Authentic Leadership: Being True to Your Mission at the Crossroads of Change

By R. Mark Davis

The organic sector has long prided itself on its use of Triple Bottom Line (3BL) accountability metrics to differentiate its products and services in the marketplace. As the industry continues to grow at double-digit rates, and new and better-financed companies are entering the sector touting the use of 3BL, have we let the role of “Authentic Leadership” of our businesses slip? Do we have leadership or mentoring training programs in place for the next generation of leaders? Are we being true to mission?

With competitive pressure to “make the numbers,” is the sector losing sight of its values to lead businesses that are truly good for everyone as well as the planet? The challenge to know, show and remain true to one’s real self has never been greater. People who look for jobs in our sector are looking for authentic leaders who are genuine, transparent and trustworthy—leaders who are “real” and can be counted on to keep their word.

Ultimately, it is up to us to develop and promote a comprehensive authentic leadership agenda for the sector to produce verifiable and sustainable gains in business performance while remaining true to the spirit of our organic mission.

Leadership success is often measured by our mastery of revenues, profits, new product breakthroughs, cost savings or market share increases. These results are important but defining leadership by these external criteria misses the core question: What leadership traits or actions occurred that enabled this success and achievement?

Leadership is not simply a set of rules to run our business by, it is a process and a manifestation of who we are in action. At its highest level, leadership is authentic ethical self-expression that creates value. Webster defines ethics as “the basic principles of right action”. In his seminal book, True North, author Bill George says authentic leaders usually demonstrate these five traits:

1. Pursuing their purpose with passion

2. Practicing solid values

3. Leading with their hearts as well as heads

4. Establishing connected relationships

5. Demonstrating self-discipline

Using this framework there are three questions we must ask ourselves: How true are we? How genuine is our self-expression? Are we creating value?

Authenticity is the cornerstone of leadership. How do we express ourselves with actions that come from within ourselves? It is true, as Steve Demos, founder of Silk, has publicly stated, “you can be an authentic dictator, but what value are you creating with this style of leadership?”

Being a leader often makes us think we always have to be right, and have to know all the answers. But when we acknowledge our mistakes, and ask for help from our co-workers we are frequently rewarded with support. It’s all about being real. The web of interdependence that supports our success requires us to acknowledge others. It is through this synergy that together everyone achieves more, giving the word “team” the highest value possible.

To be an authentic leader, there are several key steps.

First: “Know thyself.” Become effective with yourself and you will be effective with others. Don’t look for the “right” person to partner with in relationships, strive to be the “right” person. Values are shaped by personal beliefs, reflection, listening to others and experience. The test comes when you decide how to act under pressure.

An excellent example of knowing yourself comes from Gary Erickson, founder of Clif Bar. In 2000 he was minutes away from selling his company to a food conglomerate because he was convinced it was the only way the company could compete in a crowded marketplace. But in those last few minutes he started to shake and couldn’t breathe. He took a walk and reflected on his values and decided he didn’t have to sell. He walked away from the deal.

Second: Listen with genuine interest. Reciprocity in relationships is about being respectful of others thoughts, allowing them to express their contribution to the situation. Being a good listener opens the door to a more comprehensive understanding of issues and better decisions.

Through exhaustive due diligence, Pangea Organics products and packaging is one of the most sustainable on the market. One day an employee in the shipping department realized the glue they were using for the package labels was not of an organic or sustainable origin. When the individual brought this to the attention of Joshua Onysko, founder and CEO of Pangea Organics, he immediately acted on this employee’s finding and contribution to the company’s core value of sustainability.

Third: Honestly Express Yourself. In its purest form honesty means our words match our values, which match our actions. Simply put, be trustworthy. Create trust and you create confidence. Speak from your heart, let your true voice come out, share your thoughts to create value and opportunities.

When the son of Dr. Stephen R. Covey, author of The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, took over his father’s company, sales doubled and profits went up over 1,200 percent. How did he do this? His character and competence were trustworthy and he extended trust to others. The synergistic effect of being trusted and giving trust unleashed a level of performance the company had never experienced before.

