Being a great leader is no easy job.
Talented leaders must balance the input and needs of their followers while still ensuring the collective meets its goals.
They must carefully regulate their own behavior and emotions, recognizing these are contagious and can reflect on the image of their team.
Most importantly, skilled leaders ensure consistency between what they say and what they do, and take care to make decisions that allow them to sleep soundly at night.
The few of us who’ve mastered this balancing act can be said to have mastered the art of authentic leadership. And although it may seem challenging, this empowering and open style of command is within reach for even rookie leaders.
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Authentic leadership is
“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.”
Walumbwa, Avolio, Gardner, Wernsing, and Peterson, 2008, p. 94
This definition combines many key aspects of authentic leadership identified by researchers, including:
The facets of an authentic leadership style overlap substantially with conceptualizations of emotional intelligence (EI). For instance, Goleman’s four-dimensional model of EI includes the component of self-awareness.
Further, this model includes various competencies that overlap with authentic leadership, such as confidence and transparency, which are similar to self-esteem and openness and aimed at facilitating positive interactions with others (Goleman, 1995; Miao, Humphrey, & Qian, 2018).
Indeed, meta-analytic research has confirmed that the authentic leadership style is significantly and positively related to EI and that high-EI leaders can better discern when it is most appropriate to employ the authentic leadership style (Miao et al., 2018).
Leading theories of authentic leadership draw on a four-dimensional model of the concept (Neider & Schriesheim, 2011):
This four-factor model represents a major contribution to the study of authentic leadership and is a first step toward increasing its applications in practice through training and interventions.
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So what makes good, authentic leaders?
If a person possesses some of the following traits, they are likely to use the authentic leadership style effectively (Kotzé & Nel, 2017).
Unsurprisingly, these characteristics overlap significantly with the various components of authentic leadership’s four-dimensional conceptualization. For instance, critical evaluation skills can aid with balanced processing when making decisions, while empathy can aid with relational transparency.
To help illustrate the various applications of authentic leadership, take a look at the following real-life examples drawn from interviews and case studies.
One interview-based study exploring the intersection between work managers’ identities and authentic leadership highlights the challenges involved in balancing the authentic leadership style with your preferred leadership style (Nyberg & Sveningsson, 2014).
The managers in this study explained that they constituted a natural hub around which their workgroups and departments revolved. This meant they had a high level of impact on operational procedures and outcomes.
Consequently, the managers of this leader-centric organization found the principles of authentic leadership, which center around inclusion and worker involvement, to contrast with their natural approaches to leadership, which involved being forceful and dominant in decision-making and sometimes cutting collaborative processes short (Nyberg & Sveningsson, 2014).
Therefore, depending on a manager’s natural style of leading, what we consider an ‘authentic’ leadership style may not be authentic in the sense that it is inherent or feels natural to a given leader.
One study of skilled nursing facility administrators found that authentic leadership can be leveraged to bring about healthier and safer practice environments for nurses and their patients (Penrod, 2017).
Among the four dimensions of authentic leadership noted as important, internalized moral perspective was mentioned most often by the study’s interviewees (95%). In particular, administrators who maintained a genuine positive attitude, a willingness to ‘get their hands dirty,’ and regularly demonstrated appreciation for their employees’ work drove higher levels of job satisfaction.
Likewise, an internalized belief in the importance of patient safety among administrators would translate into better formal and informal training regarding safety procedures (Penrod, 2017).
Authentic leadership shown by principals and other education leaders can be especially powerful during challenging times of change.
One study conducted in Thailand followed the principal of a small primary school 100 kilometers west of Bangkok. Principal Somchai was recognized as an illustrative case of someone who effectively used the authentic leadership style to navigate the impact of over 20 years of nationwide educational reform (Kulophas & Hallinger, 2021).
When interviewed, Principal Somchai expressed a strong belief in involving teachers and parents in decision-making. This was reflected in the frequency with which he formally and informally engaged teachers, parents, and local community members to gather views and input on decisions.
He also noted the importance of being transparent when planned activities didn’t work out and would personally take on extra work during busy periods. Taken together, these actions motivated teachers’ engagement, reduced turnover, and nurtured a family-like atmosphere within the school community (Kulophas & Hallinger, 2021).
