Authentic Leadership - Coursework Example

Student Name: Tutor: Title: Authentic Leadership Course: Authentic Leadership Introduction This article focuses on the importance of emotional memory in the relatively new phenomenon of authentic leadership. This article is written by Ladkin Donna and Taylor Stevens (2010). Authentic leadership is an expressing of the true self of a leader using authentic feelings with the intention of winning over the trust of the followers. This explores how leaders can use emotional memory to capture the interest and attention of the followers and make them identify with their situation. Emotional memory is a powerful tool that can be used by leaders to endear themselves to their followers. Emotions have a big impact on memory (Kensinger, 2004). This essay the main themes in the article, analysis of ideas, adequacy of literature review, contribution to theory, contribution to practice, and draws a conclusion on the entire work that has been presented in the article. The main themes in the article include authentic leadership and its build up by applying the true self, the role of emotional memory, and use of the magical ‘if’. This article has explored the enactment of the ‘true self’ as being an embodiment of authentic leadership. Authentic leadership comes out through the ‘true self’ where leaders might be perceived as authentic or not. Expressing of authentic feelings by a leader endears him or her to the supporters. The article has elaborated on how dramatic performances are created and the application of emotional memory. The authors describe how a leader uses his body to express the ‘true self’ that result into authenticity. Leaders have the ability of using dramatic performances to express authentic feelings that convince their supporters to perceive them as authentic. Emotional memory can be used to manipulate perception held by supporters and cause the leader to be endeared to them (Casasanto & Dijkstra, 2010). The ideas expressed in this article are coherent and easy to follow since they express important aspects of human character and dramatic performance. Emotional memory has been explained as an important element that can emphasize the authenticity of a leader. Bringing out the ‘true self’ has the paradox of making the leaders vulnerable although it makes him or her authentic. The article demonstrate that Preside Barrack Obama had mastered the art of conveying strong feelings not necessarily being emotional manipulative during the primary election campaigns. Obama did not show any arm movements in his delivery and had moderate voice modulation and there was absence of animation that is often traced to ‘actorly’ performances. The important phrase is ‘completely and authentically manifest’. There should be no acting like pretending to someone or something else or being fake. Being real and exhibiting authentic behavior is very important. The illustration of emotion can expressed subtly provided that it connects with a resonating truth of someone’s experience (Mather, 2007). Obama’s speech quietly connected with truths that are core to who Obama knows of his experience and himself. There is no element of acting but his message is congruent with and the delivery connects perfectly with the listeners at the kinaesthetic degree of shared human experience in the manner in which what he is talking about can be truly embodied. Showing real emotions and allowing others to see them can invite vulnerability. Some media commentary berated Hillary Clinton for expressing her weakness openly but at the same time applauded the expression authenticity. ‘Hillary’s Tears’ during the primary elections exposed her true self but more so made her vulnerable. Every part of emotion is associated with a specific physical action. Consequently, the action has to be selected considering the basis of the circumstances of the play. For the purpose of discovering all the elements associated with a particular action, actors play with various actions in the course of rehearsal and get to learn about the stumbling blocks inherent in showing action in certain ways. An actor would want to express their love for the other character but fear being rejected. The process is likened to finding competing commitments inherent in the complexity of human motivation (Casasanto & Dijkstra, 2010). The manner in which the ‘living contradictions’ are conveyed and embodied leads to enactments that are more authentic. Likewise leaders have to find ways of showing the contradictory elements of how they are feeling in certain contexts for the purpose of being perceived as acting authentically. Whereas there are disadvantages of expressing the true self, many studies demonstrate the importance of leaders showing their vulnerabilities in order to fully engage with and build trust within their followers. Followers identify with Leaders showing vulnerability hence leading to more influential and positive relationships between the followers and leaders. Leadership demands movement into settings that are beyond the status quo. The literature review is adequate and the authors have tried to use a variety of sources to explain and substantiate their theoretical claims on emotional memory and expressing true feelings in order to enhance authenticity. The authors, Ladkin Donna and Taylor Steven (2010) have explored literature from the 18th to the 21st Century in order to explore the development of the subject matter. They have used adequate peer reviewed journals to explore the topic and elaborate the issue of authentic leadership. Ladkin and Taylor (2010) have used elaborately Stanislavski’s works to explain their main points. Other researchers such as Sinclair, Snyder, Wilson and Grint work on leadership and art has been used in the article to advance and elaborate the main themes. The authors have used a mixture of