A Theory Of Authentic Leadership

Authentic leadership is a leadership style that is transparent, morally grounded, and responsive to people’s needs and values. A leader that has the genuine desire to serve others and lead from their core values of doing the right thing, established a process of trusting relationship with others, shows self-discipline to reach his or her goals and keep everyone accountable (George, 2003). A leader that based on life’s experience and the meaning he or she attaches to those experience.

The concept of effective leadership is a topic that has been widely debated by individuals and professional leaders in many societies. In Kevin Cashman’s book, Leadership from the Inside Out: Becoming a Leader for life, the author reveals that leadership is defined through a person’s understanding of their internal nature, rather than the values, beliefs, and morals a society claims that a leader should possess. Even though Cashman does acknowledge the importance of the societal view of leadership, he argues that true leadership is defined by an individual’s understanding of their internal essence. In each chapter Cashman strongly debates that leaders lead by virtue of who they are. He defines this outlook on leadership as the Inside-Out Leadership Method. This is a method that allows an authoritative figure to develop a strong understanding of their physical, mental, and spiritual essence to lead others towards a mutual goal.

Authentic” in its original sense means “genuine, original, not a fake” (Shamir & Eilam). Authenticity is also understood as the alignment of one’s behavior with one’s inner values, beliefs, convictions whether they good or bad. Authenticity does not imply that it is concerned with positive, ethical, or moral behavior, it is more concerned that you are passionate and are true to yourself and knowing who you are (Cooper, Scandrua, & Schriesheim, 2005). This is a pretty accurate description of the leadership style of Airbnb’s CEO Brian Chesky. Brian has proven to be a leader in today’s world and this paper will give some insight as to he got to where he is now.

Every leader has their own idea of what effectiveness looks like (Jones, 2015). For this study, authentic leadership will be the focus, as defined by Avolio, Gardner and Walumbwa (2004) an individual acting according to their values and convictions, building credibility and the respect and trust of those that follow. Authenticity is a choice that individuals must choose to embrace instead of a character trait that comes from within (Murphy, 2012). Outcomes of authentic leadership remain limitedly researched both theoretically and empirically (Miniotaite & Buciuniene, 2013). Authentic leadership lacks empirical evidence between the leader’s perception and the follower’s perception (Peus, Wesche, Streicher, Braun, & Frey, 2012). Wang, Sui, Luthans,

Three weaknesses of authentic leadership are: lack of trust demonstrated from top to bottom and vice versa, a lack of development due to the infancy of this theory and the pursuit with passion can lead to a blind pursuit. Trust must be given in order to receive it, if managers are not being fully authentic with their employees, the trust and level of commitment expected will never be reciprocated. Although John usually displays this trust to his team, he is only human and at times, as with any other manager or person, people are not trustworthy. For example for years, Big Hospital has preached that everyone is a family, yet, due to certain circumstances, there had to be a lot of layoffs, and whether granted or not, this is looked as being deceitful or not being honest with your employees. The second weakness of authentic leadership can be related to its infancy and its lack of leadership development. Fusco, T. (2016, p.119) argues that the next challenging frontier is to establish genuine leadership development. Often times, leadership seems to simply fit someone’s personality, however, leaders must continue to read and develop oneself to become a better leader, either through experiences or personal training. Big Hospital provides continued training for all its employees, and although some may take it more than others, employees are often encouraged to take training classes. Lastly, the third weakness of this theory is that of a “blind pursuit” or following an idea with

The most significant thing in a true leadership purpose statement is authenticity according to Mrs. McKnight. Webster’s defines

In order to let us reach out more easily and make better connections with people, Leadership Presence gives us three rules to follow: listen to build relationships, acknowledge the person, and share ourselves. However, as the authors describe in the early part of the book that the elements of leadership presence, being present, reaching out, expressiveness, and self-knowing, build on and gain power from the preceding element, the rules for each element are also cumulative, and we cannot fully apply the rules without considering and practicing the rules before them. We would not know what we could acknowledge to the person, unless we have intently listened and understood what he or she has expressed. As a result, when we try to reach out to

