Developing authentic leadership in organizations: some insights and observations
The Authors
John Garger, Consultant and Business Owner at Metronome Computer Services, Binghamton, New York, USA.
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the emerging concept of authentic leadership and provide some insights into its domain and development in organizations.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper sees that authentic leadership has become a recent buzzword finding its way into scientific journals, popular press, and newspaper columns.
Findings – The paper finds that the study of authentic leadership is relatively new; a working definition, a method of measurement, and criterion-based studies do not yet exist. As such, attempting to develop authentic leaders may only result in leaders who are trained to superficially exhibit authentic leadership behaviors.
Originality/value – The paper shows that when authentic leadership has been defined and is measurable, development of this type of leadership can begin. Until then, attempting to develop authentic leadership may result in negative outcomes.
Article Type:
Research paper
Keyword(s):
Leadership; Leadership development; Perception.
Journal:
Development and Learning in Organizations
Volume:
22
Number:
1
Year:
2008
pp:
14-16
Copyright ©
Emerald Group Publishing Limited
ISSN:
1477-7282
Introduction
Authentic leadership has become a recent buzzword finding its way into scientific journals, popular press, and newspaper columns. Many of these publications admit that authentic leadership is easier to recognize than it is to define. One publication even went so far as to admit before discussing authentic leadership that, “All definitions are arbitrary. They reflect choices that cannot be proved or validated” (Shamir and Eilam, 2005, p. 395). The purpose of this paper is to explore the definitions of authentic leadership offered in the literature and discuss their relevance to developing authentic leadership in organizations. Rather than cite every definition ever offered for authentic leadership, I will focus on some definitions and suggestions offered that have the greatest potential to influence future authentic leadership literature.
Why authentic leadership?
Based on the information we have on authentic leadership, it is understandable that having authentic leaders in an organization is desirable. However, attempting to develop authentic leaders before authentic leadership has been clearly identified can lead to disastrous results. For, example, rather than developing leaders to lead through honest values and convictions, we may be developing inauthentic leaders who exhibit socially desirable behaviors only to appear authentic. Although this may not be done with malice in mind, the results could completely destroy any relationships formed and make future leadership of the followers impossible.
Defining authentic leadership
Shamir and Eilam (2005) presented a framework for defining authentic leadership stating that authentic leaders:
- do not fake their leadership;
- do not lead for status, honor, or other personal rewards;
- are not copies but are original; and
- are leaders whose actions are based on values and convictions.
In addition, these authors indicate that their conceptualization of authentic leadership does not include leadership style – such as transformational, transactional, etc. It would seem then that authentic leadership involves the way in which leadership behaviors are delivered rather than comprising leadership behaviors itself.
Cooper et al. (2005) provide a framework for a process to define authentic leadership. These authors state that authentic leadership is multi-dimensional and that it contains elements from diverse areas such as traits, behaviors, and contexts. They also state that a definition needs to address the level (individual, team, organization) at which authentic leadership is expected to operate. In addition, they indicate that authentic leadership must be measurable and distinguishable from other extant leadership theories and/or behaviors.
Gardner et al. (2005) propose that one outcome of authentic leadership is the development of authentic followers. This is accomplished through an authentic leader's self-awareness and self-regulation. One component of this is the leader's transparency in dealing with followers. The idea here is that when a leader is transparent, his/her authenticity can more easily be viewed by followers because inauthentic motives cannot be hidden.
Toward an understanding of authentic leadership development
If authentic leadership is not a set of behaviors like other leadership theories posit, then the mechanisms by which authentic leadership manifests itself through these leadership behaviors must be apprehended before the study of authentic leadership development can begin. For example, if authentic leadership is a method of delivering leader behaviors, then just what are the differences between an authentic transformational leader and an authentic transactional leader? The idea that authentic leadership must be distinguishable from other leadership styles becomes more difficult when a defined set of leader behaviors cannot be identified as simultaneously authentic and not a part of some other set of leadership behaviors.
Without a reliable method of measuring authentic leadership, authentic leadership development becomes a moot point. How are we to determine if a development program is effective if we cannot measure the effects of the training to determine if a leader has become more authentic? Cooper et al. (2005) indicate that the predominant method of assessing leader behavior is through surveys and other written methods. However, if one of the outcomes of authentic leadership is the development of authentic followers, measurement of authentic leadership may be apprehended by investigating this follower development. And better yet, objective measures of authentic follower development have a twofold advantage:
- Measures of authentic leadership will not be solely based on perceptions.
- An outcome of authentic leadership will itself be a measure of authentic leadership.
Clearly, the authentic leadership literature has a long way to go before it becomes a viable domain of knowledge from which development programs can be developed. In addition, researchers have a difficult road ahead in differentiating authentic leadership from extant leadership theories particularly because methods used to understand those extant theories may not apply to apprehending an understanding of authentic leadership. At this early stage of its development, it is best to approach authentic leadership with caution until some concrete measure is available.
Conclusions
As discussed in this paper, authors have only begun to explore authentic leadership in organizations and a working definition has not been agreed upon to drive future studies. As such, attempting to develop authentic leaders may only develop leaders who are better able to express an image of authenticity. Until a viable definition is proposed, a measurement method is developed, and criterion-related research is published, organizations are advised to explore authentic leadership with caution.
References
Cooper, C.D., Scandura, T.A., Schriesheim, C.A. (2005), "Looking forward but learning from our past: potential challenges to developing authentic leadership theory and authentic leaders", The Leadership Quarterly, Vol. 16 pp.475-93.
Gardner, W.L., Avolio, B.J., Luthans, F., May, D.R., Walumbwa, F. (2005), "Can you see the real me? A self-based model of authentic leader and follower development", The Leadership Quarterly, Vol. 16 pp.343-72.
Shamir, B., Eilam, G. (2005), "What's your story? A life-stories approach to authentic leadership development", The Leadership Quarterly, Vol. 16 pp.395-417.
Corresponding author
John Garger can be contacted at: john@johngarger.com