The Theory Of Authentic Leadership Essay

What comes to mind when you hear the word leader? Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy? According to Webster's Dictionary, a leader is "one who leads." After participating in the Leadership Program, I have learned that a leader is hard to summarize.

One of the most important factors that affect child development is the relationship of the child with their primary caregiver. This is a tenet of developmental psychology known as attachment theory. John Bowlby, the creator of this theory, wanted to examine how early childhood experiences influence personality development. Attachment theory specifically examines infant’s reactions to being separated from their primary caregiver. Bowlby hypothesized that the differences in how children react to these situations demonstrates basic behavioral differences in infancy that will have consequences for later social and emotional development.

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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

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

According to Webster’s Dictionary, leadership is the power or ability to lead other people, the act or instance of leading. I believe that Leadership is an art, the art to get others to follow and accomplish a common goal or task in a harmonic manner. A leader can be shown in all kinds of shapes and forms. To be a great leader many people believe it consists of modeling the way, inspiring a shared vision, enabling others to act, and encouraging the heart. Over the course of me learning how to become a better leader and being in leadership roles, I’ve learned that all these are very necessary to be a great leader.

In general, we are familiar with the quote managers do things right while leaders do the right things. In essence, the analytical versus the holistic approach of leadership addresses these two separate and distinct functions within an organization. For instance, a manager focuses on the daily operations of an organization with an emphasis on team delivery, budgeting, and supervising the employees. Contrarily, leaders within an organization focus their time on improvements and innovation. In particular, leaders can perform this function since they are not culpable for routine tasks and mired in the minutia. As a result, there is a misnomer that managers are leaders and leaders remain managers, but they are not exclusive. Therefore, being a manager and a leader requires different abilities and dispositions.

Attachment theory was introduced by British psychologist John Bowlby (1978). In this theory, he explains attachment style as “any behavior in which a person attains and seeks to maintain a relationship with a specific and clearly identified person who is judged by the individual to be able to better cope with the world” (Williams, 2010, p. 204). Bowlby thought that this theory applied to children as a working model that will develop through their life. Later, Mary Ainsworth proved that the attachment style of children and infants depends on their previous background regarding the bonds they create which have been influenced by primary attachment caregivers (Williams, 2010). Those previous experiences have direct connections to the attachment styles that the children will develop as young adults. As a result, attachment style was classified by phycologists in the following three categories: secure, avoidant, and anxious-ambivalent (Levy, Blatt, & Shaver, 1998).

My idea of leadership is being able to inspire others, motivate, set a vision, communicate, respect others, and of course, lead by example. A leader must have an honest understanding of who they are, what they know, and what they are capable of. To be a successful leader, you have to be able to convince your followers, not just yourself or your superiors, that you are worthy of being followed. In my opinion, this can build confidence in their followers to have faith in you, in order to be able to lead. I strongly believe that good leaders are made rather, and not born. If you have the desire and willpower, you can become an effective leader. Good leaders are developed through a never ending process of self-study, education, training, and

Although trait and skill theories have ideas that can be intertwined and can be compared

In order for a leader to be a leader he/she must begin with the assumption that you are the one who matters most. As a leader you have to possess that level of confidence in yourself that you are capable of leading yourself “before you can lead others”. And when you develop this belief then you are better able of affirmative influence “on others”.

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

Different attachment styles between leaders and followers are studied in a paper entitled Leader and Follower Attachment Styles: Implications for Authentic Leader–Follower Relationships in 2013. Attachment Theory is relevant to this study since authentic leadership argues that the leaders and followers are influenced by their personal histories. Attachment Theory states that individuals are influenced by both early developmental experiences and relationships later in life. How people interact with others leans toward three styles of attachment: secure, insecure-ambivalent and insecure-avoidant. The researchers argue that people who are securely attached are most likely to exhibit authentic leadership skills. Their research reviews how secure attachment is positively related to each of the four components of authentic leadership; self-awareness, relationship transparency, balanced processing and internalized moral perspective (Hinojosa, Davis McCauley, Randolph-Seng, & Gardner, 2014).

One of the topics in organizational development today is leadership. Leadership is what individuals do to mobilize other people in organizations and communities. According to Kouzes & Posner, there are five practices and ten commitments of exemplary leadership. The five practices of exemplary leadership include: Model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart. In the Leadership Challenge, Kouzes and Posner found similar patterns and actions of leadership that created the essentials to achieve success. Utilizing the research conducted by Jim Kouzes and Barry Posner, I have created a leadership plan that would apply to the Admission Department at Texas Wesleyan University.