steve brings 25 years of first hand commercial experience,
including a Board appointment and senior positions with
Specsavers and Fitness First, built on the foundation of
a successful career in corporate finance and banking.
Steve is also a licensed practitioner of Insights Discovery,
a coach, group facilitator, trained trainer and speaker at
business events and seminars.
Victoria is a Client Relationship
Manager at Insights and manages
a wide range of accounts. Prior
to joining Insights Victoria had
10 years+ experience in Sales
and Learning and Development
within large FMCG Blue Chips
Organisations. Victoria prides herself on understanding
clients’ business needs and drivers, and developing
9. measurable solutions which help them provide the
required deliverables for the individuals, teams and
organisation.
Victoria first got introduced to Insights in 1999 when
she was a delegate on an Insights Discovery Workshop
and received her first Insights Discovery Personal Profile.
It was at this moment that Victoria realised the true
potential that Discovery could bring for enhancing
relationships and in turn enhancing sales with clients.
This realisation soon evolved into a genuine passion
and enthusiasm for learning and development and
developing people in order to help them maximise their
potential.
Victoria O’Dea,
Client Relationship Manager, Insights
About the authors
26 / Journal of AHIMA August 11
Time to Lead
Leaders and Leadership, Building Trust
By Carolyn Valo, MS, RHIT, FAHIMA
TO LEAD IMPLIES many things—leading a project, a self-
man-
aged or self-directed team activity, or becoming a department
director, manager, or supervisor, all the way to extending and
applying gained skills, advanced education, and experiential
learning to perhaps lead a large enterprise.
10. As a member of AHIMA, there are many tools, resources, and
learning opportunities available to each one of us, such as the
Leadership Academy, other related online education, the Body
of Knowledge, and the Communities of Practice, all of which
are
accessible from AHIMA’s Web site. Leadership, however, goes
beyond these notable educational tools and resources. AHIMA
and each component state association provide opportunities to
expand our learning around leading and serving in leadership
roles through volunteering.
Learning to become a leader goes beyond skill building and
experiential learning; for many, including me, networking
with our peers helps us identify role models and mentors with
leadership experience. Combined, these tools, resources, and
networking options can help provide pathways to becoming a
leader, if desired.
Inspiring Trust
Trust is a key imperative of leadership. In fact, trust and leader-
ship may even seem synonymous. As a leader, trust is at the
core
of effectively leading people, processes, tasks, or activities.
Leaders who inspire trust must gain trust as a first good step
in leadership. A high degree of trust between a leader and his
or her staff or among team members helps reach desired goals
or outcomes. Leaders who display or extend trust and demon-
strate active listening skills encourage open participation, mo-
tivate individuals, and more importantly, they inspire others to
demonstrate trust in team or project work.
Trust requires clarity (of goals and roles), confidence (in staff
and team members), consistency (in how processes are ap-
plied), and active listening skills in order to encourage all to
11. participate in tasks and activities. Trust helps foster common
understanding and collaboration, which leads to efficiently
reaching desired goals or the organization’s vision and mission.
As an example of how an HIM manager can inspire trust, as-
sume that a manager just learned accounts receivables, or AR
(days or dollars), are outside the target. The manager decides
to seek direct input from the staff that performs the day-to-day
functions related to AR.
When the manager takes, as a first step, engaging the staff
to problem-solve the missed AR target, the staff members feel
confident that the manager trusts in their knowledge, skills, and
ability and are more likely to be motivated to reach decisions
on how to realign and maintain the AR target. In addition, this
approach likely fosters open and active staff collaboration and
participation. In this example, inspired trust results in gained
trust, with staff taking ownership for monitoring and develop-
ing practices or processes related to maintaining the depart-
ment’s AR target.
As you explore becoming a leader or encouraging others to
lead, consider this statement on leadership skills: “Leadership
is not exerting power over others or exhorting them to follow
you. Rather, it results from your example of empowering others
to step up and lead. Leaders do that by learning to lead them-
selves, becoming self-aware and behaving authentically.”1
Note
1. George, Bill. “Leadership Skills Start with Self-Awareness.”
Minneapolis Star Tribune, February 26, 2011. www.startri-
bune.com/business/116923928.html.
12. Trust helps foster common
understanding and collaboration,
which leads to efficiently reaching
desired goals or the organization’s
vision and mission.
Copyright of Journal of AHIMA is the property of American
Health Information Management Association and
its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or
posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's
express written permission. However, users may print,
download, or email articles for individual use.