The impact from learning about interpersonal skills and leadership has engaged my citizenship at work and in my personal life as well. Leaders must have a solid understanding of how their emotions and actions affect the people around them, especially with the many challenges and opportunities that arise when working with others (Philips, 2012). The better a person relates and works with people the more successful he or she will be. The characteristics

The journey that will assist in building a credible leader encompasses a self-assessment of an individual’s guiding principles

In brief, authentic leadership is defined as a “leadership that emphasizes building the leader 's legitimacy through honest relationships with followers which value their input and are built on an ethical foundation” (Authentic Leadership, n.d.). As leaders, they create close, trusting bonds with their followers through their transparency and their drive to serve their followers (Northouse, 2016). Practical approaches to authentic leadership are linked to a set of five initial characteristics that individuals need to possess. These include motivation, well developed values, strong relational connections, self-control and passion (Northouse,

The theory of authentic leadership has continued to develop since 1966 (Gardner, Cogliser, Davis, & Dickens, 2011). This is a relative new leadership theory and there is no single accepted definition of authentic leadership (Northouse, 2010). Authentic leadership can be defined using three different perspectives to include intrapersonal, interpersonal, and developmental (Chan, 2005). These perspectives include looking at the authenticity of the leader, the relationship between the leader and the follower, as well as the impact of the leader on the follower. For purposes of this study “Authentic leadership” is defined as

Herminia Ibarra’s article in the Harvard Business review titled “The Authenticity Paradox” presents an interesting perspective on leadership. She emphasizes the importance of authenticity as an effective leadership tool, but cautions against an oversimplified understanding of the term. Authenticity is often associated with integrity and being honest and true to oneself, which according to Ibarra, should not be interpreted so rigidly in the workplace as it may “hinder [one’s] growth and limit [one’s] impact” (Ibarra. 55). The author defines an authentic manager as one who, while remaining true to his core values, is able to adapt to various situations, play politics when required; someone who is able to wear different hats and alter their behaviors and actions to the situation that demands it. He is someone who is not afraid to step outside of his comfort zone, is willing to try different ideas, admit his mistakes and move on to the next project or activity. Furthermore, the authentic manager is able to find a proper balance between closeness and detachment with his employee.

Authentic leaders create healthy enterprises for the long term and almost without exception, emerging leaders have solid values and a sense of purpose. We are looking to make a difference, to contribute to a worthwhile cause through our work and to find a reasonable balance between our work and home lives. In addition, to work where we trust the leaders and share a common set of values is essential to the chemistry involved in organizational leadership. “We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully” (Romans 12:6-8, 1984, NIV).

Herminia Ibarra’s article in the Harvard Business review titled “The Authenticity Paradox” presents an interesting perspective on leadership. She emphasizes the importance of authenticity as an effective leadership tool but cautions against an oversimplified understanding of the term. Authenticity is often associated with integrity and being honest and true to oneself, which according to Ibarra, should not be interpreted as such in the workplace. The author defines an authentic managers as one who, while remaining true to his values, is able to adapt to various situations, is able to balance closeness and distance with his employee. The authentic manager is someone who steps outside of his comfort zone, is willing to try different ideas, admit his mistakes and move on to the next project or activity.

The article is about authentic leadership and about being an authentic person so that authentic leadership can come about. The authors also refer to authentic living as behavioral integrity. Behavioral integrity by the authors' definition means to be true to oneself to be honest with oneself internally as well as for one's thoughts, actions, and words to be united in intent and content. Behavioral integrity additionally refers to behaving with integrity, that is to practice integrity through the demonstration and playing out of one's behavior. These traits and practices, the authors argue, make for the foundation of authentic leadership. The authors write about authentic leadership as a way to say that there is a great need in the workplace across all fields and industries for a great deal more authentic leadership.