Josh Cote of EAW Consulting believes authentic leadership is key to building a positive organisation

London-based business consultant Josh Cote believes leading by example and building credibility from first-hand experience is key to building an organisation.

EAW Consulting: About Josh Cote

While clarifying purpose, defining roles, and capturing projects are clearly fundamentals of building an organisation, EAW Consulting owner Josh Cote believes there are also crucial elements of leadership that will prove to be pivotal in the construction process.

The role of a business owner is to give guidance to others, and Cote believes leaders must set the pace and lead by example. This is because it is important to start building credibility from the off - everything is part of the company’s story and subsequent culture. When leaders fail to engage in this behaviour, they may actually be perceived as hypocritical - leading to dissolution in roles an increased likelihood of staff turnover.

Mr. Cote has spent almost 20 years advising businesses, and he strongly believes that the ultimate aim of removing hypocrisy from a given leadership style will contribute greatly to the potential success of a business or idea.

“Being able to speak from a point of personal experience when guiding others is invaluable. If you can look at your team in the eye every day and say you did their job role at some point, it creates respect,” states Cote.

Research has shown us that ‘authentic’ leadership styles like this create more trust among employees. Higher trust has been shown to be associated with bottom line outcomes such as increased employee performance, workplace satisfaction and overall commitment to the job - which means lower staff turnover.

The late author Stephen Covey once said ‘what you do has a far greater impact than what you say’, and this mantra is exactly what Cote wants adopted in organisations - role-model appropriate workplace behaviour from the leadership.

“Actions speak louder than words, and when a leader’s credibility stock is high, they’re seen as an asset to the company -and someone you want to be working for,” argues Cote.

The EAW Consulting owner believes that, irrespective of a leader’s strengths and weakness, endeavouring to remain authentic in all they do will serve the business well, and instil a level of trust in the processes, structures and systems put in place by the hierarchy.

To find out more about EAW Consulting owner Josh Cote, visit his website here: www.eawconsulting.co.uk

Sources:

https://www.forbes.com/sites/kathycaprino/2013/12/13/6-essential-ways-to-build-a-positive-organization/

http://www.smeclubmanchester.com/ask-the-experts/what-is-authentic-leadership-and-why-is-it-important/