While researching information on Authentic Leadership Theory and Servant Leadership Theory, I came across a TED Talk by Sean Georges titled “The Essence of Authentic Leadership.
I turned on the 20-minute video, assuming I would get an overview of Authentic Leadership and hear a description or a few characteristics of what makes an Authentic Leader. Instead, the point of Sean Georges’s video was that Authentic Leadership IS Servant Leadership – and it is ultimately the most applicable form of leadership.
Sean began his speech by telling a story about his daughter Payton who got in a devastating car crash at sixteen. He described the team of first responders who came to the site; a policer officer, a deputy sheriff, a few volunteer firefighters, and an ambulance crew. When the team arrived onsite, they could see that the situation was dire – the truck that had hit Payton crushed her car terribly, and it would take a good 30-45 minutes to get her out. Unfortunately, Payton was hurt so badly that she would not have survive another 30-45 minutes without medical assistance. At first glance, saving her life seemed impossible.
The police officer then noticed the sunroof of Payton’s car, and decided that crawling through it would be the quickest way to extract Payton from the vehicle. Ten minutes later, the team had safety removed her and she was in the ambulance on the way to the hospital. Payton survived the emergency surgery and made a full recovery.
According to Sean, “this story is about human beings working in service to one another; alignment with a shared mission. This story is about leadership.” The first responders who saved his daughter’s life added five critical components to the ominous situation…
- A Clear Mission Focus: Save Payton’s life
- Shared Leadership: the team did not have a single authority figure giving instructions, they all took leadership positions when it was necessary
- Teamwork: They worked together
- Belief: They believe that they could change the outcome of the situation, they believed they could save her life
- Servitude: the team was not focused on their own self-interests, they were focused on their teammates and Payton
Looking back on this situation, Sean was able to relate the leadership model of the team of first responders to the leadership model he experienced as a Marine Corps Officer – “leaders have a sacred responsibility to serve their Marines in accomplishing the mission”. He then created a chart to show the elements of Authentic-Servant Leadership where the mission is first, individuals who make up the team are second, and the humble leader is last.
With this, Sean came to the conclusion that “Authentic leaders serve people in alignment with the mission… It is that simple.” Sean end the speech by explaining a new mission he created for himself as a servant leader: To “say thank you” – he believes this is his best and highest role yet.
Jamie's Leadership Journey 