An authentic leader is one who modifies their behavior in accordance with the situation such that they can effectively respond to the need of their followers. Authentic leaders demonstrate four main characters:
- Understand and respond to the core of the organization;
- Must know who he/she is and how this self-knowledge can be applied to leadership;
- The leader must know to draw the line between closeness and distance;
- Communicating decisions keeping in mind the followers and their interests and feelings.
In the case of Whitman, she is a leader who is compellingly aware of her environment and organization. She is aware of the organizational business and places her judgments right. That is why when Howard Schultz requested her to take off Nazi artifacts from being auctioned on eBay, she agreed. This was her way of responding to the situation.
Whitman is aware of her weaknesses and strengths as a leader and thus she states:
“I am a better leader, a better manager, a better executive than when I arrived as a youngster.”
She is a powerful person who uses her power as the leader of the company to help a follower when in need (for instance, in the case of an ill executive on the flight to India) and when she must maintain her reserve as the leader and maintain the distance.
The communication of Whitman to her followers is simple and clear – she wants them to understand the mission of the company and absorb it completely. She wants the employees to work with numbers and respond to her with it as it gives a clear picture. Her communication to the employees is businesslike, but when need be; she can be very sympathetic, and compromising.