Download Credibility is the foundation of leadership

Modeling the Way
Employees operate under growing
conditions of uncertainty and stress
…as such it is critical that leaders step in to
‘model the way’
Values are a critical aspect of leaders’
ability to model the way
As a first step, leaders need to determine
what is important to them and what their
own values are…the path that they wish to
take
A critical aspect of this is discovering
what they care about, finding their
voice
Knowing your “inner territory,” what you
value, makes you a stronger leader
because it allows you to act with integrity
as your values guide your actions
When a leader’s actions are guided by
values s/he is able to achieve
authenticity as a leader
When leaders have clarity on their
personal values they experience and
demonstrate a greater sense of
commitment to value-aligned action
and those with whom they work
An equally important step is to create a
sense of shared values among employees
Values need to be forged, not
forced
Effective leaders do not impose their
values on employees, they find a way
to integrate their personal values with
those of their employees to forge a
common value system
Leaders need to model the shared
values….
Leaders illustrate what the values
‘look like’ in the organizational
context
Leaders model values by:
 How they spend their time
 The language they use
 The types of questions they ask
 The types of feedback they seek
Leaders teach values by:
 Confronting critical incidents
Telling stories that exemplify values
Visibly demonstrating valueconsistent behavior
Storytelling is one of the most effective
tools at a leaders disposal…
Why?
Storytelling is one of the most effective
tools at a leaders disposal…
Why?
 Stories are easy to remember
 People relate to stories
 Stories demonstrate values in a way that is
meaningful
 People learn more effectively through stories
What questions should you be asking if you want people to
focus on
……
• Continuous
Improvement
• Quality
• Innovation
• Integrity
• Teamwork
• Collaboration
• Personal Responsibility
• Customer /Client
Satisfaction
• Trust
• Growth
• Communication
Authentic Leadership
Authentic Leadership Description
• Authentic Leadership – focuses on whether
leadership is genuine
• Interest in Authentic Leadership
– Increasing in recent times due to social upheavals
– People longing for trustworthy leaders
– Identified earlier in transformational leadership
research but not studied separately
– Needed evidence-based research of construct
Definition of Authentic Leadership
“A pattern that draws upon and promotes both
positive psychological capacities and a
positive ethical climate, to foster greater selfawareness, an internalized moral perspective,
balanced processing of information, and
relational transparency on the part of leaders
working with followers, fostering positive
self-development.”
Walumbwa, Avolio, Gardner, Wernsing & Peterson, 2008
Basic Model of Authentic Leadership
• FOUR COMPONENTS:
– Self-awareness
• Reflecting on one’s core values, identity, emotions, motives
• Being aware of and trusting your own feelings
– Internalized moral perspective
• Self-regulatory process using internal moral standards to guide behavior
– Balanced processing
• Ability to analyze informational objectively and explore other people’s
opinions before making a decision
- Relational transparency
• Being open and honest in presenting one’s true self to others
Practical Approaches to Authentic Leadership
• Bill George (2003, 2007)
– Leader characteristic model
– Leaders have genuine desire to serve others
– Five characteristics of Authentic Leaders
• Understand their purpose
• Strong values
• Trusting relationships
• Self-discipline
• Act from the heart (mission)
Practical Approaches to Authentic Leadership
• Robert Terry (1993)
– Action-centered model
– Leaders should strive to do what is right
– Two core leadership questions:
• What is really, really going on?
• What are we going to do about it?
– Developed Authentic Action Wheel to help leaders
frame problems
• Locate the problem on the diagnostic wheel
• Strategically select an appropriate response to the problem
Strengths
• Fulfills society’s expressed need for trustworthy
leadership. Fills a void in an uncertain world.
• Provides broad guidelines for those who want to
become authentic leaders. Both practical and
theoretical approaches provide a map.
• Like transformational and servant leadership, AL has an
explicit moral dimension.
• Unlike traits that only some people exhibit, everyone
can learn to be more authentic.
• Can be measured using an established instrument
(ALQ).
Criticisms
• The theory is still in the formative stages, so some concepts
in the practical approaches are not fully developed or
substantiated.
• The moral component of AL is not fully explained. It’s unclear
how higher values such as justice inform authentic
leadership.
• The rationale for including positive psychological capacities as
a part of AL has not been clearly explained by researchers.
• The link between authentic leadership and positive
organizational outcomes is unclear. It is also not clear
whether AL is sufficient to achieve organizational goals.
Application
• People have the capacity to become authentic
leaders. It is a lifelong learning process.
• Human Resource departments may be able to foster
authentic leadership behaviors in employees who
move into leadership positions.
• Leaders are always trying to do the “right” thing, to
be honest with themselves and others, and to work
for the common good.
• Leaders are shaped by critical life events that lead to
growth and greater authenticity.
Reflection Question
• What similarities do you see between Kouzes’ and
Posner’s Exemplary Leadership Model and Authentic
Leadership?
• What differences do you see between these two
models?
• If you had to choose one as the basis for your
leadership development, which would you choose?
Why?