Authentic Leadership Theory

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The construct of Authentic Leadership Theory is relatively new to the research of leadership. It was not until the late 2000s when several contemporary events suchlike the final crisis in 2008 in the United States along with other ethical scandals challenged scholars to research further from the conventional leadership theories that have left unanswered gaps on the study of leadership.

Definition of Authentic Leadership
Shapira-Lishchinsky & Levy-Gazenfrantz (2015) define Authentic Leadership as the genuine kind of leadership with a visionary and creative response to social circumstances. This genuine approach to leadership is composed by a combination of self-awareness, sympathy for the needs of followers, ingenuity, honesty and transparency in the relationship with the self and others. Walumbwa et al. (2008) refers to authentic leaders as the type of leaders that lead others remaining true to their own thoughts, beliefs and experiences with self-awareness, balanced processing of information, relational transparency with followers, and an internalized moral perspective. Background and Framework of the Theory Even though Authentic Leadership gained more attention on the leadership field on the late 2000s, early conceptions of Authentic Leadership were established before during the previous decade. Most of the earlier conceptions on Authentic Leadership were mainly linked to the movement of Positive Psychology (Seligman and Csikszentmihalyi, 2000) that promotes experiences of joy and happiness within the organization. Positive Psychology along with ethics is where the current research on this theory lies. Authenticity is the core element of the Authentic Leadership Theory. William & James (2015) define it as knowing one’s self and acting in accordance with that known self. Along with authenticity, as previously mentioned, Walumbwa et al. (2008) defined a pattern composed by four elements that is present in authentic leader’s behaviour: 1. Self-awareness Self-awareness refers to the leader’s understanding of its own identity and personal characteristics, including the strengths and weakness that will impact directly their decisions, behaviour and the relationships with the people they lead. 2. Internalized Moral Perspective An authentic leader’s internalized moral perspective refers to the leader’s adherence to a set of high moral standards or ethic codes aligned to his or her personal values and acting according to those standards by conviction and not as a result of external motivators or enforcements. 3. Balanced Processing of Information This characteristic refers to an authentic leader’s ability to gather convenient information from its surrounding in an objective manner, including feedback from the people they lead, and use it to make decisions and pursue the best interests for the organization and the people they lead. 4. Relational Transparency Frequently, leadership positions contribute to the manipulation of relationships or the withholding of information. Relational transparency refers to an authentic leader’s ability to present with other as his or her true self and to share information
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Expectations from followers from younger generations are demanding new leading forms according to their own definition of leadership.
From all the current leadership theories, Authentic Leadership Theory may be the adequate a possible solution to bridge the gap between Generation X, born between 1965 and 1980, and Generation Y, born between 1980 and 2000 (Mhatre & Conger, 2011). Also know as the millennials, Generation Y is currently entering the workforce and represents a challenge that has caught wide attention from researchers in the last years as their behaviour and expectations are very contrasting to their leaders’ management approach. The genuine approach to leadership that Authentic Leadership presents could be an effective way to overcome the barriers that both generations face in the organizational
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• Resiliency
Defined by Masten et al. (2009) as the positive adaptation in the context of significant adversity, resiliency has shown that leaders who are well prepared for adversity respond favourably to negative situations and influence positively their followers (Luthans, Norman, & Hughes, 2006).

• Self-efficacy
Concept defined by Albert Bandura (1997), self-efficacy refers to how well an individual takes action to deal with unpleasant or negative situations. In the leadership context, the importance of self-efficacy lies on the confidence to take risks to achieve both personal and organizational success (Luthans, Norman, & Hughes, 2006).

With the previously described developable strengths, Luthans, Norman, & Hughes (2006) propose a development model for authentic leaders. New times demand new role models, and Authentic Leaders represents the essence of a genuine kind of leadership that organizations demands

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