Leadership : The Main Factor Of Organizational Success

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,

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

May, R., Chan, A., Hodges, T. & Avolio, B. (2003). Developing the moral component of authentic leadership. Organizational Dynamics, 32, 247-260.

Good leaders are often recognized for their qualities of genuineness and authenticity.  Authenticity is the quality of being real or true.  The public perception of an authentic person is the same or

In an organization, authentic leadership can help to improve the overall culture and financial aspects by providing something that is consistent; when something goes wrong if the company backs up their promise to the customers to make it right, the customer will return. Just as if a leader or manager, is always indecisive it will have a negative impact on the culture within the organization. 
Overall, I believe that being an authentic leader is important to the success of a company or a cause, because without the above mentioned aspects, I believe that there could be

Authentic leaders develop self-awareness, test their values under pressure, find their sweet spot, build support team, and integrate all aspects of their life.

As one of the more contemporary frameworks, examination of authentic leadership remains in the early stages of development. The Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (ALQ) provides a tool for further research; however, challenges to whether authentic leadership is sufficient in producing positive outcomes arise when examining whether behaviors of authentic leaders supersede other critical leadership skills. Researchers may choose to combine authentic leadership with related theories to explore how authentic leadership influences follower behaviors and outcomes (Walumbwa et al., 2008).

Leaders are responsible for influencing followers to perform actions, complete tasks, and behave in certain manners. Effective leaders also influence processes, stimulate change in attitudes and values, and amplify empowerment and self-efficacy of their followers, as they foster the internalization of corporate vision. The nurturing aspect of leadership can also raise an organization’s culture and employee’s values to higher levels of ethical behavior. By demonstrating ethical leadership we promote a high level of integrity that stimulates a sense of trustworthiness, and encourages subordinates to accept and follow our vision (Mickey, 2013).

Authentic leaders know who they are, know what they believe in and value, and act on those values and beliefs openly

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.

Leadership is the process of motivating others toward completion of a common goal and/or task. Luthans & Avolio (2003) also introduced the concept of authentic leadership development, which is one of the many psychological perspectives of leadership. Authentic leadership is often defined as a pattern of transparent and ethical leadership behaviors’ that encourage openness in sharing information needed to make decisions while accepting followers’ input (Bass, 1999). I truly believe deep in my heart that I have a unique leadership style; I believe that I am a combination of an authentic and transformational leader. Transformational leaders are prone to instigate followers to amend expectations, perceptions with the ability to motivate workers toward a common goal.

The ethical, moral and authentic based leadership is very difficult to occur in all organisations. Different leaders would have different leadership style. Unethical leaders serve their self-interests through their charisma to power over followers. Transactional leaders try to change the followers’ attitude and behaviour through fostering the moral virtue. Ethical leaders use leadership to serve others through the social constructive way (Robbins et al., 2014, p.314). According to Gardner et al. (2005), there are three levels of authentic leadership:

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.

But the core ideas of authentic leadership have evolved and academics are continuously researching the theory and its validity further. The emphasis of the theory is on the leader’s legitimacy and how this can be strengthened through an honest relationship with subordinates. The theory values opinions and the theory has a strong ethical foundation, just as the concept of authenticity has had throughout history.

There is always a very strong relationship between leadership and organizational performance of an organization. Organizations are therefore on a continuous process to equip its leaders with the relevant skills to tackle the ever changing trends in the business world. Being aware of the major international trends in business helps leaders to take advantage of the ones that will favor a company on global markets. These markets evolve rapidly and hence they encourage competition of companies worldwide. This is done through the introduction of programs that are geared towards the transformation of their leaders in order to yield maximum profits. The commonest global trends in business today are globalization and d technology.