Video Transcript: Week 8

Hello class. So we are talking about authentic leadership today, and authentic leadership is known as a newer form of leadership theory. It's one that is still in the formative phase. It's a lot of people say should be considered tentatively. That's because there's really not a lot of research out there on it. So when we talk about transformational leadership, that research is about 43 years old, in some cases, about 45 years old. Authentic Leadership is not, not, not that, that old, you know, there's a demand for authentic leadership and authenticity in general, because of corporate scandals, fake news, foreign influence in presidential elections, apprehension and insecurity and all these things lead to a desire for honest, good leaders that people feel they can trust. So before we get into defining authentic leadership, let us open up in prayer. Heavenly Father, thank you so much for this day. Thank you so much for just this class and the things we're learning and the ways we're working together. Lord, I pray that if, as we learn about authentic leadership, that I can deliver this message authentically and certainly help deliver the tenets, tenets that are important to you, Lord in Jesus name, I pray Amen. All right, so authenticity and authentic leadership defined so just like with most of these leadership theories, there is no acceptable definition. Just doesn't exist, but there are some. So authenticity is defined by genuineness and trustworthiness and leadership. And then there's typically three views along this continuum, and one is the interpersonal, intrapersonal, which is the perspective that focuses closely on the leader and what goes on within the leader. There's the interpersonal, which outlines the relational aspect that's created between the leader and follower, and we certainly have talked about that a lot. Then there's the developmental, and that is that that authenticity can be developed in a leader, and it is something that can be nurtured, and it's not a fixed trait, but one that continually changes. So I would say I've taken several assessments over the years, and I would say my authenticity, or my developmental version of authenticity, has certainly improved over the years as I've been developing maturity and things like that. So one of my favorite authors, Walumbwa, just because I love saying that name identified four distinct but related components of the development of authentic leadership, and that's self awareness. So as a leader, you had to be aware of yourself, internalized moral perspective. I think that kind of speaks for itself, balanced processing, meaning, you know, you kind of can understand and process the different things are happening and then relational transparency bill. George's authentic leadership approach is very similar, but a little bit different, from Walumbwa, and George says that that authentic leaders have a strong sense of purpose. Of course, you can think of that with Christ right, his strong sense of purpose, strong values about what is right Christ, of course, had those develop trusting relationships, of which Christ did, as well, demonstrate self discipline and act on their values. Christ, of course, and sensitive and empathetic to the plight of others. So you look at that definition, you say, hey, that embodies Jesus for purpose that's nowhere. And know who you what you are about where you're going your passion. You have a deep seated interest in what you're doing and you truly care about it. You have the values and the behavior and relationships and the connections and self discipline, which is the focus and determination and reach your goals. You're consistent, you're compassionate, and you have heart. So you know these, these concepts are not new in the literature. Certainly trust authenticity. All those things have been talked about for years, but really authentic leadership really came about in 2003 and it was because of the Twin Tower tragedy September 11, which caused massive societal upheaval and instability and and, you know, a lot of people looked at that and said, We need to be more humane in our leadership and we need to be more humane in our leadership styles. And that's what led to the formation of authentic leadership. So if we had to define authentic leadership, we would call it a pattern of leader behavior that draws upon and promotes both positive psychological capabilities, which is, again, good feelings, things like that, and a positive ethical climate, which is good morals and things like that, to foster greater self awareness, which is, you know, the awareness of yourself and awareness of others and internalized moral perspective, which we just talked about, balanced processing of information and relational transparency on the part of the leaders working with followers, which fosters positive self development. So that last part, what that means is, if you're an authentic leader, then your follower followers are going to develop, and they're going to grow, and they're going to be better. So, you know, as I think about that definition, and we can talk about some of the different models, which we'll get into in a second, one of the things that I often think about is, if I ever worked for an authentic leader in my life, and I don't think I have in my let's see. How long have I been in the workforce? My 27 years in the workforce, I honestly don't think I have worked for an authentic leader. I can't think of anybody that exhibited all that now, certainly people have developed elements of that, but I can't think of a truly authentic leader in my personal life. So that that should say something, because I've worked for a lot of leaders in my 27 years, and