Authentic Leadership

Authentic leadership is a new approach to leadership in which leaders are genuine, self-aware, transparent, build honest relationships, and work on an ethical foundation. Authenticity is one of the core values of leadership. Authentic leaders have truthful self-concepts and they inspire by promoting openness by acting in a real, genuine, and sincere way. Authenticity requires self-awareness and the ability to act in accordance with one's true self.

Authentic leadership is an approach to leadership that represents one of the newest areas of leadership research and still in the formative stage of development. It focuses on whether leadership is genuine and “real.” Authentic leadership is about the authenticity of leaders and their leadership. Nowadays people demand trustworthy bona fide leaders who are honest and good. The leadership approach emphasizes building the leader's legitimacy through honest relationships with followers which value their input and are built on an ethical foundation.

Authentic Leadership

Given below are the three different perspectives to look at defining authentic leadership:

1. Intrapersonal Perspective

Focuses closely on the leader and what goes on within the leader
Leader’s self-knowledge, self-regulation, and self-concept
Authentic leader’s exhibit genuine leadership, lead from conviction and are originals, not copies

2. Interpersonal Perspective

Authentic leadership is relational, created by leaders and followers together
Results from both leader’s efforts and the response of followers
Authenticity emerges from the interactions between leaders and followers

3. Developmental Perspective

Authentic leadership can be nurtured
Develops in people over a lifetime
Can be triggered by major life events like severe illness or a new career

What are the four components of authentic leadership?

The model of situational leadership is still evolving but there seems to be growing consensus on the following four distinct components of Authentic Leadership:

1. Self-awareness:

An ongoing process of reflection and re-examination by the leader of his or her own strength, weaknesses, and values; a leader who is aware of their core beliefs is unlikely to stray from them. It includes knowing and acting on what is “true” in yourself (authenticity), in your organization, and in the world. The challenge for leaders is to distinguish between authentic and inauthentic actions, and then to commit to authentic actions over the inauthentic. Unless leaders know what truly is going on, their actions will be inappropriate and can have serious consequences.

2. Relational Transparency:

Open sharing by the leader of own thoughts and beliefs, balanced by minimization of inappropriate emotions. Authentic leaders have the capacity to open them up and establish a connection with others and build strong relationships. They are willing to share their own story with others and listen to others’ stories. Through mutual disclosure, leaders and subordinates develop a sense of trust and closeness. Authentic leaders are inspired and intrinsically motivated about their goals. They are passionate individuals who have a deep-seated interest in what they are doing and truly care about their work.

3. Balanced Processing:

Balanced processing is a solicitation by the leader of opposing viewpoints and fair-minded consideration of those viewpoints. It refers to an individual’s ability to analyze information objectively and explore other people’s opinions with an intent to consider it if found relevant, before making a decision. It also means avoiding favoritism about certain issues and remaining unbiased while making decisions.

4. Internalized Moral Perspective:

The moral premise is that leaders should strive to do what is right. A positive ethical foundation adhered to by the leader in his or her relationships and decisions that is resistant to outside pressures. Authentic leaders have a very strong conviction about what the right thing is to do. When faced with difficult situations, authentic leaders do not compromise their values, but rather use these situations to strengthen their values.

What are the characteristics of authentic leadership?

Authentic leaders are positive people
Authentic leaders are with truthful self-concepts
Authentic leaders promote openness by building trust and generating support
Authentic leaders are able to improve individual and team performance

Who came up with authentic leadership theory?

Ancient Greek philosophers stressed authenticity using the quote “Know thyself”. The concept originated in the 1960s to describe how an organization reflects itself authentically through leadership. Recently, authentic leadership has garnered more attention among scholars and practitioners but the concept is still in the initial stages of evolution.

Why authentic leadership is important?

Authentic leadership is an effective leadership strategy as it has shown to improve team performance. Authentic leadership has also been shown to promote trust in the group or organization, resulting in increased loyalty to the organization, increasing performance as a result. Research into the mechanisms of authentic leadership is still ongoing, but it is becoming clear that authentic leadership leads to an increase in individual and team performance. Research has shown that authentic leadership impacts an employee's job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and workplace happiness.

How do you develop authentic leadership?

Authentic leaders have a genuine desire to serve others, they know themselves, and they feel free to lead from their core values. Authentic leaders understand their purpose and passionate about their mission. They have developed strong values about the right thing to do and they work on building relationships and networks with others. They are self-disciplined and follow a value-oriented approach. One can develop authentic leadership by practicing and building these concepts and traits. Leaders should focus on these features to become authentic in their leadership style. Authentic leadership is a lifelong developmental process.

How do you practice authenticity?

A leader’s life experiences and the meaning he or she attaches to those experiences are very critical to the development of the authentic leader. George has listed five characteristics of authentic leaders that one should develop to practice authenticity. These five characteristics are purpose, values, relationships, self-discipline, and heart. He also suggests working on passion, behavior, connectedness, consistency, and compassion to become authentic leaders.

Who are the authentic leader’s examples?

A good example of an authentic leader who exhibited a passion for his goals was Terry Fox. Terry Fox was a national hero who has inspired many other Canadians and taught us about cancer. He was a cancer survivor, whose leg was amputated after it was overcome by bone cancer. Using special leg prosthesis, Terry Fox embarked on an east to west cross-Canada run, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, to raise awareness and money for cancer research. To produce his vision he had to influence others by being the active agent in the change he wanted to see in others. He died before he finished his run but also accomplished his goals to increase cancer awareness and to raise money for cancer research.