Influence Of Authentic Leadership

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Authentic Leadership and Social Influence
While the idea of authentic leadership has been around since the ancient Greek aphorism “know thyself” first appeared, it was not until Bill George wrote about it in 2003 that it became a popular leadership concept.
George described authentic leadership as a style that is consistent with a leader 's personality and core values, and that is honest, ethical, and practical (2003, 2007).

Unauthentic leaders hide behind masks
While the above definition is centered upon the leader or self, it is the actions of the leader that are perceived by others that determines if they believe a leader is authentic or not. And their perception is accomplished through the social influence of the leader. One recent definition …show more content…

Listening - Making a deep commitment to listening intently to others in order to identify and clarify the will of a group. This means one must get in touch with one 's inner voice, and seeking to understand what another 's body, spirit, and mind are communicating.
2. Empathy - Understand others and empathize with them by accepting and recognizing their special and unique spirit. The servant leader must assume the good intentions of their coworkers and not reject them, even when forced to reject their behavior or performance.
3. Healing - Having the potential to heal one 's self and others so that transformation and integration can take place. In The Servant as Leader, Greenleaf writes, “There is something subtle communicated to one who is being served and led if, implicit in the compact between the servant-leader and led is the understanding that the search for wholeness is something that they …show more content…

Awareness - Being mindful of one 's surroundings, and especially being self-aware, will strengthen the servant-leader. Fostering awareness can be difficult, as one never knows what may be discovered.
5. Persuasion - While traditional leaders rely heavily upon their positional authority in making decisions, servant leaders rely on persuasion to convince others in order to build consensus within groups. This principle is noted as one of the clearest distinctions between the traditional authoritarian model and that of servant leadership.
6. Conceptualization - The ability to look at a problem or the organization from a conceptualizing perspective so that one goes beyond the day-to-day realities in order to bring visions to reality.
7. Foresight - Using the intuitive mind to understand lessons from the past, the realities of the present, and the likely consequence of a decision in the future in order to solve complex problems.
8. Stewardship - Holding the institution in trust for the greater good of society.
9. Commitment to the Growth of People - People have an intrinsic value beyond their tangible contributions as workers, thus the servant leader is deeply committed to a personal, professional, and spiritual growth of each and every individual within the

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