Fourth: Be Appreciative. Don’t be afraid to tell others why and how you appreciate them. We all like to receive praise no matter how small our efforts are. When we do, we become energized and motivated to do more.

The Golden Banana Award came about when a Hewlett-Packard company engineer burst into his manager’s office to announce he’d just found the solution to a problem they had been working on for quite a while. In his excitement to acknowledge the accomplishment the manager handed the employee a banana from his lunch with the words, “Well done! Congratulations!” This novel expression of appreciation has over time become one of the most prestigious honors bestowed on an inventive employee at HP.

A letter to an employee’s family telling them about the employee’s recent feat and what it means to you and the company, a recognition lunch, a call from the company president, or a wall of fame will measurably increase employee performance and loyalty.

Fifth: Practice Servant Leadership. In Robert K. Greenleaf’s book, Servant Leadership, A Journey into the Nature of Legitimate Power and Greatness, Greenleaf makes the case that, “The difference in the care taken by the servant-first leadership model is to make sure that other people’s highest priority needs are being served. The best test is: do those served grow as persons? Do they, while being served, become healthier, wiser, freer, more autonomous, more likely themselves to become servants? And, what is the effect on the least privileged in society? Will they benefit or at least not be further deprived?”

Strong and successful organizations have a culture of service that goes beyond just filling the order in a timely fashion. Authentic leadership requires us to acknowledge that we didn’t do it all by ourselves. As we serve all the relationships in our life we begin to authentically appreciate that only through our reliance on others do we create real value.

Art Volkman, president of The Volkman Group LLC, a leading executive search firm in the healthy living and wellness market, screens dozens of candidates each year for senior leadership positions. When conducting a search he says, “A key factor I look for in making sure there is a good match for an organic company is passion and a sense of mission. The most successful candidates don’t see their work as a job, but as a calling. They can have the functional expertise to do the job, but if they don’t possess the higher ideals of the sector’s mission, they’re usually not successful.”

When the Roll is Called in 2020
Our actions today will shape our legacy as we strive to build sustainable organizations that create value. When the challenges of today have been met will your business possess the leadership to grow tomorrow?

Charting our path within this vision and mission is an exuberant challenge, and an opportunity to redefine the future of the organic industry. We need to envision ourselves life size—as a true economic engine in the creation of social and market capital. Your authentic leadership is a powerful energy source propelling the organic sector towards a bright future.

The organic sector’s success is primarily because people melded individual ambitions and beliefs into a social movement that has become a steward of the collective vision. We are a community of visionary learners in which people continually expand their capabilities to understand the complexity of human interaction with the natural environment.

This learning paradigm helps us understand the systemic forces that shape change and prevent us from losing our commitment to the ideals of a safe, equitable and secure food system. Our core task as stewards is to hold the vision in focus and concurrently tell the truth about the present reality relative to that vision. Our personal and collective challenge is to never forget that the organic movement is a brilliant idea, in progress.

To maintain the level of innovation that we’re known for in packaging, product development, fair trade practices and environmental stewardship we need to be at the cutting edge. To do this we must ask tough questions that go beyond long-held management beliefs. Questions such as: Is this a process, belief or paradigm worth challenging? Is it limiting? Does it get in the way of our adaptability? Is it universally valid? Are there other examples? If so, what can we learn from them?

When we empower our employees to ask these kinds of questions about our own business we create a decentralized organization where everyone is responsible for all key operating decisions, including pricing, ordering, staffing and product development.

Whole Foods Market is a living example of this leadership model where the organization is focused on the team instead of the store. Each department team gets to vote on whether or not new members are accepted into that team and are also held accountable for their department’s profitability. This peer selection process is used for all new employees throughout the company, even at headquarters. Team leaders, in consultation with store managers and employees are also encouraged to stock those products they feel will appeal to local customers.

