Authentic leadership. (c2012)

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a call for a new kind of leadership aimed at restoring trust and confidence in organizations. The demand for great accountability by society for organizational leadership reform has also made its way into educational leadership reform. Over the years, leadership theories have grown from transactional to transformational, but reformers have been looking for more. Authentic Leadership, with its holistic view of leadership that emphasizes self-awareness, an internalized moral perspective, a balanced processing of information, and relational transparency, is growing in popularity as the model to meet these challenges. The scope of the current study was to explore the attitudes and perceptions of one elementary school’s teachers of their division head. Through the use of a mixed methods research design which involved the administration of a questionnaire, a survey and personal reflections, evidence was gathered to support the idea that schools are very much in need of authentic leaders. Implications for further research include leader and follower development in order to enhance Authentic Leadership to improve organizational outcomes.