Authentic Leadership

A focus the process undertaken by the social interactions of a leader, in particular with them maintaining their true personality, self-awareness, staying grounded in their self, and having ethical behaviours and approach to managing others. There are a number of qualities which are exhibited by an authentic leader, although this is still a developing field of research, including:
• Managing the perception of others, essentially being your intrinsic self, having what has been termed relational transparency. Exposure of a potential weakness, which could also be viewed as a strength, aiming to build trust and solidarity in others.
• Knowing your own capabilities and that of others, and understanding the social signals being expressed by others. Good social and self-awareness helps to develop leadership skills, as does asking for and acting on constructive feedback in a balanced way and being objective (balanced processing).
• Appreciate and acknowledge your background and embrace emotional intelligence. Use this for reflection, as well as empathising with and encouraging others.
• Conforming, but not completely. You will still need traits and actions which make you different and stand out from the crowd. Ensure your behaviours and decisions can be judged as being ethical ones., which might be termed internalised moral perspectives.

(Sources:
1. Crawford, J. A., Dawkins, S., Martin, A., & Lewis, G. (2020). Putting the leader back into authentic leadership: Reconceptualising and rethinking leaders. Australian Journal of Management, 45(1), 114–133. https://doi.org/10.1177/0312896219836460
2. Managing Authenticity: The Paradox of Great Leadership by Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones, Harvard Business Review, December 2005, https://hbr.org/2005/12/managing-authenticity-the-paradox-of-great-leadership
3. Why Should Anyone Be Led by You? by Rob Goffee and Gareth Jones, Harvard Business Review, September - October 2000, https://hbr.org/2000/09/why-should-anyone-be-led-by-you