LEADERSHIP/MANAGEMENT
The Leadership Relationship. Part I:
Understanding Trust
Jo Manion, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN
LEADERSHIP EXISTS ONLY within the context
of a relationship. It is an intensely personal process
of relating to another person who, if influenced,
becomes a follower. If there are no followers, there
is no need for a leader. It makes sense, then, that
leadership is accomplished most effectively from
the base of a positive and healthy relationship
13. with others. And, in fact, without positive relation-
ship and people skills, it is very hard to be an effec-
tive leader.
This column is based on the premise that having
positive relationship skills is an essential compe-
tency for all nurse leaders. This is true whether
your followers are your patients, coworkers on
the committee you chair, or employees who report
to you. Of course, a toxic and punitive leadership
relationship can also influence the follower but
not in a positive way. Our focus is on healthy and
empowering partnerships with others to achieve
the key results needed in the department.
This can be difficult news to hear for those who
aspire to lead, yet have few natural people skills,
or actual problems relating to other people. We
all know managers or supervisors who rely solely
on the legitimate authority of their position to
14. give direction and influence others. They expect
compliance to their directions simply because of
the positional authority they hold. Developing re-
lationships with others is not a priority for them,
and little care is taken to establish a positive rela-
tionship. It is seen as unnecessary or wasted
time. However, these leaders are unlikely to be as
Jo Manion, PhD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN, is the Owner and Se-
nior Consultant, Manion & Associates, The Villages, FL.
Conflict of interest: None to report.
Address correspondence to Jo Manion, Manion & Associ-
ates, 873 Greenwich Place, The Villages, FL 32163; e-mail
address: [email protected]
� 2015 by American Society of PeriAnesthesia Nurses
1089-9472/$36.00
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jopan.2015.01.006
Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing, Vol 30, No 2 (April), 2015:
pp 153-156
fully effective as they would be with positive inter-
personal skills.
Some fortunate people seem to have been born
15. with good people skills imbedded in their person-
ality. It is much easier for them to develop good re-
lationships with others. Other people feel good
about working with them, and they often establish
healthy and trusting relationships with others.
These individuals often move into leadership roles
(not necessarily management) as opportunities
arise.
If people skills are not as natural for you, do not
despair! This does not mean you are incapable of
becoming a good leader, but it does mean that
you will need to develop these skills. I once
worked with a nurse executive who had little to
no inherent people skills in her basic personality
makeup. However, she was a very effective nurse
leader. Over the years, she had developed and
honed her people skills to a fine degree. Relation-
ships took more energy on her part to maintain
because these skills did not come naturally to
16. her. However, because she was deliberate and
conscious about cultivating her leadership rela-
tionship with others she was an extremely effec-
tive and successful nurse leader.
To some of you, talking about relationships may
feel like going back to Psych 101 because it seems
so basic. However, every one of us would benefit
from consciously examining the quality of the rela-
tionships in our lives, both personal and profes-
sional. It is an aspect of our lives that has a
tremendous potential for creating great outcomes
or significant issues and difficulties! The first step
is to spend some time reflecting on and assessing
your relationships with others.
To do this in a meaningful way, you need clarity
about what a healthy relationship is. There are at
least four essential components that characterize
a positive and healthy relationship. The absence
153
17. Delta:1_given name
mailto:[email protected]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jopan.2015.01.006
154 JO MANION
of any one of these elements damages a relation-
ship. The four are trust, respect, support, and
communication. This column explores the
concept of trust, and the next column will explore
the remaining three elements.
Trust
Trust is the foundation necessary for any relation-
ship to form and flourish. It is a necessary condi-
tion before a sense of connection can take place
between people. According to the dictionary, trust
means you can rely on the integrity, strength, or
ability of a person or thing. This confidence
implies that we trust because of good reasons, def-
inite evidence, or past experience. If a colleague
assures you that he will reciprocate with you for
future schedule changes if you change days off
18. with him this time, you trust that he will do so
because he has lived up to that promise in the
past. When a new nurse joins the staff, we trust
that she or he has the competence to do the job
for which she or he has been hired.
Trust is absolutely crucial in the leadership rela-
tionship. Without trust or confidence in the leader,
people will not follow. Confidence is a reliance and
dependence on the person to obtain the results
that will benefit everyone. The leader may be
very articulate, charismatic, and personally liked.
However, if there are no results or improvements
because of the leader’s efforts, trust wavers.
Warren Bennis, a noted leadership scholar, offers a
concrete and applicable framework for under-
standing trust within the context of the leadership
role. He believes there are three essential ingredi-
ents for trust to occur: competence, congruence,
and constancy. Consider these in your assessment
19. process to understand why you are experiencing
trust or mistrust from others.
