Chapter 11

Chapter 11:Authentic Leadership Description • It is about authenticity of leaders and their leadership • It is a formative phase of development Authentic Leadership Defined • First,Authentic leadership can be defined by looking at the intrapersonal perspective, which focuses closely on the leader and what goes on within the leader ◦ It incorporates the leader's self-knowledge, self-regulation and self-concept ◦ In Shamir and Eilam's (2005) description of the intrapersonal approach, they suggest that authentic leaders exhibit genuine leadership, lead from conviction, and are originals not copies ◦ This perspective emphasizes a leader's life experiences and the meaning he or she attaches to those experiences as being critical to the development of the authentic leader • Second,Authentic leadership can be defined as an interpersonal perspective. ◦ This perspective outlines authentic leadership as relational, created by leaders and followers together ◦ It results not from the leaders efforts alone, but also from the response of followers ◦ This leadership emerges from the interactions between leaders and followers ◦ It is a reciprocal process because leaders affect followers and followers affect leaders • Third, authentic leadership can be defined from a developmental perspective ◦ This perspective views authentic leadership as something that can be nurtured in a leader, rather than as a fixed trait ◦ this leadership develops overtime and can be triggered by major life events such as a severe illness or a new career • Walumbwa et al., (2008) conceptualized authentic leadership as a pattern of leader behavior that develops from and is grounded in the leaders positive psychological qualities and strong ethics ◦ They suggest that authentic leadership is composed of four distinct but related components: self-awareness, internalized moral perspective, balanced processing, and relational transparency Approaches toAuthentic Leadership • Authentic leadership can be differentiated into two areas: ◦ The practical approach, which evolved from real-life examples and training and development literature ◦ The theoretical approach, which is base don findings from social science research PracticalApproach Robert Terry's Authentic Leadership Approach • Terry's approach to authentic leadership is practice oriented • It utilizes a guide for “how to do” leadership • At its core, the approach is action centered: ◦ It focuses on the actions of the leader, leadership team or organization in a particular situation • The moral premise underlying this approach is that leaders should strive to do what is right • Terry advocates that two core leadership questions must be addressed: ◦ First, what is really, really going on? ◦ Second, what are we going to do about it? • Authentic leadership involves correctly answering these questions ◦ It includes knowing and acting on what is “true” in yourself, in your organization, and in the world • Terry developed the Authentic Action Wheel to help diagnose and address underlying problems in organizations • Look at Figure 11.1AuthenticAction Wheel • To answer the two questions above, two steps are required: ◦ 1. Locate the problem on the diagnostic wheel ◦ 2. Strategically select an appropriate response to the problem • Locate the problem on the diagnostic wheel. ◦ This is accomplished by doing an assessment of employees and their organizational concerns ◦ Base on the assessment, leaders can identify on the action wheel the real concerns of the organization ◦ For example: If employees make comments such as “We seem lost” or “Nobody cares around here”, their concerns would be diagnosed as a problem related to mission • Selecting the appropriate response to the issue ◦ After a problem is identified, the wheel is used to encourage leaders to explore alternative explanations for the problem and to select a response based on that information ◦ For example, If employees seem to be struggling with issues related to power and who is in control, leaders may wish to pay attention to the mission of the organization and the goals and objectives of the people involved • TheAuthenticAction Wheel is a visual diagnostic tool to help leaders frame problems • Leaders, with their followers, locate the problem on the wheel and then strategically respond to the major issues of concern • The Terry approach encourages individuals to see things differently and more clearly • It urges leaders to be authentic or “true” to themselves, their organization, and their world and to base their actions on what is really going on in the situation Bill George's Authentic Leadership Approach • Focuses on the characteristics of authentic leadership • It describes the essential qualities of authentic leadership and how individuals can develop these qualities if they want to become authentic leaders • Based on George's findings, he found that authentic leaders have a genuine desire to serve others, they know themselves, and they feel free to lead from their core values • Authentic leaders demonstrate five basic characteristics: ◦ 1. They understand their purpose ◦ 2. They have strong values about the right thing to do ◦ 3. They establish trusting relationships with others ◦ 4. They demonstrate self-discipline and act on their values ◦ 5. They are passionate about their mission • LOOK AT FIGURE 11.2 • George found that authentic leaders have a real sense of purpose ◦ They know what they are about and where they are going ◦ Authentic leaders are inspired and intrinsically motivated about their goals ◦ They are passionate individuals who have deep-seated interest in what they are doing and truly care about their work • Authentic leaders understand their own values and behave toward others based on these values • George suggests that authentic leaders know their “True North: • They have a clear idea of who they are, where they are going, and what the right thing is to do • Authentic leaders do not compromise their values, but rather use those situations to strengthen their values • George states that this approach has strong relationships ◦ Authentic leaders have the capacity to open themselves up and establish a connection with others ◦ They are willing to share their own story with others and listen to others' stories • Self-discipline is another dimension of authentic leadership ◦ It is the quality that helps leaders to reach their goals ◦ Gives leaders focus and determination ◦ Leaders establish objectives and standards of excellence, self-discipline helps them to reach these goals and to keep everyone accountable ◦ Self-discipline gives authentic leaders the energy to carry out their work in accordance with their values ◦ Authentic leaders with self-discipline are able to stay focused on their goals ◦ They are able to listen to their inner compass and can discipline themselves to move forward, even in challenging circumstances ◦ Self-discipline allows authentic leaders to remain cool, calm and consistent • Last, George approach identifies compassion and heart as important aspects of authentic leadership ◦ Compassion refers to being sensitive to the light of others, opening ones self to others, and being willing to help them ◦ He argued that as leaders develop compassion, they learn to be authentic ◦ Leaders can develop compassion by getting to know others life stories, doing community service projects, being involved with other racial or ethnic groups, or traveling to developing countries TheoreticalApproach Background to the Theoretical Approach • Asummit was created and focused on the nature of authentic leadership and its development • Two sets of publications emerged: ◦ 1.Aspecial issue of Leadership Quarterly ◦ 2. Monographs in leadership and Management • Walumbwa et al. (2008) defined authentic leadership as “a pattern of leader behavior that draws upon and promotes both positive psychological capacities and a positive ethical climate, to foster greater self-awareness, an internalized moral perspective, balanced processing of information, and relational transparency on the part of leaders working with followers, fostering positive self-development” • Gardner et al. (2005) created a model that frames authentic leadership around the developmental processes of leader and follower self-awareness and self-regulation • Ilies, Morgeson, and Nahrgang (2005) constructed a multicomponent model that discuss the impact of authenticity on leaders and followers happiness and well-being • Luthans and Avolio (2003) formulated a model that explains authentic leadership as a developmental process. Components of Authentic Leadership • Walumbwa and associates (2008) conducted a comprehensive review of the literature and interviewed groups of content experts in the field to determine what components constituted authentic leadership and to develop a valid measure of this construct ◦ There research identified four components: ▪ Self-awareness ▪ Internalized moral perspective ▪ Balanced Processing ▪ Relational TransparencY • LOOK AT FIGURE 11.3 • Self-awareness refers to the personal insights of the leader ◦ It is a process in which individuals understand themselves, including their strengths and weaknesses and the impact they have on others ◦ Includes reflecting on your core values, identity, emotions, motives and goals and coming to grips with who you really are at the deepest level ◦ It includes being aware of and trusting your own feeling • Internalized moral perspective refers to a self-regulatory process whereby individuals use their internal moral standards and values to guide their behavior rather than allow outside pressures to control them ◦ It is a self-regulatory process because people have control over the extent to which they allow others to influence them ◦ Others see leaders with internalized moral perspective as authentic because their actio