This decentralized model of leadership creates workplace transparency and places critical decision making in the hands of those who will be most directly impacted by the consequences of those decisions. It encourages people to innovate and gives them leadership responsibility. This is a radical departure from standard supermarket practice where national buyers dictate what each store will carry and manufacturers pay slotting fees to get their products on the shelf.

We’ve Arrived, Now What?
The dramatic mainstream success of the organic sector has created a situation where organic food consumption has outpaced production. Yet all over the world we still find farmers hesitant to make the switch. According to the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM), “The worldwide organic movement has now progressed beyond being a niche production and market situation. Therefore, further growth and extension of networking and partnerships are essential.”

This growth has been made possible by the integrity of our certification process. The frequently heard question now is how do we simultaneously protect and expand the value of organic? Is the value of organic purely defined within the triple bottom line framework or is there a new definition we have yet to create?

As new, young entrepreneurs join our employee ranks do we have a systematic manner to impart to them the values of authentic leadership to ensure the next generation of social change leaders are adequately equipped to meet the future challenges of the marketplace?

We must be true to our original ideals and take bold steps to position the organic sector as a leader in the sustainability movement. To begin with we must:

• Protect fair pricing to farmers and workers and enhance social accountability.

• Develop a holistic approach to transition initiatives. If the organic marketplace is to continue to expand we need to create an approach that ensures retention of existing farmers and encourages entry of new farmers.

• Educate consumers. Consumers want to know where their food comes from and if it’s safe to eat. Increased transparency about our products would differentiate them from conventional products and uncover stealth ownership tactics.

• Partner with environmentalists. Environmental organizations carry the national debate about the dangers of “industrial” agriculture but rarely speak in favor of organic practices because we have not successfully reached out to these organizations and made the case that organic practices are environmentally advanced and profitable for growers.

The work of The Organic Center, a research-based nonprofit that generates credible scientific research on the environmental and nutritional validity of the organic process, is providing much needed hard core data to strengthen our position in the sustainability movement. Their ground breaking book Core Truths compellingly outlines the significance of organic agriculture in protecting people and the planet from pesticide contamination, the nutritional benefits of an organic diet, carbon sequestration that helps fight global warming, increased biodiversity in soils and reduced energy use.

• Link the organic label with other labels. Many people fear that coupling the organic label with other labels will diminish its value. We cannot go it alone any longer. It is time to link the organic food label with other labels such as fair trade, energy use and local food claims. As the German Foundation for Ecology & Agriculture reports, “Fair trade relationships are a basis and an important link between worldwide food security and the future development of organic agriculture and food culture.”

The organic label was the first marketplace achievement for sustainablity. By working together we can strengthen all of our triple bottom line efforts for a just and sustainable future. This new strength would also make “green-washing” of products much more evident.

All of Us are the Future
As leaders in the organic sector we face pressures to constantly reinvent our products to keep up with the latest fads and make the numbers. But people are looking for authentic leaders who are genuine, transparent, trustworthy and who make decisions based on higher ideals of what organic can do for society and the environment.

How these challenges are met is a collective responsibility and will determine our future. Will we remain on the cutting edge and help drive the sustainability movement? Or will we relinquish this role to the global food system and be passed off as a fad.

I (and believe I can safely say, “we”) believe that the organic sector is an indispensable partner in building a healthy, diverse, inclusive, cohesive and sustainable society that cares about all of its people. We are on a miraculous journey and need to show the world that the origins of authentic leadership are alive, well and innovating for the benefit of all.

R. Mark Davis, a consummate strategist, manager and thought leader, plays a vital role in helping organizations actualize goals, discover unrecognized opportunities, optimize leadership and develop strategic initiatives. He is the former COO of the Earth Conservation Corps, a national environmental learning organization and most recently served as CEO of The Organic Center. Currently, he is president of SRL Partners, a sustainability, social responsibility and leadership consultancy. A recognized leader and coach, Davis offers his expertise to forward-thinking organizations worldwide. You can reach him at rmd@srlpartners.com.