Authentic Leadership & Positive Psychology
Discussing Potential Benefits
Older Theories e.g. Transactional
Positive Psychology
Transformational Leadership
Authentic Leadership
Moral and Charismatic aspects
VS
Styles of Leading
Focus on the person
Intrinsic qualities – Authenticity, strong
sense of self, awareness, regulation
Less focus on behaviour
Illies, Morgeson and Nahrgang (2005)
•self-awareness
•unbiased processing
•authentic behaviour
•authentic relational orientation
Walumbwa, Avolio, Gardner,
Wernsing & Peterson (2008)
•balanced processing
•relational transparency
•internalized moral perspective
•self-awareness
These factors correlated with a host of important
organizational outcomes :
- citizenship behaviour
- job satisfaction
- organizational commitment
- follower job performance
Indirect effects that potentially lead to Well-being
Relationship between leader behaviour and :
- subordinate reports of work stress
- prediction of psychiatric disturbance
- mood of individuals and group processes
- hope and resilience
- medium for followers to acquire high degrees of flow
- actualization and fulfillment from one’s task and work
(i.e. eudaimonic well-being
Leaders should invest in developing a sense of authenticity
- Training programmes?
- that challenge their status-quo
- move them out of their comfort-zone
- Assess their self awareness…..
- increase leaders’ positive impact on followers’ health and
how followers construe their work and tasks.
- Health costs on the increase at work. Could this be of
significant benefit to organisations?
- Malta?
- medium for followers to acquire high degrees
of flow - eudaimonic
- positively related to followers Subjective WellBeing (general happiness) -hedonic
FLOW - actualization and fulfillment from one’s
task and work