“Authentic leadership in its origin is the individual's self-knowledge, and exhibiting his/her attitudes and behaviors as he/she wishes without being exposed to any influence or forcing oneself (Caza, Bagozzi, Woolley, Levy & Barker Caza, 2010). With his/her conscious value judgments and ethical values, the authentic leader carries out guidance activities for his/her subordinates and looks out for the interests of the institution he/she works within the framework of his/her moral values (Michie & Gooty, 2005)” (Kilic & Yavuz, 2021, p. 2) Authentic Leadership is depicted as leaders that are perceived as real and genuine. “In other words, authentic leaders are focused and self-confident individuals who are aware of how their thoughts and behaviors are understood by their followers, know the strengths and weaknesses of themselves and their followers, know their moral perspectives, know the environment in which they work and are, can overcome problems, have optimistic and ethical values (Avolio & Gardner, 2005; Avolio, Gardner, Walumbwa, Luthans & May, 2004)” (Kilic & Yavuz, 2021, p. 2). There are four components to Authentic Leadership that include: self-awareness, relational transparency, balanced processing, and strong moral code. Self-awareness focuses on emotional intelligence which includes emotional awareness, accurate self-assessment, and self-confidence. Self-awareness requires Leaders to actively self-reflect on their behaviors, reactions, strengths and weaknesses, emotions, and feedback. Relational transparency allows Leaders to openly share thoughts with a balanced sense of emotions. This is done by controlling reactions and feelings by maintaining a good balance. Balanced processing entails actively listening, respond calmly, and are consistent in their behavior. Their ability to react appropriately and calmly consistently allows for positive outcomes. Strong moral code requires consistent decision making and relationship building. A strong moral compass is needed in order to maintain focused and not persuaded by outside factors. “School administrators must exhibit authentic leadership behaviors in order to make teachers self-confident. Organizing in-service training on authentic leadership skills for school administrators is of great importance in terms of acquiring these skills” (Kilic & Yavuz, 2021, p. 16). This article recommends that Authentic Leadership should be used to minimize any resistance of teachers to change and to create new goals for a positive change.
Reference.
KILIÇ, M. Y., & YAVUZ, M. (2021). The evaluation
of authentic leadership in terms of trust in manager and schools’ levels of
openness to change. Cukurova University Faculty of Education Journal, 50(2),
1033–1068. https://doi.org/10.14812/cuefd.863251
