Running head: AUTHENTIC APPROACH TO LEADERSHIP

Authentic Approach to Leadership

Rogelio Nava Jr.
Concordia University Texas

AUTHENTIC APPROACH TO LEADERSHIP

Authentic Approach to Leadership

In his text Leadership Theory and Practice, author Peter Northouse explains to the
reader the three perspectives that authentic leadership operates from. The first is from the
intrapersonal perspective, which values a leader who is genuine, original, and leads with pure
conviction. The interpersonal perspective prefers the authentic leader to be relational, and
emphasizes the need for followers and leaders to define the leadership role together. This
perspective also anticipates authenticity through meaningful interaction between followers and
their leader. The final perspective, developmental, regards authentic leadership as something that
can be cultivated in any leader rather than being an inherent trait that one has or does not have.
This perspective states that authenticity can be developed over a lifetime and is usually triggered
by life changing events. The four major components of authentic leadership include; selfawareness, internalized moral perspective, balanced processing, and relational transparency.
Some strengths listed include the fact that this approach to leadership is emotionally
appealing to the public as people will naturally turn to authentic leaders especially in times of
crisis or doubt. Authentic leaders help followers and the public at large to feel safe and secure.
A second strength is that authentic leadership provides a fairly clear road map as to how to
become an authentic leader. The various approaches to authentic leadership allow anyone to take
the steps necessary to lead authentically. This approach to leadership is also explicit in the moral
dimensions it encompasses. Leaders are charged with doing what is right and good for their
followers and society at large. Leaders who act authentically are aware of their values and place
followers needs above their own resulting in a positive environmental shift. Another strength of
this approach is that because it can be achieved by anyone, authentic values and behaviors can
too be developed over time. The idea is that anyone can do it. This approach can also be

AUTHENTIC APPROACH TO LEADERSHIP

quantified and measured using the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire, a validated theory based
instrument.
This approach is not without its criticisms though. The first is that its ideas and concepts
are not fully presented in an easily comprehensible way. The negative result of this new
approach is that it also lacks sufficient empirical data to support its claims. Critics also claim
that the moral component of this approach is not fully explained resulting in a disconnect
between how a leaders motives can influence the quality their leadership. Opponents also argue
that positive psychological capacities should not be included as components of authentic
leadership. Their reasoning for this is that doing so dilutes and broadens the construct of
authentic leadership itself making it less approachable and difficult to comprehend or measure.
A final criticism maintains that there is no clear link between authentic leadership and any
positive organizational outcomes.

AUTHENTIC APPROACH TO LEADERSHIP

Works Cited
Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and practice (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks: SAGE.