Authentic Leadership

Based on research with 21 top executives, we have identified a measurable characteristic that highly effective leaders have in common: Leadership Development Level (or LDL). LDLs are developmental levels of maturity that shape the mental and moral capacities of the leader. While the highest LDLs are associated with authentic leadership, the theory behind LDL focuses on the leader's developmental understanding of his or her world, and how that understanding differs at each LDL. In this way, LDL describes the process by which leaders become authentic leaders. In this chapter, we explain what LDL is, how it works, and it's utility for understanding leadership development and leader effectiveness. Over the past century we have struggled with how to accurately identify and develop future leaders. The truth is we often know effective leadership when we see it and most of us know from experience the impact of poor leadership

This empirical research is to examine the relationship between project manager's authentic leadership style and job satisfaction of the civil engineers in Thailand. Attaining job satisfaction is crucial to retain productive and efficient employees. Therefore, one of the ways that may be effective help project managers in increasing the satisfaction among their followers is employing the right leadership style. Four authentic leadership characteristics which are self-awareness (SA), balanced processing of information (BPI), internalized moral perspective (IMP) and relational transparency (RT) are discussed. Base on literature review, most previous studies confirmed that these characteristics are significantly related to job satisfaction. An empirical study was conducted by 400 civil engineers in Thailand. The quantitative study applies a survey type of research design. The survey method using a structured questionnaire was utilized to obtain primary data from the participants. The collected data is then analyzed using descriptive statistics, Pearson correlation analysis and multiple regression analysis. The findings show that SA and RT are found to have significant relationship with job satisfaction. Characteristics of RT are found to be contributed most in job satisfaction.

The present study aims to examine the effect of authentic leadership (AL) on service innovative behavior (SIB) of employees
as well as to identify whether proactive personality (PP) mediates this connection at an individual level. The quantitative
cross-sectional study design was utilized to gather information from a study sample which consisted of 428 front-line
employees (FLE) working at banks located in North Cyprus. Specifically, the study uses confirmatory factor analysis (CFA),
correlation, structural equation modeling (SEM), and bootstrapping techniques to test the hypothesized relationships. The
results reveal that both AL and PP have a significant positive effect on SIB; AL has a positive impact on PP of FLE, and PP plays
a partial mediating role between AL and SIB of FLE. By relating the study findings, authenticity and proactivity in the banking
sector in North Cyprus play a critical role in fostering the innovative behaviors of FLE. The study also discusses the practical
and managerial implications, as well as the future scope.

Previous research has shown that if there is no congruence between an individual’s actions and value system, that person may feel stress or less satisfaction in certain areas of life. This research therefore aimed to explore which areas are affected, and to identify which practices enable South African emerging leaders to live out their values and which act as stumbling blocks.  More specifically, the problem addressed was to identify whether, through examining their lived experiences (phenomenological approach), emerging leaders were capable of achieving congruency between their own personal values, and how they work and socially live, with emphasis on authentic leadership in an interdependent world.  The research respondents completed a pre-designed ‘values assessment index’, consisting of a Lickert scale along thirty values dimensions. Each respondent had to list their top three values in the workplace and socially, and then qualitatively describe what they were going to do to overcome the stumbling blocks (circumstances impeding the living out of their values), and what they were going to do to further enhance the enablers (the condition which allowed them to already live out their values) for these top-three listed values dimensions.

Background and Purpose
The purpose of the current study was to assess the degree to which followers view authentic leadership as viable. Prior research
has suggested that authentic leaders are multiculturally competent and effective in the workplace. For authentic leadership to
thrive, it will help to better understand followers’ attitudes towards it. We investigated followers’ attitudes towards authentic leaders
along with other influential leadership styles. Additionally, we sought to further an individual difference perspective concerning
how followers view their leaders. We examined the relationship between followers’ level of social dominance orientation and
their attitudes towards authentic leaders.
Materials and Methods
We recruited 117 United States participants from Amazon Mechanical Turk. Participants read three prototypical descriptions of
alpha male, Daoist (an Eastern style), and authentic leaders. They provided likability and competence ratings for each leader and
then completed a measure of social dominance orientation.
Results
We assessed whether participants found the authentic leader viable compared to the Daoist and alpha male leaders. The data
indicated that the authentic leader was more preferred than the alpha male leader but less preferred than the Daoist leader. We
found that authentic leaders were rated most competent and more likable than alpha male leaders, but just as likable as Daoist
leaders. Additionally, the higher a participant’s level of social dominance orientation the less positive their attitudes towards communal
leaders.
Conclusions
Our results suggest that followers view authentic leadership as a viable alternative to existing paradigms of leadership. Followers
appear to find authentic leadership and Daoist leadership, both communal styles, more preferable than alpha male leadership. We
argue that followers with a general desire for inequality between social groups will tend to have more negative attitudes towards
authentic and Daoist leadership. Our results contribute to the field of leadership psychology by expanding our knowledge of the
personal characteristics predicting leadership preferences.

The past decade has seen a dramatic increase in scholarly interest in the topic of authentic leadership. We review this literature with the goal of clarifying the state of knowledge in the field. We begin with a historical overview of the construct's definition and evolution. Next, we present the results of a content analysis of 91 publications that focus on authentic leadership. Specifically, we examined the publication type (theoretical, empirical, and practitioner), contributors (e.g., discipline, nationality, and institutional affiliation), theoretical foundations, research strategies, sample location/type, data collection methods, analytical procedures, and nomological network of authentic leadership. We conclude by presenting an agenda for future research.

Scholarly and practitioner interest in the topic of authentic leadership has grown dramatically over the past two decades. Running parallel to this interest, however, have been a number of concerns regarding the conceptual and methodological underpinnings for research on the construct. In this exchange of letters, the cases for and against the current authentic leadership theory are made. Through a dialogue, several areas of common ground are identified, as well as focal areas where the cases for and against the utility of authentic leadership theory for scholars and practitioners sharply diverge. Suggestions for future theorizing and research that reflect areas of common ground are advanced, along with divergent perspectives on how research on authenticity and leadership should proceed. Despite their differences, both author teams found the dialogue in itself to be a healthy process for theory development, and encourage constructive future dialogue on other areas where theoretical perspectives diverge.

Structured Abstract: Purpose-The purpose of this paper is to fully explore and create an understanding of the widely-misunderstood phenomenon of self-love and its relevance and value to leadership and organisations. In discussing the impact of self-love on leadership, the potential to improve employee engagement using these findings is highlighted. Design/methodology/approach-This research was exploratory and qualitative in nature, examining an under-researched concept by exploring insights and perspectives from leaders on their understanding of self-love and their experiences with this phenomenon in relation to leadership, using a hybrid interpretive-phenomenological and social constructionist approach. The fieldwork was conducted through semi-structured interviews with 24 leaders and leadership advisors. Self-love was defined and deconstructed based on extensive literature review. and then compared to results obtained from the interviews. After fully unpacking the meaning of both what self-love is and is not, participants were then asked to describe its relevance to leadership, the impact and behaviours of leaders who were abundant and deficient in self-love, and ways in which self-love could be cultivated. Coding and categorisation was conducted using Atlas-ti computer-assisted, qualitative data software. Findings-Self-love is a rare, but vitally important, phenomenon, with a need for greater understanding of the concept. A definition and Constructs of Self-Love Model emerged from the research showing the essence of self-love to comprise of: self-knowledge, self