Authentic leadership focuses on the leadership as genuine and real. Authentic leadership takes emphasis on how authentic a leader and their leadership are. Authentic leadership can be defined in three viewpoints, which is; intrapersonal perspective, interpersonal process, and, developmental perspective (Chan, 2005). As an interpersonal process, authentic leadership seems like a reciprocal process where both followers and the leader affect each other, and on the other hand, both affect the whole leadership process and not just the leader (Eagly, 2005). On the intrapersonal perspective, authentic leadership incorporates the leader’s self-knowledge, self-regulation, and self-concept. It emphasizes on the leader and who they are in the cases of genuineness, originality and their bases of leadership Shamir and (Shamir & Eilam’s, 2005). Lastly, authentic leadership can be defined as an emphasis of developmental perspective, which views it as something that is not a fixed trait, but something that can be nurtured in a leader. According to this emphasis, authentic leadership develops in over the leader’s lifetime, and major events such as new career or severe illness can trigger it.

Explain the scores you received on the Authentic Leadership Self-Assessment Questionnaire.

Authentic leadership is formed by four main foundational components, which include; balanced processing, self-awareness, internalized moral perspective, and, relational transparency (Eagly, 2005). There are also other factors that affect authentic leadership which includes critical life events, positive psychological capacities, and, moral reasoning. After doing my Authentic Leadership Self-Assessment Questionnaire, on items 1, 5,9,13, I scored 19, which is the overall score on self-awareness. Secondly, the items 2,6,10, and 14 amounted to 19 also which is the score on internalized moral perspective. Thirdly, on balanced processing shown by items 3,7,11, and, 15, I scored 16. Lastly, my score on relationship transparency, I scored 18 (Northouse, 2013). All these scores are an honest self-analyzation. All these dimensions define the level of my authenticity on my leadership and for me as a leader.

Describe your perception of the accuracy of these measures.

These scores are very accurate as they reveal who I am as a leader. For example, I believe I am a leader who has a good level of self-awareness and truly, I scored 19. I know my weaknesses, strengths, I like feedback, and I become very honest with my feelings. For example, in my place of work, I am a leader, and I have delegated the areas of my weaknesses to people who are strong in them. For example, I am a hot-tempered person, and it is not a good trait for a leader. To complement this, I have an assistant who is so slow to get angry, that is how we complement each other and bring each other to their senses (Northouse, 2013). Secondly, I also scored well on internalized moral perspective with 19. On the matters of morality, ethics, and values, I do not compromise. I am always willing to take the risk. For example, when I took up leadership, the company had a lot of financial fraud in their financial statements. I had to clear that mess which cost us clients for the first year, but we gained more who trust us until today. We are a successful company.

On balanced processing, I am still growing in the area. I am learning to allow people to give me a negative feedback and criticize me positively. I have made it a habit that me and my team and sit down after some time and see how we are affecting each other, honestly. Lastly, on relationship transparency, I am not badly off. I do not fake my personality and feelings, which has earned me integrity. As a result, my employees know that my praise is genuine to them, and my corrections are not mean.

Discuss the implications of the scores for your effectiveness as a leader giving examples to support the ideas on effective leadership.

Scores in the upper range indicate stronger authentic leadership, whereas scores in the lower range indicate weaker authentic leadership which mean that my authentic leadership is stronger (Northouse, 2013). In all of the fours factors, I have none which I scored a 15 or below. In all of them, I have a score of 16 and above. This means that I am an effective leader who is aware of themselves, a moral leader, I have a great processing balance, and I have fewer issues on transparency (Northouse, 2013). Authentic leadership is made complete through a good relationship between the followers and the leader, and having this quality makes me able to relate well with my followers, and our relationship is not strained. I also know how to deal with my personal life to ensure that it does not have negative issues that can spill over in my workplace.

What makes me know that I am an effective, authentic leader is that, through me, many of my followers have ascended to become authentic leaders who are making a difference in the lives of followers who are tired of lukewarm leadership. Again, it has helped me to learn always to do what is right, for my society and my followers despite the price that is put on it (Shamir & Eilam’s, 2005).  Every effective leader should, therefore, learn how to relate well with themselves, others and always to seize any opportunity available for growth, which can make them better.

Conclusion

Authentic leaders have five basic characteristics, which are; (1) They understand their purpose, (2) they have strong values about the right thing to do, (3) they establish trusting relationships with others, (4) they demonstrate self-discipline and act on their values, and (5) they are passionate about their mission (George, 2003). These leaders, therefore, have a very great difference with other leaders in that; they do not just lead because an opportunity arose, they lead because they are willing and passionate to do it and do it well. Authentic leaders are rare especially today, and they are the best leaders. They are originals of leadership and the heroes who have made history in the world, and they defined and continued to define leadership in a better way.

References

Chan, A. (2005). Authentic leadership measurement and development: Challenges and suggestions. In W. L. Gardner, B. J. Avolio, & F. O. Walumbwa (Eds.), Authentic leadership theory and practice: Origins, effects, and development (pp. 227–251). Oxford: Elsevier Science.

Eagly, A. H. (2005). Achieving relational authenticity in leadership: Does gender matter? Leadership Quarterly, 16, 459–474.

George, B. (2003). Authentic leadership: Rediscovering the secrets to creating lasting value. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Northouse, P. (2013). Leadership theory and practice (6th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. ISBN: 9781452203409.

Shamir, B., & Eilam, G. (2005). “What’s your story?” A life-stories approach to authentic leadership development. Leadership Quarterly, 16, 395–417.

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