Competence is the possession of a required skill,
knowledge, qualification, or capacity. As a leader,
this means you must have the skills and knowledge
required to do the job, whatever it is. Confidence
in the leader develops from working with that per-
son and seeing evidence of the leader’s past perfor-
mance demonstrating competence and ability.
Both skill and knowledge are included in this defi-
nition of competence. Knowledge alone is insuffi-
cient. For example, you may know that your
followers need accurate information and clear
communication. If you are not able to articulate
clearly, you can have the best intentions in the
world and yet your effectiveness will be reduced.
On the other hand, you may be an articulate and
charismatic leader able to communicate beauti-
fully with others, but if you are unable to back
up your rhetoric with performance and outcomes,
20. you will not have the trust of your followers.
Qualifications are an interesting factor in compe-
tence. For many nurses, there are very specific ex-
pected qualifications for the leader, and, if not
present, they will not follow that leader. For
example, most nurses would expect that the man-
ager in the department has a clinical rather than a
business background. Whether the actual qualifi-
cation prepares the individual for the role or not
is a moot point; to the follower, it is a critical issue
with significant repercussions. In one organization
I worked with recently, the nurse executive had
not attained her professional certification,
whereas many of her clinical directors had done
so. This individual was a very capable executive
and was producing solid results for the organiza-
tion. Most of the directors reporting to her recog-
nized and appreciated her skills and the results
they were able to attain together. However, one
21. of the clinical directors was absolutely adamant
that this nurse executive did NOT have the correct
qualifications for the position because she had not
yet achieved certification, and the clinical director
basically refused to follow the nurse executive’s
lead. She repeatedly engaged in behavior that sabo-
taged the leader. It became a very destructive situ-
ation within this leadership team and resulted in
the director’s resignation.
Capacity is another issue related to competence.
Many leaders today are overwhelmed with respon-
sibilities, overscheduled with meetings, and
fraught with frustration around navigating their
system to achieve meaningful results. Followers
see this, and it naturally raises questions of trust
in terms of whether the leader has the capacity
to handle the current situation. If there has been
frequent turnover of leaders, there is the added
worry: ‘‘How long will this leader stay? Can she/
22. he handle the stress of the job?’’ A leader who ap-
pears frazzled and out of control creates uneasy fol-
lowers. Inadequate capacity on the part of the
leader is not a personal incompetence to do the
LEADERSHIP/MANAGEMENT 155
work; however, it creates the same sense of
distrust that would result from the lack of skills
or knowledge.
So all these four aspects (skills, knowledge, qualifi-
cations, and capacity) influence a sense on the part
of the follower that the leader is competent to be
effective in their leadership role. It is possible for
the leader to overcome the mistrust of followers
by behaving in an obviously competent manner.
Let us take for example the dynamics that occur
when a new and relatively young staff member is
asked to accept leadership for a key staff commit-
tee. There may be a healthy amount of skepticism
23. on the part of other staff members. The new leader
will be tested repeatedly but can overcome the
mistrust by being well prepared and skilled at man-
aging the committee meetings and by involving
and seeking input of those in the group. It may
be a difficult challenge for the new leader but is
certainly doable.
Congruence is the second element that creates a
sense of trust within a relationship. This means
that there is a consistency between the verbal
and written messages and the actual behavior of
the leader. When what a leader says is highly
congruent with her or his behavior, people
perceive the leader as honest and trustworthy. If
the leader says one thing and does another, the
result is an enormous credibility gap and trust is
severed. As a leader, your integrity and character
are critically important. Others do not necessarily
need to agree with everything you believe, but
24. they have to believe that you will be honest with
yourself and them as well. If you say you value
your people, you need to behave in a way that
demonstrates this value, otherwise you will lose
their trust.
One of the most serious problems with incon-
gruent behavior is that it is inadvertent and often
goes unrecognized. As a leader you do not intend
to behave in a way that contradicts your previous
messages, but it can happen. For example, perhaps
you have told your staff that you will involve them
in decisions that are made in the department. At
the next department meeting, you make an
announcement about the new parking policy. Sud-
denly you are faced with push back and angry
resistance from the staff. ‘‘You told us we were
going to be involved in making decisions in this
department, and now you’re telling us we need
to park where?’’ When you become aware that
25. you are being seen as incongruent, this is an oppor-
tunity for you to either clarify or apologize. So in
this example, you might say something like: ‘‘You
are right, I did tell you I would involve you in deci-
sions. However, I should have been clearer. I
meant that I would involve you in decisions that
are within our authority to make. The decisions
about parking are made by other people in this or-
ganization, not us.’’ So you have offered more
clarity. They still might not like the decision you
have announced, but they can clearly see it was
not your or their decision to make.
