As I have had many different jobs as a nanny for children of all ages, the authentic leadership approach makes a lot of sense in this career. Since there are many ways to view and understand this approach, I will be focusing on the practical approaches in relation to my nannying jobs. Authentic leadership has multiple ways to be defined, the first being interpersonal, the second being intrapersonal, and the third and most accepted one being developmental. Interpersonal focuses on how authentic leadership comes from relationships between leaders and followers while intrapersonal focuses on the leader being true to oneself. The developmental definition allows for authentic leadership to be learned or developed and relies on a detrimental life event to allow authentic leadership to emerge (Hamel, 2021). As I stated before there are two approaches to authentic leadership, practical and theoretical. Practical approaches include the authentic leadership wheel by Terry (1993) and the authentic leadership approach by George (2003). Terry’s (1993) leadership wheel consists of a diagnostic tool that focuses on fixing problems within an organization. The wheel include six components – meaning, mission, power, structure, resources, and existence; and when all six are working, fulfillment shows that the conditions allow for authentic leadership. George’s  (2003) approach is similar but considers the components of the wheel as developmental continuums, including the five dimensions of purpose (passion), values (behavior), relationships (connectedness), self discipline (consistency), and heart (compassion) (Hamel, 2021).

Since this theory can be considered in many different ways I feel as though George’s (2003) approach is most fitting for my experiences. As a nanny, leadership is an extremely important factor in being able to be successful and effective with the children. The interpersonal and developmental definitions fit best with this career as relationships with the children are the central to the job and how well you will be able to work with the children, it relies on the actions of the nanny and the response of the children to the nanny. If this relationship is not solid, then the job itself is likely to not work out. The developmental definition is interesting to me as I do think that these skills and abilities are something that can be learned or developed throughout life and improved through experience. This being said, that is why George’s (2003) approach is most fitting with the job as it is less problem oriented and focused on the opportunity of development from problems (Hamel, 2021). His five dimensions are great examples of qualities that nanny’s need. Purpose is tied to passion, which when taking care of children, it is essential to have a passion for caring for others. Values is tied to behavior, which is extremely important as a nanny since you are the person in charge of children day in and day out, so the values and behaviors of that person has a direct impact on the children. Relationship is tied to connectedness, which is quite obvious as a nanny you must be able to connect with the children and be able to foster a caring and supportive relationship with them. Self-discipline is tied with consistency, when taking care of children consistency is always important to the parents as most children rely on a consistent schedule that impacts their mood, eating, and other factors. It is also impossible to teach self-discipline to children if you do not have self-discipline yourself. Lastly heart is tied with compassion. Heart is the most important quality for a nanny to have as you want the children to feel loved, heard, and understood by their nanny.

References:

Hamel, R. (2021). Lesson 12: Authentic Leadership, 2021