MBA Journals Peer-reviewed management research from Consortium e-Learning Network

NOLEGEIN Journal of Advertising and Brand Management

Authentic Leadership to the Future

  1. R. Ganesh

Abstract

Genuine leadership represents a management style that emphasizes leading through personal example and cultivating trust, openness, and responsibility. It is marked by self-awareness, relational honesty, balanced evaluation, and a deeply ingrained moral framework. Authentic leaders exemplify positive traits such as integrity, openness, empathy, resilience, and adaptability, while also encouraging trust-building, employee involvement, effective communication, accountability, innovation, personal development, and resilience within their teams. Obstacles include maintaining transparency, handling vulnerability, cultural awareness, and consistency. True leadership signifies the latest evolution in leadership development, concentrating on the authenticity of the leader. The notion of authenticity was explored by ancient Greek philosophers through phrases like "know thyself" and "thy true essence." True leadership began to emerge after 2004. The principal reason scholars emphasize true leadership is its resonance with all employees across organizations. Authentic leaders are responsible for identifying the strengths of their followers and assisting them in their development and alignment with a shared goal, purpose, vision, and identity of the organization. Genuine leadership is viewed as the pinnacle stage in the advancement of leadership styles, although the characteristics of this leadership style and its impacts have yet to be thoroughly explored. In this paper, we will investigate this modern leadership style and its implications. In the contemporary business landscape, leadership is no longer defined merely by titles, power, or hierarchical frameworks. Nowadays, authentic leadership is becoming more significant as a powerful and effective management approach. Authentic leaders set the standard by reflecting their values in their actions and nurturing an environment of trust, clarity, and accountability within their organizations. Throughout this article, we will explore the idea of authentic leadership, its fundamental principles, and the importance of transparency.

Keywords

Support