Authentic Leadership for Age Diversity

Contrary to what some might believe a successful leader should represent, authentic leadership shows us that a leader is not someone who leads without being willing to follow. An authentic leader can and should be vulnerable, open, and the truest version of themselves. These leaders do not have all of the answers, and they are willing to admit it. This openness creates an environment of mutual trust and respect and ultimately creates a positive work

The generational span is exceedingly larger today than in the prior history of our nation. The multiple generations consist of the veterans 1922-1945, the baby boomers 1946-1964, the generation X 1965-1981, and, the generation Y 1982-1999, in addition, upcoming millennial generation born 2000-2016 (Murray, 2013). There frequently are misconceptions and misunderstandings based on the differing perspectives of each generation. Moreover, as an effective leader, one must comprehend and acknowledge the characteristics of each generation and utilize these individualities to mentor and motivate the staff they are leading (Hendricks & Cope, 2012). In addition to considering the impact of the generational

After reading the article by Farag, Tullai-McGuinesss, & Anthony (2009), I will reflect upon my experiences in a leadership role dealing with various different age groups through numerous situations. The discussion will include the generation I generally identify with, with whom I tend to work best with, and how this affects my unit. I will also reflect on the author's conclusions and recommendations and how they will likely affect my area of practice.

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,

The workforce is seeing up to five generations working together for the first time in history. People are choosing to work longer and delay retirement. Ultimately, the workforce could experience up to six generations working together. It’s the role of business leaders to embrace diversity and guide their teams to cohesion. Generational gaps can pose challenges in the workplace, but understanding each generation 's unique characteristics and skills sets will assist in effectively managing diversity to keep a peaceful coexistence.

Upon reflecting on the three main generations that comprise the workplace today, a few differences emerge. “Baby Boomers” grew up in a time when movements were prominent, the Vietnam War occurred, key figures were assassinated, the Watergate Scandal occurred, and television was introduced (Twenge et al., 2010; Schullery, 2013). Overall, “Baby Boomers” seem to exhibit a distrust of authority, value hard work, and want to enjoy their achievements (Robbins & Judge, 2015; Twenge et al., 2010). As such, they are results driven and give their utmost effort (Robbins & Judge, 2015). “Generation X” grew up in a time of computers, divorce, two career parents, MTV, and economic uncertainty (Twenge et al., 2010; Robbins & Judge, 2015). For the most part, they seem to exhibit the workplace behaviors of independence and a lack of commitment to employers (Twenge et al., 2010). They value a balance between work and life and place more focus on extrinsic rewards such as monetary compensation (Twenge et al., 2010). “Millennials” grew up in prosperous times with technology dominating the era and over-protective parents (Robbins & Judge, 2015; Schullery, 2013). Generally, they seem to place a greater value on employee benefits, leisure time, teamwork, and open communication (Society of Human Resource Management, 2004; Twenge, 2010; Myers & Sadaghiani, 2010). In addition, they have also been given the labels of “self-centered” and “entitled” (Myers & Sadaghiani, 2010).

Authentic Leadership: Emphasizes building the leader’s legitimacy through honest relationships with the followers that is built on an ethical foundation (Northouse, 2016). Dr. Hassan presents this leadership trait by having a dual role in both the civilian and military/veteran world.

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

For decades there has been extensive research on generations to better understand characteristics such as personalities, motivations, and work ethics to help current and future employers better understand how to engage targeted demographics. As a result, in recent years there has been a lot of dialogue around Generations X and Y as employers have tried to understand what attracts, retains, and engages these individuals in the workplace. It’s evident that not understanding and respecting these differences can lead to misunderstanding, miscommunications, mixed signals, and possibly the loss of talent within an organization. Over the next couple of paragraphs I will elaborate on each generation and highlight their values as it is important to

There are many challenges facing managers and leaders in current workforce. The variety of cultures, races and generations in today’s environment is making work harder. “Managing will also get even more difficult because of globalization, multi-generational workforce, dependency on technology, unethical behaviors and practices.” (Kaifi,2013,pg.217). In this paper I will talk about the three generations that we have had over the past sixty years – the Baby Boomer Generation, Generation X and the current Generation Y, known as Millennials. This rich mix of generations in the workforce can be attributed primarily to labor shortages experienced in many industries and the rising average age of retirement.

Today, four generations of Americans are represented in the American workplace: the so-called "Matures" who were born between 1900 and 1945, "Baby Boomers" who were born between 1946 and 1964, Generation Xers, born between 1965 and 1980 and the Millennials whose cohort began in 1981 and continues to the present. The purpose of this paper was to gain a better understanding of an individual from the Baby Boomer generation, in order to explore the patterns and markers that are significant to this generation. In addition, a discussion concerning a common conflict that occurs in the workplace between members of the Millennial Generation and the Baby Generation is followed by a summary of the research and important findings in the conclusion.

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

Effective leaders of my age are faced with a few challenges, quite a few actually. One being the generational divide that currently exists between four different workplace peer groups: Traditionalists, Baby Boomers, my age group of Generation X, and Millennials. Aside from increased global diversity, our workforce has mushroomed with generational cultures as well. Young associates of today are the future leaders of tomorrow, yet there is an obligation to honor the long-term commitment of our older associates. When bridging these distinct generations,

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.