Authentic Leadership Essay

When talking about leadership, one cannot help but wonder how it relates to nursing. If the focus of nursing should be caring for patients who are either well or ill, then why is there a need to tackle leadership? Unlike before, today’s health care environment is complex, rapid and continuously changing. This development prompts an upcoming danger to the nurse’s skills, identity and ability to coordinate with other health care professionals. On the other hand, this also makes nurses challenge their own into taking the lead, developing goals, consolidating a purpose and moving towards an attainable vision. A nurse leader then needs to combine clinical, administrative, financial and operational skills to effectively solve various clinical

Adding onto the core values of a strong leader. A responsible leader in todays world must be an exemplary model of five key characteristics. Authenticity, vision, integrity, creativity and service. Authenticity, is imperative in that if you are authentic you are able to offer more of your self to servicing others. George, B., Sims, P., Mclean, A., and Mayer, D. (2007) in their titled work “Discovering Your Authentic Leadership” discussed knowing your authentic self and that one of the most important aspects of an authentic leader is self-awareness. “knowing their authentic selves requires the courage and honesty to open up and examine their experiences. As they do so, leaders become more humane and willing to be vulnerable” (George, B., Sims,

An emerging leader is more likely to be an “I” leader as opposed to a more established leader who embodies the qualities of a “We” leader. One of the reasons an emerging leader is prone to be an “I” leader is due in part to society’s focus on personal accomplishments and contributions throughout a person’s early life; programmed by society to relish in their own personal accomplishments. On the other hand, a “We” leader has come to the consensus, through experience and self-actualization, that serving others propels you to becoming an authentic leader. Authentic leaders are servant leaders who shares power, puts the needs of others first, and helps people develop and perform as highly as possible pg. 181.

Authentic leaders are people who understand their purpose, have strong values and act on their values, demonstrate self-discipline, are passionate about their mission and as a result establish strong, trusting relationships with others , (George,2003).  By providing clarity about their purpose (vision and values) and demonstrating that they have a deep rooted interest in what they are doing and genuinely care about their work , Authentic leadership help’s shape individual and group behaviors towards attaining organizational goals. In addition, they show consistency in purpose and determination even in stressful circumstances through self- discipline. They give people a sense of security because they are self-directed and predictable in their behaviors.

After taking the leadership assessment quiz, I scored 164. My score mean that I range in the middle, where I am still considered new to leadership and have areas to improve. I agree with this score because there are some aspects that I don’t have experience in yet. For example I have not had the opportunity to work with budgets and delegating co-workers. My strengths are in my personal qualities such as my work ethic, positivity to continue to work towards goals, and problem solve while looking for answers in new or different ways. Overall I think my leadership style is a mix of Autocratic and Democratic because I can work alone to complete goals or dictate tasks to others but I also like collaborating with others, hearing their opinions, and

Avolio, B., Gardner, W., Walumbwa, F., & May, D. (2004). Unlocking the mask: A look at the process by which authentic leaders impact follower attitudes and behaviors. Leadership Quarterly, 15(6), 801-823.

Defining authentic leadership has been of great interest in the field and has made for a starting point in measuring and operationalizing the concept. Currently accepted definitions of authenticity in leadership generally include some variation of a deep sense of self-awareness and intrapersonal congruence. Beyond those general characteristics there is not a widely accepted parsimonious definition of authentic leadership (Avolio, Gardner, Walumbwa, Luthans, & May, 2004; Avolio, Luthans, Walumbwa, 2004; Erickson, 1995; Hansen, Ropo, 2007; Harter 2002; Luthans & Avolio, 2003; Shledon, Gunz, Schachtman, 2012; Wang, Hsieh, 2013). For example, one study states that the “initial conceptualization [of authentic leadership] is obviously multi-dimensional…It contains elements from diverse domains-traits, states, behaviors, contexts, and attributions…Moreover, the observers or perspective involved vary from leader, to followers (at various ‘distances’), to possibly additional observers” (Cooper, Scandura, & Schriesheim, 2005, p.478). The authors also suggest identifying the key dimensions of authentic leadership to create a theoretically-based definition of the construct. Multiple conceptualizations of the same construct

Authentic leadership defined according to Anna M. Cianci, Sean T. Hannah, Ross P. Roberts, George T. Tsakumis (2014) as “… leader behavior that draws upon and

Authentic leadership defined according to Cianci, Hannah, Roberts, and Tsakumis (2014) as “… leader behavior that draws upon and promotes both positive psychological capacities and a

There have been theoretical attempts to articulate the construct of authentic leadership. However, measuring authenticity remains a challenge. Walumbwa et al. (2008) agree with this notion and note that shortage of empirical work on authentic leadership is essentially because of inherent complexity involved in measure authenticity of leadership behavior. In earlier attempts to measure authenticity, Terry (1993) suggests seven criteria to judge the reliability of our partial knowledge about authenticity. These seven criteria are: correspondence,

The role of the leadership is extremely important as it can maximize productivity, shape a positive culture and promote harmony within a community. To achieve this, key people must lead individuals and teams using an appropriate leadership style. Authentic leadership seems to be the most inspiring and important leadership approach in today’s society. “Authentic people are at the center of authentic leadership and authentic leadership is at the base of all positive, socially constructive forms of leadership” (Komives 66). Authentic leaders are self-actualized individuals who are aware of their strengths, their limitations, and their emotions. They also show their real selves to their followers. They do not act one way in private and another in public; they don’t hide their mistakes or weaknesses out of fear of looking weak. They are able to put the mission and the goals of the organization ahead of their own self-interest.

Leadership is such a simple term for such a complex phenomenon. As a child, I can remember adult phrases like “natural born leader” that contributed to my naïve notion of how leaders are preordained at birth with the gifts or qualities necessary for leadership, or at the very least nurtured by parents who were natural leaders. As a result, I never truly felt natural when called into leadership positions throughout my life.

I still struggle with feeling like there are enough hours in the day to do everything that needs to be done. I find that there are still many days that I will work 10 hours, then handle family commitments, then exercise, then try to spend time with friends, only to find that it’s time to go to bed and I haven’t checked everything off my to-do list. I have been trying to improve upon this skill in a few ways including, choosing to be proactive, carefully considering how making a commitment impacts my overall well-being, and using a new calendar so that I can clearly see what commitments I have already made and how adding a new one would impact my schedule.

While there will be a plethora of obstacles that I anticipate to face as a leader, I feel as though there a few fundamental leadership elements that will come naturally, and others that I will have to work hard to obtain and utilize. While authenticity and effective communication has always came naturally to me, I have always struggled with appealing to common ideals and delegating authority to members of a team. I hope to improve my leadership skills and overcome obstacles by learning from other successful leaders around me, and understanding that becoming a successful leader is a process that requires patience, and cannot be transformed overnight.

What makes someone an effective leader? Is it someone who is only focused on their own personal accomplishments and success? Or is it someone who puts the needs of their subordinates first? Any leader is never in a party of one. Leadership is by its very definition a person who is responsible for the guidance and direction of others. Therefore, leaders must not focus only on themselves, but instead focus on those they lead. As a Christian, it is critical to approach leadership from a biblical perspective for the glory of God. In this paper, I will discuss three key areas that I think drive an effective leadership approach from a biblical perspective: being trustworthy, using good judgement, and giving away credit.