Authentic leadership represents one of the newest areas of leadership research. It focuses on whether leadership is genuine and “real”. (Northouse, 2013) Also, the characteristics of authentic leadership consist passion, behavior, connectedness, consistency and compassion.
SAS is a great company as an example to explain one of the characteristics an authentic leader should have, behavior. George suggests that authentic leaders know their “True North.” They have a clear idea of who they are, what they are going, and what the right thing is to do. (Northouse, 2013) The leaders of SAS value a lot on sustainability and they also take actions to make the planet greener. SAS grow sheep to “mown” grass instead of using mowers; SAS supply the electricity for all computers in their office building from the power that elevators generated when going down; SAS also use LED light bulbs, compose vegetables and use as flower beds, recycle batteries, paper and plastics; SAS operates their cafeteria and laundry using solar energy and so on. SAS leaders clearly demonstrated their value and behaviors on sustainability. (Corporate Sustainability Video) The actions made for sustainability is also moral and recommended when the company think about the environment prior to profits.
Another good example to demonstrate another characteristic of authentic leadership is the biggest organization in Penn State – THON. THON was first organized in 1973 by a group of students looking to add excitement to a dreary February in central Pennsylvania, and for a way to give back to the community. Today, Penn State’s THON continues to be the longest dance marathon in the country lasting 46 hours. THON has grown to engage more than 15,000 students each year and has inspired other university, high school, middle school, and elementary school students across the nation to start dance marathons of their own all in the hopes of conquering pediatric cancer! (History of THON) I had a chance to dance for THON last year while I was the THON Chair for my organization. We raised more than $6,000 during year 2012-2013. I danced in the dance marathon lasting 46 hours without sitting and sleeping. First, I did not understand the purpose of this activity, because no one is donating any money for the kids during this 46 hours. However, the purpose and the passion of this activity becoming clear while I was participating. I suffered pain, but I persisted. I realized that this 46 hours of dancing is giving every dancer a hint that how much pain a cancer kid has to endure, which is way more than what we have suffered in 46 hours. We also can raise awareness in the country to promote people to donate for the kids. According to Northouse, the characteristics of an authentic leader can be build up through experiences. Although I am not yet a leader in a company, dancing for 46 hours straight helped me build up one of the characteristics of authentic leadership.
Although authentic leadership theory is not completely developed, some of the concepts that authentic leadership demonstrated are very significant for the leaders to learn in order to become more moral, consistency, compassion and so on. And it is also good for the planet as a whole when the leaders of companies to act moral and protect the environment prior to interests.
References:
Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
Penn State World Campus. (2013). Lesson 12: Authentic Leadership.
History of THON (n.d.). In THON. Retrieved July 23, 2013, from http://www.thon.org/About/History
Corporate Sustainability Video: SAS Goes [Motion picture].
ALISON KATHLEEN SMITH says
Li,
I am so happy that you brought up THON in this week’s blog post. As a student at University Park in the fall, winter, and spring, I look forward to walking over to the Bryce Jordan Center on a February weekend to witness the most inspiring event I have ever seen. I congratulate you on dancing and admire your devotion to such a wonderful cause.
THON is not only an event but a fundraising effort that goes on through the school year. I also take a part in my club’s/organization’s THON efforts and was part of our club’s THON Committee. Witnessing a student run philanthropy is too amazing to describe, but I also was able to witness the wonderful leadership progress that the students gain throughout the year.
Like you said, authentic leadership is leadership that is “real” and can be perceived as honest (Northouse, 2013, p 253). THON definitely shows real leadership and most of the people involved really love being a part of a big effort to raise money for children with cancer. One can also argue that those who participant in THON are showing servant leadership as well. Servant leadership behaviors include conceptualizing, emotional healing, putting followers first, helping followers grow and succeed, behaving ethically, empowering, and creating value for the community. While the students possess many of these behaviors I think emotional healing is a prominent one throughout the THON community. While many students fortunately have never gone through what many of these THON families have been through, this means that there is more room to help and realize that there is something to do. While there is no cure for cancer yet, having fundraising events, visiting a particular THON family, or dancing with kids will help put a smile on their face. Students are also creating value for the community. Creating value for the community means that leaders give back to their surrounding area and are involved in local events and encourage others to participate (Northouse, 2013, p. 229). Giving back to the community has been shown to not only help your well-being, but it will substantially help those around you. Students at Penn State see that they are healthy and able to help those who are not. Cancer is a terrible disease and we are all hoping for the day is ceases to exist, but in the meantime THON students and leaders are doing what they can to help raise money for more research, the Hershey Medical Center itself, and doing whatever can be done to help the children and their families during an extremely hard time.
For the Kids!
References:
Northouse, P. G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.
History of THON (n.d.). THON. Retrieved July 23, 2013, from http://www.thon.org/About/History