I run a boutique marketing agency, but despite our agency size, we work with some notable brands and growing, funded startups, but I am not going to sugarcoat it. Business has been slow. Earlier this year, we had a couple of clients who “put marketing on pause” despite the good metrics we were getting them, and a manufacturing client literally backed down from a contract because of the tariffs…….Continue reading….
By Al Sefati
Source: Entrepreneur
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Critics:
The defining characteristics of Authentic Leadership have been displayed as an inverse of those defining Traditional Leadership. In contrast to leading with goals, Authentic Leadership claims to lead with purpose. Revolving its coaching methods around the core value of preceding with self-discipline.
This varies from the traditional leadership approach by keeping morals in view at all times, lacking the toleration for shortcuts and keeping personal values as a close crucial element. These distinct habits have been described as “leading with the heart” and generally keeps a softer approach with the main basis being goal making, relationship building, self discipline etc.
Authentic leadership should be understood as a pattern of behaviors through which leaders exhibit the components of authentic leadership. Thus, it is insufficient for the leader to be self-aware, etc. without also conducting themself in such a way that others, particularly subordinates, view the leader as authentic.
Although the concept of authentic leadership as an actionable model is relatively new to leadership theory and practice, there has been some initial research regarding the overall effectiveness of the model as well as the inner workings of the model within teams and organizations.
This research has been used to explain what precedes the appearance of authentic leadership behaviors, what makes authentic leadership effective, and the consequences of adopting an authentic leadership style. These factors contribute to why authentic leadership works within teams and organizations.
Several leader characteristics may be important to the appearance of authentic leadership behaviors by leaders. For instance, both leader self-knowledge and self-consistency have been shown to act as antecedents for authentic leadership (the former being a static process of understanding one’s own strengths and weaknesses and the latter consistency between their values, beliefs, and actions).
This relates to the key components of authentic leadership: leaders first have to be clear about their values and convictions to be perceived as authentic by their followers and they have to demonstrate consistency between their values, beliefs, and actions.
Additional research suggests that leaders who act in accordance to the three components of positive psychological capital (PsyCap) (hope, optimism, and resiliency) are more likely to become authentic leaders. This is true for several reasons. First, leaders who can set and explain goals effectively create a more hopeful environment for their followers. Second, optimistic leaders have a greater ability to motivate their followers and help them more easily anticipate future events.
Third, resilient leaders are better equipped to function in changing environments in order to support their followers. High and low degrees of self-monitoring in an individual has also been suggested as an antecedent of authentic leadership. Self-monitoring reflect how likely someone is to actively construct a public image that aligns with the expectations of others.
It has been proposed that low self-monitoring leads to a higher degree of authentic leadership characteristics because low self-monitors and authentic leaders both act in a way that is consistent with what they believe and value. However, empirical research has not supported this theory thus far.
Among the proponents of authentic leadership, there are many theories regarding why authentic leadership is an effective leadership strategy. Authentic leadership has been shown to promote team members’ belief in the team’s ability to succeed, known as team potency, which has in turn been shown to improve team performance. This occurs because authentic leadership behaviors promote team virtuousness which, in turn, promotes team potency and performance.
Authentic leadership has also been shown to encourage team performance by promoting trust in the group or organization, because follower trust in the leader will encourage increased loyalty to the organization, increasing performance as a result. Other research has shown that the relationship between authentic leadership and both organizational citizenship behavior and empowerment is mediated by identification with supervisors.
This is because a follower’s interpersonal identification with their leader links leader and follower outcomes (in this case, empowerment and OCBs). It should be noted, however, that the article that these claims are based on was retracted amid concerns that the results were not reported accurately and the authors could not produce evidence to verify their claims.
Research into the mechanisms of authentic leadership is ongoing, but it is becoming clear that authentic leaders engender an emotional and/or psychological response from their followers that leads to an increase in individual and team performance. Initial research has shown that leaders who practice authentic leadership normally lead teams that perform better than teams with leaders who do not practice authentic leadership.
This is not necessarily surprising as the model itself arises from successful leaders who simply described what they did and put the label “authentic leadership” on that description. The academic model that has been developed over the years since the publishing of True North has largely resulted from the work of academics to further describe the model so that it can be researched and duplicated.
The basis of authentic leadership comes from the leader’s personal history, including life-events (often called trigger events) that direct the flow of leadership formation. How leaders interpret these personal histories and trigger events will inform their self-identity as leaders and influence their moral development and values, two essential components in the development of authentic leaders.
Because authenticity in leadership is rooted in being true to one’s own ideals of leadership and ethical values, authentic leadership is brought about through a lifetime of experiences and is resistant to traditional training programs. Development of authentic leaders involves guided self-reflection, building self-awareness through the use of a life-stories approach. An authentic leader who is aware of their core beliefs is unlikely to stray from them.
There is now emerging evidence that group-coaching is an effective approach to Authentic Leadership Development. It may also be facilitated by the intervention of developmental trigger events coupled with directed self-reflection. Recognizing leadership contingency theory, which suggest that leaders must adapt their styles and behaviors to be effective across different situations.
Some leadership development theorists have pointed out that only the most expert of leaders can incorporate the needs of varying situations and different or diverse followers into their own underlying value system so as to remain authentic while also being effective across diverse leadership contexts.
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