Leadership Factors
Authentic Leadership
Authentic leadership has been defined as a type of leadership that involves knowing and taking action on what is perceived to be real and true to the world as well as to the organization, the leader’s self, and the team. Further, authentic leaders have been described as leaders who are optimistic, confident, resilient, and hopeful. Besides, they have been observed to be people who are deeply aware in not only how they think but also how they behave (Avolio and Gardner, 2005). Authentic leaders have been found to possess high levels of integrity and they exhibit stronger commitments towards building the organization through self-discipline, value, heart, purpose, and relationships (Nayab, 2010).
Authentic Leadership Self-Assessment Questionnaire
Knowing whether an individual possess strong or weak qualities of an authentic leader can be done by carrying out a survey using an appropriate method. A personal assessment to understand degree of authentic leadership qualities was done as per Authentic Leadership Self-Assessment Questionnaire (Northouse, 2012). The questionnaire is organized in form of Likert Scale and comprise a list of 16 statements which a person taking the survey would have to tick a scale whether he/she strongly disagree, disagree, neutral, agree, or strongly agree. The Likert scale is ranked from 1 to 5 with 1 being strongly disagree and 5 being strongly agree. Scoring is done by summation of 4 responses among the 16 statements. A sum of four of the 16 responses tell whether a person has self-awareness, internalized moral perspective, balanced processing, or relational transparency. The highest score is 20 while the lowest is 4. People who respond with high scores of 16-20 are said to possess strong authentic leadership while those who respond with low scores of 15 and below are said to possess weak authentic leadership.
Scores of Authentic Leadership Self-Assessment Questionnaire
Total scoring was obtained by summation of four of the responses as shown in Table 1. The scores reveal whether one has self-awareness, internalized moral perspective, and balanced processing, and/or relational transparency. Upon taking the assessment, the following results were obtained.
Even after taking these assessments and interpreting the results, there is a feeling that the accuracy of the Authentic Leadership Self-Assessment Questionnaire is not accurate. However, it helps a lot in estimating one’s likelihood of being an authentic leader. The number of questions are few and that there are responses where the scale chosen is subject to many assumptions. For example, when a statement reads “Other people know where I stand on controversial issues” it becomes confusing. There is no absolute way of knowing whether people really know where one stands on controversial issues. The results of the assessment are not reliable and should not be used in making key decisions without the use of other methods.
The scores predict the kind of leadership one is expected to exhibit in real life situation. For example, low scores in self-awareness suggest that the person has a weak authentic leadership. Such a person do not understand his/her great weakness or strengths. Such a person do not accept things they have as themselves and they do not also seek feedback so that they can know themselves better. The same case for low scores in the aspect of ‘balanced processing’. This imply such a person, having a weak authentic leadership, rarely listen to others carefully prior to making decisions. Further, such a leader hardly ask the opinions of others before making a decision and for those whom they disagree with he/she do not regard their ideas. All these will contribute to leadership ineffectiveness. However, leadership effectiveness is enhanced due to the high scores in internalized moral perspective and relational transparency. For example high scores in these areas suggest such a leader’s actions reflects their core values. They are also hardly controlled by group pressure and their morals act as their guidance in their leadership. Further, they are effective in that they share feelings with others openly, admit when they make mistakes and also let others know about their true personality.
Being an effective leader requires one to possess key traits common in all effective leaders. One of them is being in a position to understand selves and others (Avolio and Garner, 2005). Having a great self-awareness is very important for a leader. An effective leader knows weakness such as procrastination, forgetfulness, disorganization, and other weaknesses. He/she also understand when they possess strengths which could be team leadership, communication skills, problem-solving, and management. Effective leaders also inspire their followers by revealing a bit about their lives. For example, they can tell stories of their lives which resonate well with their followers such as life during tough times and how they strived to overcome challenges such as poverty or discrimination. The current world is after results and effective leaders are known for their ability to deliver impressive results for a long period of time (Insights, 2014). Such results could be company profits, market expansion, or sales. It could be even a stronger economy with double digit growth. When it comes to compromises, effective leaders do not compromise on their principles. For example, an effective leader who is fighting for the rights of the minority cannot accept bribes so that he/she can shut up. Effective leaders also demonstrate a genuine desire of not only serving but also empowering those whom they serve. There could be a group of people in a community suffering as a result of environmental pollution by mining company. An effective leader would lead the community in making sure that their rights are upheld and besides that, they are compensated for any suffering they might have been subjected to. Alternatively, the mining company is compelled to assist the community in development projects as part of empowering them because their land is being exploited.
References
Avolio, B. J., & Gardner, W. L. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. The leadership quarterly, 16(3), 315-338.
Insights. (2014). Authentic Leadership – To thine own self be true. Retrieved from: http://insights.com/files/authentic-leadership.pdf
Nayab, (2010). Servant Leadership vs. Authentic Leadership: What are the Differences? Bright Hub. Retrieved from: http://www.brighthub.com/office/home/articles/73574.aspx
Northouse, P.G. (2012). Leadership: Theory and Practice. London: SAGE Publications.
