Guy Bloom, an executive coach and editor of the Executive Coaching Blog Site, thinks it was.

Obama talks from the heart, he is authentic. Being honest I’m not really in a situation to say whether his politics are sound, whether his budget adds up but do you know, “that doesn’t matter”. When you decide to ‘follow’ a leader the majority of the tme you never really know the facts as they get to see them. . . . So what are you really buying into? Simply whether or not you actually trust the person, the human being, the fact that if it all goes horribly wrong, even if you don’t really get it, you trust them to make a decision that you can and will believe in.

Some might argue that authentic leadership also means “walking the walk,” not just “talking the talk.” Trust, as Bloom emphasizes, is a key ingredient in authentic leadership. However, an executive who says one thing and does something else will neither be trusted nor endure as a leader.

Bloom admits that he does not follow politics closely. I’d venture to guess that most Democrats would say that Barack Obama is an authentic leader who can be trusted; most Republicans would argue that he isn’t. Ulimtately, any presidential candidate who actually makes it into the White House will be judged by his or her deeds, not just rhetoric.

So what might executive coaches say about the nature of “authentic leadership”?

A focus on trust is a good place to start. But consider how people talk about “building trust.” We naturally understand that trust doesn’t just happen. It is a process, a series of experiences between one person and another, or a group of others.

One of the best books around about leadership and trust is The Trusted Advisor. I highly recommend it. Although the book’s focus is on the relationship between consultants and their customers, the principles it lays out can be used to create trust in many kinds of relationships – between executives and their staff, between coaches and their clients, between politicans and voters.

The Trusted Advisor was written by David Maiser, Charles Green, and Robert Galford. Here’s their very useful list of “Common Traits of Trusted Advisors”:

1. Seem to understand us, effortlessly, and like us
2. Are consistent (we can depend on them)
3. Always help us see things from fresh perspectives
4. Don’t try to force things on us
5. Help us think things through (it’s our decision)
6. Don’t substitute their judgment for ours
7. Don’t panic or get overemotional (they stay calm)
8. Help us think and separate our logic from our emotion
9. Criticize and correct us gently, lovingly
10. Don’t pull their punches (we can rely on them to tell us the truth)
11. Are in it for the long haul (the relationship is more important than the current issue)
12. Give us reasoning (to help us think), not just their conclusions
13. Give us options, increase our understanding of those options, give us their recommendation, and let us choose
14. Challenge our assumptions (help us uncover the false assumptions we’ve been working under)
15. Make us feel comfortable and casual personally (but they take the issues seriously)
16. Act like a real person, not someone in a role
17. Are reliably on our side and always seem to have our interests at hear
18. Remember everything we ever said (without notes)
19. Are always honorable (they don’t gossip about others, and we trust their values)
20. Help us put our issues in context, often through the use of metaphors, stories, and anecdotes (few problems are completely unique)
21. Have a sense of humor to diffuse (our) tension in tough situations
22. Are smart (sometimes in ways we’re not)

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