This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on December 12 - 18, 2016.

It is December, and the year is coming to an end. In three weeks, we will bid farewell to 2016 and welcome the New Year. And what a year 2017 is promising to be.

Next year will see the passing of the White House from President Barack Obama to President-elect Donald Trump in the US. The world waits in anticipation for what Trump will do and undo in his first 100 days in office. But one thing is clear: it will not be business as usual for the US and her allies. New friends, old foes — all these will impact the rest of the world.

The New Year will also see the exit of the UK from the European Union. How British Prime Minister Theresa May navigates the exercise will be crucial to Britain’s future, and maybe for the rest of the Commonwealth.

And what of German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s chances: will she survive the German election? These are no small events and many are gazing into their crystal balls to see what impact they have on global geopolitics.

The coming and going of leaders has always been the subject of great discussion. Countless theories have been formulated to explain why some leaders are more successful than others — why some last and lead their followers to the “promised land” while others falter and fail.

Closer to home, the posturing and the grandstanding of politicians from both sides of the political divide recently provided enough entertainment for the average Malaysians. On the stage of one party holding its general meeting, long-standing rivalries were cast aside as sworn enemies shook hands and stood shoulder-to-shoulder in a show of solidarity.

On another stage, a display of unyielding loyalty took centre-stage. Party warriors fell over themselves in their attempts to show uncompromising support for their supreme leader.

In the midst of all the hoopla, one certainty emerged: the Malaysian general election is just around the corner. While the incumbent government can rule until 2018, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak, who is also Umno president, hinted in his concluding address that the election could happen sooner than later. Heady stuff, really.

From these developments, like many Malaysians, I look forward to the emergence of a leader who will lead our beloved nation to its rightful place again in the pantheon of great nations. I seek an authentic leader.

In 2003, Harvard professor Bill George wrote a book called Authentic Leadership, which proposed a new kind of leader, whose character was the ingredient that mattered most — more than characteristics or style.

His book challenged older models of leadership, including the locally popular Great Man theory and competency-based leadership models. It was refreshing, and it provided a new model of leadership based on genuine, mission-driven individuals who lead with their hearts. I think Malaysian politics needs leaders like this.

Authentic leadership is an approach to leadership that emphasises building the leader’s legitimacy through honest relationships with followers and are built on an ethical foundation.

Generally, authentic leaders are positive people with truthful self-concepts who promote openness.

Since the publication of George’s book, the debate over which form of leadership works best seems settled, in my view. Most leading companies that I know are focusing on developing “authentic leaders” within their ranks. Executive courses on authentic leadership at Harvard Business School and even our local graduate schools of business are oversubscribed and expanding every year. As the Harvard Business Review declared in January 2015, “Authenticity has emerged as the gold standard for leadership.”

The notion of an authentic leader in Malaysian politics is very enticing. In our existing environment, more often than not, local leaders pander to the gallery and seek expediency over authenticity, and in doing so, run rough shod over the trust invested in them.

Authentic leaders challenge the notion that “leadership is acting”. And it surprises me when these same leaders seem shocked or confused when their followers do not trust them, do not like them and cannot really work for them.

Authentic leadership relies on persuasion and persuasion relies on trust. Trust is the most important asset that any organisation or individual can have. Most importantly, trust is not a scarce resource. We can all have more than we need. However, trust is fragile — once squandered, it is often impossible to regain.

But authentic leadership has its fair share of detractors who challenge the concept. This is a welcome development — growing acceptance of an idea often attracts contrarian critiques, which ultimately are healthy in clarifying our understanding.

Stanford University’s Prof Jeff Pfeffer, for instance, says,“the last thing a leader needs to be at crucial moments is authentic”. And Insead’s professor,

Herminia Ibarra, says, “We have to find a way to fake it till we become it”; and the most recent salvo came from Wharton’s Adam Grant, who wrote in the

June 5, 2015 edition of The New York Times, “‘Be yourself’ is actually terrible advice … Nobody wants to see your true self.”

But what really is authentic leadership?

While different theorists have different slants on the concept, many agree that authentic leaders are self-aware and genuine. They know their strengths, their limitations and they can control their emotions. They do not act one way in private and another in public; they do not hide their mistakes out of fear of looking weak.

Authentic leaders are also mission-driven. They are able to put the mission and the goals of the organisation ahead of their own self-interest. They do the job in pursuit of results, not for their own power, money or ego.

And finally, authentic leaders lead with their heart, not just with their mind. They are not afraid to show their emotions, their vulnerability to connect with followers. Those are the essence of authentic leadership.

While we have witnessed recent shows of perceived strengths from local leaders attempting to sway the Malaysian public to their way of thinking, the authenticity of their stands is suspect. It is timely then to remind Malaysians that demanding trust from our leaders is within our remit and trust and is the building block of authenticity.

Zakie Shariff sits on the board of two local universities and has a deep interest in developing strong corporate leaders

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