Is Authentic Leadership More of Developed Than Born - Dissertation Example

Constituents of genuine leadership require a frontier of both the practice and science of leadership. In the current world, organizations are competing for leadership talent. Governments and businesses are concerned with developing leadership that will promote a sustainable world. The world is faced with finite resources, which calls for more attention to management and leadership qualities. The current leadership interventions aim at enhancing the self-awareness of leaders. In the previous regimes of leadership, charismatic leaders could use symbols, images, and rhetoric to perform above ordinary levels.

These leaders sacrificed everything to show their followers their commitment to achieving their vision. According to Burns (1978), such leaders were inspiring, morally uplifting, and focused on converting followers into leaders. They transformed several of their followers into leaders. However, not all charismatic leaders are morally uplifting. Some leaders like Joseph Stalin advantaged the group by destroying others. They eliminated other people's inclination towards leadership. Transformational leadership is characteristic of the leader throughout their life span (Avolio and Luthans, 2006).

These leaders are inspiring and visionary. Positive outcomes in the organization and within an individual emanate from transformational leadership (Judge and Piccolo, 2004). Leaders guided by self-interest make it difficult to invest time to develop their followers into leaders. Their moral perspective is typically stuck at determining their personal gaining from transforming others into leaders. They dislike changes in leadership positions and cannot judge the overall best course to pursue in transforming others.

An authentic leader is self-aware, moral-centered, transparent, and fair in decision-making (George, 2003). As individuals advance in experience and wisdom, they shift from individual performers to morally uplifting and focus on transforming followers.