Authentic leadership: development of a new three pillar model

This paper aims to summarise a new model of authentic leadership derived from research with senior leaders in the UK.

The model was developed and tested using three independent samples: 140 business leaders, 54 senior military officers with 390 independent raters and 303 business leaders.

A 15-item, self-report, three-component measure of authentic leadership was obtained from testing across samples. The three components measure an individual’s capacity for self-awareness, self-regulation and ethical behaviour.

The paper contributes to the authentic leadership literature through the creation of a short authentic leadership scale that could be used in leadership research and which simplifies and unifies previous conceptualisations of authentic leadership. The three-pillar model offers guidance to HR practitioners looking to design leadership development interventions.