I think what that what that says is that authenticity, that desire for authentic leadership is something that our workforce needs, and certainly is something that our workforce desires. Now I would like to think of myself as an authentic leader. I don't know if that's true or not what others would say about me, but that would be how I wish to characterize myself as an authentic leader. So anyway, authentic leader has been I'm just going to name the research because it's so scant. Gartner created a model that frames authentic leadership as a developmental process of the leader and a follower, self awareness and recognition. Again, you're going to hear these words over again, recognition, self awareness, promotion of self authenticity, trust. Ilies, Morgenson, and Nahrgang said that the impact of authenticity on leaders and followers, happiness and well being is positively correlated, positively correlated. And what that means is that you know, if you work for an authentic leader, you're going to be happy. Authentic leadership is characterized, according to Luton's in a folio who is a another he would be on the Mount Rushmore as well, self awareness, internalized moral perspective, balanced processing and relational transparency. So we've talked about those. Let's define them. Self awareness is the insight of the leader. This includes one's core values, their identity, their emotions, their motives and their goals. And it's really about coming to grips with who you are as a person on all levels. Internalized moral perspective is regulating yourself to use your own internal moral standards and values to guide your behavior, rather than letting outside pressures guide your behavior. So an example of this would be, if you're in a situation where you have the opportunity, you're being pressured to lie or cheat or steal to meet the bottom line, you don't do it. Balanced processing is one where you analyze information objectively and look at another person's opinion before making a decision. And that's hard to do because many, many times you're biased to your own opinion. So this is really putting that aside and listening to others and a relational transparency is about being open and honest. And you know, it's kind of funny, because my boss and I were talking, and I've been very critical of some of the other leaders in my organization, and he said to me, Well, you know, you've talked bad about them, and certainly I have, and he goes. So we have mutually assured destruction, meaning that that if I take him down, he can take me down as well. And what I responded with was, I think the difference between us is that I have no problem sharing how I really feel about people to their face. So. Uh, you know, I think it's important to recognize that when you're representing somebody else's view, that you you present, or when being open and honest, that when you present yourself to somebody else, that you present that true view of who you are, and you will share your feelings, motives and inclinations with others appropriately. And there's a balance there, right? So I certainly have been accused of oversharing, and I probably do, and I probably have put myself in some situations where I have said some things I probably shouldn't. I'm not saying probably, I most definitely have, but I think that part of being authentic. And, you know, I think that you people have to understand that that's part of the authentic processes, right? So there are some influential factors in authentic leadership, and those are positive psychological capacities, more reasoning and critical life events. These so some examples of these. So for psychological capacities, confidence certainly improving your competence and those of your followers, hope. Hope is a big one, which I don't need to define as Christians, certainly optimism, and that's viewing things in a positive light, which is sometimes hard, and then resilience, and that's when something bad happens, be able to pick yourself up, right? You hear that saying, dust off, dust off your what is it? Dust off your bootstraps and get right back up or whatever, but certainly being able to rebound from tough situations more reasoning is making ethical decisions about issues of right or wrong, and in critical life events are the meager events that shapes people's lives, and it also shapes their development. So I can certainly think of some areas in my life where they have been critical life events and significant, and it certainly shaped who I am today, and Am I perfect? Absolutely not. Certainly I have a long way to go. So how does authentic leadership work? And remember that there are five characteristics of authentic leaders, and they are purposeful, they are value centered, they're relational, they're self disciplined, and my favorite and last one is they are compassionate. And then these would be kind of a practical approach, where the theoretical approach, and that is the very scholarly kind of, like the buck book learning stuff, is a little less prescriptive than that. And that just talks about, generally moral perspective, balance, processing, relational transparency, which we talked about, and then self awareness. So there are some traits and attributes of the authentic leader. I remember going back to that trait approach from the first module, and then these. Remember, these are influenced by critical life events, whether it be positive or negative. So so my own life, not to get into all, all my whole life, but I would certainly say that when my parents disowned me, that was a critical life event in my life and that has impacted my leadership style and certainly my authenticity as well. Remember that authentic leadership correlates