Moving from Authoritative to Authentic as a Leader

 

Current leadership skill level: Authoritative. Being authoritative is synonymous with being toxic. Liechty (2005) refers to some types of leadership as Puppet Masters, meaning the leader has full control over the organization regardless of any circumstances. Having this type of leadership behavior will not allow for authenticity. To become an authentic leader leaders must understand the value of their team and validate worthiness of each contributor, hence they must allow for open working encounters (Pathak, 2017).

How to build Authenticity as a strength: The leader should ask themselves if the leadership position is a desired career move. Career self-efficacy has a major role in leadership roles and career desires (Biemann, Kearney, & Marggraf, 2015). Doing a self-efficacy check will allow for time to review strengths and weaknesses to determine a correct career fit. The more the career fits, the more authentic the leadership.

Biemann, T., Kearney, E., & Marggraf, K. (2015). Empowering leadership and managers’ career perceptions: Examining effects at both the individual and the team level. The Leadership Quarterly, 26, 775–789. https://doi-org.proxy1.ncu.edu/10.1016/j.leaqua.2015.03.003

  

Liechty, D. (2005.). The allure of toxic leaders: Why we follow destructive bosses and corrupt politicians, and how we can survive them. Journal of Religion & Health, 44(1), 121–123. Retrieved from: http://proxy1.ncu.edu/login?url=https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=edswss&AN=000227732600012&site=eds-live