This case is about the CLIF Bar organization, and is presented from the perspective of the third person. It demonstrates authentic leadership which is a concept based in:

(a) self- awareness;

(b) balanced processing (i.e. seeking alternative, even contradictory, viewpoints);

(c) transparency and disclosure of relevant information; and

(d) morally based ethical actions. Authentic leadership is applying individual leader authenticity, which at the core represents being true to one's self, to the broader scope of leadership experiences that impact a leader's constituencies and organization. The case below will illustrate these points.

On the day of signing the contract, however, Gary Erickson, one of the owners, felt a sense of panic, so he decided to take a walk to consider his 'epiphany'. In that moment, being aware of his innermost thoughts, he realized he did not want to sell the company. He decided he was not going to give in to all the rational reasons that 'experts' gave him for selling the business, the primary one being the fact that key competitive products were recently bought by corporations with large marketing budgets; it was argued that CLIF Bar would never be able to compete at that level and would wither away under the force of immense competition. But on this day, Gary listened to his conscience and made a decision that went against these experts, including the co-owner of CLIF Bar, who would now have to be bought out. Gary defied the odds and decided to back out of the deal of a lifetime. He went on to buy out the other owner for over $60 million, even though he only had $10,000 in his bank account at the time.....

Questions 

1. What do you think the moral of the story is? 

2. Would we still call it effective leadership or even authentic leadership if CLIF Bar had gone bankrupt instead of increasing in revenues? 

3. How is CLIF Bar's authenticity expressed in its employment and environmental policies? What do you think the advantages of these policies might be?