journals, books, and edited books to build up the theoretical understanding of the subject. The literature review has explored expects of authentic leadership and emotional memory and how leaders can use their bodies to bring out their true self. The article has contributed uniquely to the degree to which leaders observe organizational code of conduct through addressing the expressed and aesthetic aspects of leading and aiming to propose the start of a theory of the manner in which embodied authentic leadership occurs. In the development of this theory, the authors commence by considering the ‘true self’ nature explaining the manner in which symbolic and somatic knowledge interact in the development of a sense of ‘sense’. Acting is a human activity that is very important in the realization of authentic performance as well as emotional intelligence (Mather & Sutherland, 2011). Method acting offers the theoretical foundation in considering practices that enhance the development of theatrical performance that are authentic. Authentic leadership is a new concept in the leadership theory and it first appeared in the fields of education and sociology in the 1990s. The concept is challenging since an agreed, unified definition for authentic leadership has not been provided. Most authors view self-awareness as a critical aspect of authenticity. Moral leadership is strongly connected to authentic leadership in literature. Authentic leadership expresses the true self (Lord & Hall, 2005). The leader has to be informed of the nature of the self for the purpose of authentically expressing it. Moreover, the self is inclined normatively towards moral virtue forming a core of ideas that make up the existing authentic leadership theorizing. Authentic leadership has a paradoxical quality in that it does not always feel comfortable. In regard to practical contribution, this research provides plenty of opportunities for empirical research to explore its applicability in leadership besides developing and investigating its theoretical claims. Students and lecturers will find this topic interesting and use some of the arguments to learn more about emotional memory and how authentic leadership has an impact on the followers. This article has is a contribution to the psychological field narrowing on the aspect of personality development as well as leadership development. Obama and Mrs. Clinton used emotional memory in 2008 during the primary election to communicate their true feelings that endeared them to their followers. Leadership development can be achieved when leaders understand how to identify with their followers and communicate their true self without appearing to be manipulative. Obama successfully used this strategy during the primary election in 2008. Theatre-based leadership can be developed using the theoretical understanding elaborated in this article (Fields, 2007). Preforming arts will greatly benefit if practitioners understand how emotional memory and expressing oneself authentically provides the true feelings of the circumstances. Actors can best bring out their acts if they understand how to express what they feel inside externally. Leaders can understand the power of emotional memory and how to express themselves authentically to their followers in order to build trust and some form of identity (LaBar & Cabeza 2006). Organizational management can learn how to express themselves authentically so that they are believed by their workers particular during change management. Agents of change in organization has the duly to convincing the entire organization on the need for change and authentic expression is needed. Conclusion In conclusion, this article provides insights into the issue of authenticity in leadership and how leaders can their feelings, body and emotional memory to develop authentic leadership. It has been realized that dramatic performances are important in expressing the ‘true self’ and emotional memory can be used to emphasize authenticity. Leaders have an opportunity to chance how they are perceived by their followers using emotional memory and dramatic performances. Practitioners in performing arts can use authentic leadership to emphasize the authenticity of their actors. This article presents interesting ideas that can further be explored to advantage the field of psychology, sociology and leadership development in the political as well as organizational circles. Further empirical research can be explored to substantiate the theoretical claims in this article. The authors have explored a fascinating topic that can be applied in their theatre-leadership, organizational leadership, and development of personal leadership skills. References Casasanto D. & Dijkstra, K., 2010, Motor action and emotional memory, Cognition 115: 179–185 Fields, D.L. 2007, Determinants of follower perceptions of a leader’s authenticity and integrity, European Management Journal, 25 (3): 195-206. George, B. 2003, Authentic leadership: Rediscovering the secrets to creating lasting value. Jossey-Bass, San Francisco. Kensinger, E. A. 2004, Remembering emotional experiences: The contribution of valence and arousal, Reviews in the Neurosciences 15 (4): 241–251. Ladkin, D. & Taylor, S.S. 2010, Enacting the ‘True Self’: Towards a theory of embodied authentic leadership, Leadership Quarterly, 2(1): 64-74. Lord, R.G., & Hall, R.J. 2005, Identity, deep structure and the development of leadership skill. Leadership Quarterly, 16, 591-615. LaBar, K.S. & Cabeza, R. 2006, Cognitive neuroscience of emotional memory, Nature Reviews Neuroscience 7, 54-64 Mather, M. & Sutherland, M. R. 2011, Arousal-biased competition in perception and memory, Perspectives on Psychological Science 6 (2): 114–133. Mather, M. 2007, Emotional arousal and memory binding: An object-based framework. Perspectives on Psychological Science 2: 33–52. Read More