If, however, it is a decision where it would have
been reasonable to include them, you may need
to apologize. ‘‘I am sorry, and you are right. I am
so used to making these decisions that I didn’t
even think about asking you. Let’s back up and
take another look at the decision.’’ Although it is
uncomfortable to realize that you have been incon-
gruent, when people give you this feedback, see it
26. as a gift. It gives you the opportunity to address
their confusion. Otherwise, they will simply see
you as not being trustworthy, and it will damage
your leadership relationship.
If your relationship with your followers is not one
based on trust, when you behave incongruently
they may assume it was intentional on your part.
If you have a relationship built on solid trust, the
people you work with will tell you when you are
being incongruent because they trust that you
did not mean to contradict yourself.
Constancy is the third and final essential ingre-
dient of trust identified by Warren Bennis. It
implies that as a leader you are reliable, depend-
able, and consistent. If you make a promise or a
commitment, you follow through with it or you
immediately let the other person know why you
cannot.
For many followers, constancy also implies avail-
27. ability and accessibility. We have all had the expe-
rience of working with someone who assures us
they will be available if we need help and then
cannot be found when needed. Tight work sched-
ules and overwhelming demands in the workplace
certainly reduce availability. However, an effective
leader has a way of being present for others, even if
156 JO MANION
it is for very short moments of time. Taking a
moment to really tune in and listen to an individ-
ual, stepping in and helping for a short time at a
critical point, and offering a reassuring presence
is very powerful in communicating availability.
Accessibility means other people know how to
find you and contact you if needed. Today’s work
world can be overwhelming with the constant de-
mands and rapidly unfolding situations. Our
improved communication technology assists in
28. increasing accessibility and creating more prob-
lems because of increased accessibility. Electronic
mail, instant messaging, and texting have all
increased our ease in being available to others
while also creating a sense of urgency and overload
that causes stress to skyrocket. I have colleagues
whom I text to tell them I have sent an e-mail
that they need to read!
Managing accessibility is a key competency for any
leader. Physical accessibility is important, and the
most effective leaders find a way to provide it
even in today’s overcharged world. Letting people
in the department know where you are and when
you will return is helpful if you attend many meet-
ings. Posting your schedule on the office door and
setting a specific time every day when you will be
available in the office are also helpful. Giving com-
mittee members your personal e-mail so they can
contact you with questions helps them feel like
29. you are accessible. Setting realistic boundaries
while maintaining a sense of accessibility for
others is a challenge, but effective leaders find a
way to do so. Although physical presence is most
powerful, even a short and quick response to a
text or e-mail can be reassuring to your follower
who has a question or is dealing with an issue.
Constancy in our behavior is also crucial, and it re-
fers to a stability of personal characteristics. A
leader who experiences extreme fluctuations of
mood, is quick to anger, or responds with knee-
jerk reactions has more trust issues with others.
Although none of us is completely predictable,
the less volatility in the leadership relationship,
the more likely trust will develop.
Trust is the first essential component in establish-
ing a positive and healthy relationship with others
from which you can effectively lead. To evaluate
the level of trust in your relationships with others,
ask yourself these questions:
30. 1. Am I competent to do this work? Do others
see me as competent? Do they see me
achieve needed results? What has been my
track record? In what areas do I need to in-
crease my skills and/or knowledge? Do I
have the qualifications needed for the
work, or do any of my followers question
that I am qualified? Do I have the capacity
to do what is needed?
2. Am I congruent in what I say and what I do?
Do others see me as trustworthy? Where
have I been incongruent? Has anyone told
me that I have been incongruent? Would
they feel comfortable telling me so? Do I
invite this kind of feedback? How have I re-
sponded in the past to this feedback?
3. Am I seen as constant by others? Have I been
available for my followers or am I so busy
that I am exhausted by the time I return to
31. the department near the end of the day?
Do people say they have a hard time finding
me? Do I respond promptly to messages
from my followers? Am I so frazzled and over-
whelmed that listening to one more problem
will push me over the edge?
Trust is the solid foundation in any relationship,
and without the trust of your followers, your abil-
ity to influence them in the direction needed is
significantly impaired. The next column explores
the remaining three essential elements of a healthy
relationship: respect, support, and communica-
tion. Although these concepts seem simplistic,
they have a tremendous impact on your leadership
effectiveness.
The Leadership Relationship. Part I: Understanding TrustTrust