directly to the followers and how they thrive at work. So if you're authentic at work and you're kind of living out those five things, those factors, those traits, those attributes, then that's going to lead to your followers thriving. There's a man named Brandon who's actually done some classes for Christian leaders, Brandon Appelhans and Brandon, his life's purpose, I would say he I never worked for him, but he is a very authentic leader. And if you ever have the opportunity to take one of his classes or to learn from him or talk to him, I would highly recommend it, because he's one of the greatest people I know. And Brandon, what he will talk about is he wants people to thrive in their life, in all areas of their life, and that's such a powerful message. As somebody who's authentic. The words he uses all the time is, thrive, succeed. What can I do to help you? Do you feel valued? Here is what I'm seeing. Here's how I can best live my authentic life. I think Brandon is a great practical example of somebody who is an authentic leader. I wish I would have worked for him, and I would work for him and with him in any time. So let's talk a little bit about the negatives. This says lacks the applicability to the more. Millennial generation as a negative. But I don't actually agree with that. I think the theory is the criticism is an unfair one. I think if any generation has screamed for authenticity, I would say it has been millennials and the younger generation. I think they're screaming for this kind of authenticity in their world because they've grown up in a very different world than I have. I think in my world, the greatest generation, which is considered the World War II generation, has has lived their lives extremely authentically, and they were the examples for people like me. And then, as they pass away and die off and has things change. You know, if my generation isn't living their life authentically, then that leaves the next generation with a gap of that kind of leadership. So I would say that I'm very fortunate to be able to say that I think that authentic leaders, like Brandon, like I came across him, are people. Is somebody that that anybody would want to work for, especially the younger generations who crave that authenticity and that empowerment and that desire for for somebody to actually care about them, to thrive. So I do think that's an unfair criticism, but nonetheless, it is one that exists, and then it says, Not sure how authentic leadership results in positive organizational incomes outcomes. That's very fair criticism theory, and that's just because it's new. I think that organizational outcomes will become readily apparent as more authentic leaders are identified in organizations. So what is the application? The application is that authentic leadership can be learned. So if you like what you hear, I would encourage you to look up more of it, to think about those authentic leaders in your life, to find yourself your own, very, very own Brandon and and hold on to them and learn from them how to become an authentic leader. Because certainly Brandon has taught me that, and it's what I strive to be. I don't think I am, but I do strive to be an authentic leader. So my practical application for you is to find an authentic leader and learn from them whatever you can with that. Let us close in prayer, Heavenly Father. Thank you so much. We are now two thirds of the way through this class. Thank you for being that example of an authentic leader. Thank you for bringing people into my life like Brandon, who is the perfect example of an authentic leader and strives to live his life like his example of an authentic leader, which is you Jesus. So thank you for being that example for me and for others. Thank you for living your life authentically and teaching us in the power of your leadership style in Jesus name, we pray. Amen. Thank you all so much. Before we go, let me just ask you a couple of questions. One is that human resources department departments may be able to foster authentic leadership behaviors and employees who move into leadership positions. That is true. There is no definition of authentic leadership that is also true. Authentic Leadership was developed by by Abby. And Abbie, which was Alfree and Dominiak, and you may know those names, so though I think both of them are wonderful examples of authentic leaders, and they are wonderful people, they did not develop the theory so that one will be false. I like those little Easter eggs in in these quizzes. So one of the questions, my favorite one is blank refers to a leader, self efficacy, or the belief that they will have the ability to accomplish a task that would be confidence. And finally, which of the following scholars identified four components of authenticity, including self awareness, balance, processing, relational transparency and internalized moral perspective. And if you remember, I talked about one of my favorite, Walumbwa, and that is the correct answer. I will also say on that question when you find it in the quiz, Earnhardt is me Alfree and Dominiak. We just talked about Abby and Abbie, and then Walker and Walkens are two of my really, really good friends, and are incredible researchers in their own right, and you'll hear more about the research they're doing in a later lecture. So next, we move on to servant leadership. So though I got the order wrong, I didn't know it was transformational, authentic and servant I didn't know there were the three that we're talking about in the next modules, but servant leadership would be next. So looking forward to that. And thank you so much. And have a wonderful day and a wonderful week, and I will see you back here for next week.