Authentic Leadership

Abstract: There are numerous definitions of leadership, all of which contain elements related to people (the leader and the follower(s)), communicating in person or by the written word, actions (organizing, directing, coaching, and/or motivating), and for a purpose (meeting a goal(s) or accomplishing a task(s)) (ADP 6-22) (Fisher 2015) (Bolden 2013) (Hogan 2005). Additionally, everything done occurs within a given context. Effective leaders are poised, proficient, pertinent, and practical in the application of the art of leadership. This means leaders are ready to engage the group with effective methods and

As leaders whom practice self-awareness, are able to not only have confidence in their ability, to lead when facing difficult decisions or moments of dire stress in the workplace. Accepting and knowing these feelings can ultimately provide the user with useful information about difficult decisions when answers are not available through external sources.

The purpose of the study was to determine how people can become an authentic leader. Over the years, studies were conducted to establish the characteristics and personalities of an ideal leader. However, researchers failed to develop a clear idea of an authentic leader. In addition, in the past five years people had developed a deep distrust of leaders. Consequently, after people read Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the Secrets to Creating Lasting Value by Bill George, they wanted to know how they could become and remain authentic leaders. So, a research team was sent out to answer this question. As a result, researchers concluded that people life stories is what developed them into a great leader.

Situational and Authentic leadership are increasingly important skills to possess in today’s era of technological changes and availability and flow of information we have in this day and age. Leaders today must be able to adjust their leadership styles to the whatever situation arises as well as to the people who they are leading. Leaders are not limited to just use one style in one situation, being able to adapt appropriate styles to different situations will influence and help a leader succeed. A leader’s judgement, intelligence, cultural awareness, and self-control plays major roles in helping them choose the proper style and appropriate technique for the task at hand (Lau & Cronin, 1998).

The purpose of this learning journal is to demonstrate the development of my learning and understanding of the importance of self-awareness in relation to leadership. In order to pursue my personal growth and career development I have kept a record of collection of ideas throughout the entire class in order to improve my leadership quality to achieve my desired goals by maximizing my strength and minimizing the weaknesses. Hence, in this journal I have chosen the four areas of leadership which influence my interpersonal relationship as a leader.

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

Self-evaluation or “self-leadership” (Runn, 2011) forms a critical part of a leaders repertoire and some key blocks of the foundation for this persons leadership. If someone can ultimately say that they fully understand themselves, they will find it much easier to understand others around them.

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

Authentic leadership emphasizes that leaders must practice self-awareness, optimism, resiliency, balanced processing (valuing others’ input and all relevant information prior to making decisions), and relational transparency (being one’s self in all interactions). The authentic leader values bringing out the best in others and continually ensures that his/her behavior is both ethical and moral at all times (Laschinger, Borgogni, Consiglio, & Read, 2015). In order to be an authentic leader, a person must request and receive feedback with an open mind and take advantage of opportunities to explore one’s self, which often results in the individual feeling vulnerable (Kerfoot, 2006). Vulnerability is uncomfortable for many due to our society’s emphasis on being autonomous

People don’t deserve good leadership unless it is recognize as an inherent component within us as individuals. And if the critical thinking involved in self-reflection is

I believe my former manager was authentic in his effort to be a company man. He was for the organization and concerned mostly about building morale during a time that the Cuyahoga County was freezing pay raises and promotions. Morale was at a low point and as a result job performances suffered. Employees began to be okay with doing the minimum or what was required and nothing more. Our department meetings were bombarded with the “be glad you got a job theme,” and that got old very quickly. My manager tried to infuse in our meetings some humor and come up with ways to keep us engaged and interested, but in my opinion failed on all accounts to build morale. As a matter of fact, most people spent more time looking for jobs and writing

Just as every story has an ending, every season of life has a close. As the final days of the semester draw near, a time of contemplation and reflection is due. This semester’s journey in the Eagle Scholar Leadership Program has been one of the most personally rejuvenating and challenging times, as the semester’s focus was on self-leadership. Self-leadership, or the practice of leading oneself first in order to more effectively lead others in the future, is one of the greatest lessons and actions that a leader can do to improve their leadership capabilities. Too often, leaders focus on outside behaviors and principles to develop their leaders. However, true change begins inside. Though arguably the hardest area in which to truly grow, as self-leadership often requires brutally honest self-evaluation and change, it has the greatest impact on development as a leader. Throughout this semester, I have had the opportunity to observe, learn and implement the following

“To become a leader one must be self-assured, assertive and self-sufficient” This is required to successfully overcome the obstacles that present us with life and work, and to scale the hierarchical structure of a company or organization. Unfortunately, these characteristics are precisely what often limit people to create teams or be an effective communicator.

There are always chances and possibilities to become a good leader regardless the odds against you, gender, age, race, education, previous experience, etc. This paper defines what leadership is and it explains the relationship between leadership and influence. It also highlights the importance of finding opportunities to develop skills and creating strong to become a good leader. It is also emphasized the power of influence that comes from motivating your team, to improve performance and satisfaction and that setting a clear goal is mandatory for good leadership. The conclusion summarizes all the topics under discussion.

The final section is a summary of learning acquired from the assignment that is useful to the author’s own