The definition of authentic leadership in the developmental sense reminds me of a recent experience at work and how my manager at the time handles the situation. The developmental definition views that authentic leadership can be nurtured in a leader, rather than a fixed trait and that it can be triggered by major life events (Northouse 2013). I believe my manager used past experiences to rise to the occasion during a difficult situation showing true authentic leadership. The theoretical approach to authentic leadership defines the four components of authentic leadership. Through self awareness, an internalized moral perspective, balanced processing, and relational transparency (Northouse 2013) my manager was able to show true leadership when our organization needed it most.
My facility processes human tissue for surgical transplant and from time to time we are audited by organizations such as the FDA. These audits can be very stressful as there are harsh consequences in this field for not being in compliance. During a particularly difficult audit, my then manager showed positive psychological capacities such as confidence and moral reasoning to conquer the challenge of this critical life event (PSU 2012). She was the quality assurance manager and took great pride in doing her part to make sure our tissue was safe for transplant. Past audit experiences gave her confidence, while her desire for safe medial procedures was her source of moral reasoning. These two factors put her in prime position to show the four qualities of authentic leadership according to the theoretical approach.
My manager showed a high level of self-awareness during this audit. She was well aware of the company’s values and mission and how they fit in with her own values. She knew her strengths and weaknesses and displayed this by answering more quality related questions and deferring to co-workers when their expertise was needed. She showed an internalized moral perspective when other managers were more concerned about production numbers and she was worried about safety. She didn’t let their pressure alter the way the company operates and this proved extremely valuable during the audit. She exhibited balanced processing by completely hearing the auditors’ concerns out where other staff was just cutting them off. She really listened to their concerns before responding with her own answers. She also showed relational transparency by being completely honest with the auditors when it came to our operational procedures. They could see she was being genuine and not trying to hide information.
The four key components of self awareness, internalized moral perspective, balanced processing, and relational transparency helped my manager to show true authentic leadership that day. The theoretical approach states that authentic leadership can only occur if a leader has positive psychological capacities and the right experiences to lead to the development of these components (PSU 2012). She had learned how to be an authentic leader and was more than ready to face a challenging situation when it presented itself. Her steady hand carried the organization through a difficult time when others were starting to panic.
References:
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
Pennsylvania State University (PSU), (2012). Leadership in Work Settings. Lesson 12: Authentic Leadership. Retrieved from: https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/fa12/psych485/001/content/12_lesson/01_page.html
David,
While I don’t have a lot of experience in the medical field, I do have some experience with auditing procedures and agree that this can be a very stressful time, one that can honestly make or break a leader. Northouse (2013) points out those authentic leadership traits can be developed through 5 inter-related characteristics: passion, behavior, connectedness, consistency, and compassion. After reading your posting, I was curious how can we, as leaders, can measure and develop our skill set to maximize positive follower outcomes?
It is difficult to operationally define and measure the behaviors associated with authentic leadership (Neider, 2011). There are however 2 recently developed measures that can be used to determine authentic leadership, the 2008 Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (ALQ) and the 2011 Authentic Leadership Inventory (ALI). While both measures have shown content validity and reliability, the ALI was developed based on the strengths of the ALQ to enable stronger consistency across testing. The ALI measures self-awareness, relational transparency, moral perspective, and balanced processing (Neider, 2011). These measures are consistent with those defined by Northouse (2013). These measures can ideally be assessed in pre-employment screening of potential leaders or with ongoing leadership to determine growth and development of authentic traits.
May (et. al., 2003) associated authentic leadership with ethics and the courage to make moral decisions, even when they are seen as unpopular. This idea made a huge impression on me as leaders often want to be authentic, but decisions and business pressures may influence their ability to make strong moral decisions. It is easy to go with the crowd, especially when that crowd includes your superior, it is substantially harder to follow your moral compass and do what you know is right when it is unpopular or may cost you your job. May (et. al., 2003) further goes on to show that when a leader focuses on their ideal ethical leadership and self-awareness of decision making processes, they can develop a stronger moral aspect and make tough decisions less difficult, by knowing and doing what is right.
It appears that this moral component of authentic leadership was strong in your former manager as honesty and transparency in an FDA audit had the potential to add additional stressors to an already difficult situation, but it appears that her moral compass was true. As prospective leaders, we should all attempt to emulate her example by regularly measuring and developing our own authentic leadership.
References
May, D., Hodges, T., Chan, A., Avolio, B. (2003). Developing the Moral Component of Authentic Leadership. Organizational Dynamics. 32 (3), pp. 247-260.
Neider, L., Schriesheim, C. (2011). The Authentic Leadership Inventory (ALI): Development and empirical tests. The Leadership Quarterly. 22, pp. 1146-1164.
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.