Authentic Leadership - Research Paper Example

Leadership Theory: Authentic Leadership from an Ethical Decision Making Perspective Question: Research on Authentic Leadership Authentic leadership is the model of leadership that emphasizes on the authenticity or the genuineness of leaders; the authentic leadership form of leadership demands that leaders should be authentic both in their private and public life, and that leaders should not double life, i.e. there should be conformity between the private life of leaders and the public life of leaders (Avolio & Gardner, 2005). This paper explores and analysis the theory of authentic leadership in light of decision making perspective; the exploration of the authentic leadership is done through reviewing various views of scholars on the meaning and the nature of authentic leadership. The paper also looks at the most suitable ethical theory that an authentic leader would base his/her ethical decisions in leadership on. A review of the literature on authentic leadership shows that there are generally two approaches to authentic leadership. These approaches are Robert Terry’s authentic leadership approach and Bill George’s authentic leadership approach. The main difference in these two approaches to authentic leadership lies in the fact that Robert Terry’s approach is practice oriented, while Bill George’s leadership emphasizes that authentic leaders should have the qualities that makes them capable of authentic leadership (Gardner, 1993). Despite this difference in attitude on authentic leadership, however, scholars are agreed that authentic leadership has some common features. The following are some common features or characteristics of authentic leadership. To begin with, leaders in authentic leadership are self-aware and genuine people. Authentic leaders are psychologically mature people who know themselves well; authentic leaders are self-actualized individuals who know their strengths and their weaknesses. This view on authentic leadership is supported by Avalio and Luthans; according to Avalio and Luthans, authentic leaders have positive psychological qualities of confidence, hope, optimism, and resilience (2004). This fact shows that authentic leaders are psychologically mature individuals. As genuine leaders, authentic leaders, therefore, do not pretend or hide their true-selves from the people lead; instead, authentic leaders act genuinely in their private and in their public lives; in making decisions, therefore, authentic leaders are quite genuine and honest. Secondly, authentic leaders are morally upright people. Living authentically and genuinely both in one’s private and public life demands that one should be morally upright. This is because since leaders are required to strictly observe the code of ethics of the organisation that they lead and to be role models to the people they lead, to be genuine and authentic, leaders should be morally upright so as not to pretend or to fake their behaviour. Luthans and Avalio support this view in their argument that authentic leadership and its development encompasses an inherent moral component (Avalio &Luthans, 2003). For Avalio and Luthans, therefore, authentic leaders must be morally upright individuals. For this reason, therefore, authentic leadership is characterized by morally upright leaders. Thirdly, authentic leaders are transparent. Transparency in authentic leadership means that authentic leadership means that authentic leaders are ready and willing to share their thoughts, their feelings and their emotions freely with the people they lead. This view is strongly supported by Luthans and Stajkovic in their argument that authentic leaders are self-regulated. What Luthans and Stajkovic meant by self-regulation in reference to authentic leaders is that authentic leaders are capable of aligning their intentions to their actions, thus being able to act and behave in a genuine and transparent manner (Stajkovic &Luthans, 1998). This fact, therefore, shows that authentic leaders do not hide their weaknesses and their failings; instead, authentic leaders humbly own up to their mistakes and apologize where necessary. The other important feature of authentic leaders is that authentic leaders focus on long-term goals. This view is emphasised by Bill George’s model of authentic leadership; according to Bill George’s model of authentic leadership, authentic leaders focus on the long-term shareholder value, and not the short-term goals. Bill George summarizes this view as follows, “we need leaders who lead with purpose, values, and integrity; leaders who build enduring organizations, motivate their employees to provide superior customer service, and create long-term value for shareholders” (2003). Another characteristic of authentic leadership is that authentic leaders are mission driven and they aim at achieving the objectives of the organisation that they lead. Since authentic leaders are genuine in their work, their main objective is to see the organisation that they lead succeed. Avolio and Gardner support this view when they argue that authentic leadership is a genuine form of leadership that guarantees organisational success (Avolio & Gardner, 2005).For that reason, authentic leaders are dedicated to achieving the organisation’s goals and objectives. Question 2: Ethical Theory Suitable for Authentic Leaders Having explored the meaning of authentic leadership, let us look at the theory of ethics that is most suitable for authentic leaders in making ethical decisions in leadership. A critical look at the various theories of ethics given in chapter five of Craig Johnson’s book, the book that we have used in class, shows that Kant’s Categorical imperative is the most suitable ethical theory to guide the authentic leaders in making ethical decisions. This is because Kant’s categorical imperative theory of ethics is quite compatible with the authentic leadership model. The following is an explanation of how Kantian categorical imperative is compatible with authentic leadership. Firstly, Kantian categorical imperative demands that in making ethical decisions, we should always act in a manner that we would like our way of acting, i.e. the choices that we make, to be made into a universal law. What this means in essence is that, in making ethical decisions, we should always make decisions that we would like any human person faced with the same situation and the same circumstances to make. This view is perfectly in line with the main principle of authentic leadership which demands that leaders should be authentic. To be authentic means to act in a manner that we would like other people to act towards us. This fact, therefore, shows that Kantian categorical imperative and the authentic leadership model are compatible. Secondly, the Kantian categorical imperative demands that in making moral decisions, we should always treat human beings as ends in themselves, but never as means to some ends. What this means is that, in making moral decisions, we should treat human beings as beings with inherent value. Again, this view is perfectly in line with the principles of authentic leadership. This is because authentic leadership demands that leaders should always act genuinely, without pretending what they are not. This in essence means that authentic leaders should always act in a manner that is genuine and in a manner that respects other human beings. This fact, also, shows that Kantian categorical imperative is quite compatible with the authentic leadership style. For these two reasons, therefore, the Kantian categorical imperative theory of ethics is the most suitable theory of ethics for the authentic leaders. References Avolio, B.J., & Gardner, W.L. (2005). “Authentic Leadership development: Getting to the Root of Positive Forms of Leadership”. The Leadership Quarterly. Avolio, B. J., Luthans, F., & Walumba, F. O. (2003). “Authentic leadership: Theory building for veritable sustained performance”. Working paper: Gallup Leadership Institute, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Ibid. 2004. Gardner, J. W. (1993). “On leadership”. New York: The Free Press. George, W. (2003). “Authentic leadership: Rediscovering the secrets to creating lasting value”. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Stajkovic, A. D., & Luthans, F. (1998). “Social cognitive theory and self-efficacy: Going beyond traditional motivational and behavioral approaches”. Organizational Dynamics. Read More