Great leaders are authentic, genuine, predictable and stabilizing. Notice I didn’t say they were necessarily likable. Being likable is important and beneficial, but it’s not nearly as vital to great leadership as authenticity.

Being yourself is more important than being what others expect. They might disagree with your style, but they stay committed. When I use metrics to show leaders how they are perceived, the results are presented in two ways: First, they compare others’ perceptions to their own; second, they compare both scores to a normed, or national, scale. Among the more startling comments I make is that the normed scale is the least important thing on the page. Indeed, if they and their observers concur and the overall scores are low, I congratulate them — not for the scores, but for the agreement. If, in fact, they and their observers see the same things, regardless of raw scores, they are in a much stronger starting place for improvement than if the perceptions are wildly different, whether they rate themselves higher or their observers rate them higher.

All of which is to say that authentic leaders, coarse or refined, present themselves consistently and transparently. They see themselves for what they are, conduct themselves in a manner true to their values and take the risk of letting everyone in on it. Weak leaders try to politic their way through mine fields, and if there’s one thing for which land mines care not a lick, it’s one’s politics.

I have been advising leaders and executives for years about the importance of authenticity. It is among the most challenging work I do, because it runs counter to the undercurrent of informal influence in most company cultures — the ones that imply that conformity is the key to success, that weathervaning to match the wind is the way to go. It is my job to push leaders to identify their beliefs, maintain their ethics and identify with them publicly, especially when their beliefs may seem outside the mainstream.

When I help leaders identify characteristics that could impede their effectiveness, I make it clear that I do not intend for them to change who they are. Rarely is there something wrong with them. In fact, their attempts to adopt someone else’s style are their first steps toward failure. Their challenge is to recognize and manage their personal styles and to leverage them for maximum benefit while mitigating the risks.

In that last phrase lies the catch. To mitigate the risks, one must have enough self-knowledge to be able to draw upon appropriate characteristics at the right times and in the right contexts. Being authentic is not license to wade in unbridled and call shots with complete disregard for diplomacy. The power of authenticity must be meted out masterfully the way a race car driver applies the potentially destructive and overwhelming power of a highly tuned engine. When done well, the results can be inspiring. When abused, they can be devastating.

Leaders must combine the honesty and transparency of who they were as 9-year-olds with a wisdom that reflects their years of study and professional practice. They, their employees and their companies reap the rewards.

Ben C. Ochs improves productivity in companies through their leaders. He can be reached at bochs@palmeau.com.