Introduction
In the modern teaching environment, finding authentic leaders that would inspire and motivate others is rare as it takes dedication and a high degree of self-awareness. The principle of authentic leadership is based on a foundation developed from moral purpose and core values that are lived each day by those who are interested in shaping a positive culture that would enhance their relevant communities. Within the sphere of education, authentic leadership has its place in terms of guiding the leader-follower relationships that are intended to improve the quality of education by setting high expectations for learning and guiding the relevant stakeholders toward their accomplishment. Authentic leadership within the educational context promotes healthy learning environments, which are characterized as safe, welcoming, and supportive emotionally, intellectually, spiritually, and physically (Duignan, 2013). Leaders who help to create and maintain such environments are expected to influence the culture and life within their settings, dedicated to reaching the long-terms goals that they set.
The purpose of this assessment is to explore the quality and the influence of authentic leaders by drawing from the real-life examples of three teachers whose qualities and the overall vision align with the principles of the leadership framework at hand. In this assessment, three teachers will be explored within the context of their authenticity in leadership and the shaping of values that they use in their educational practice. Drawing from their examples is essential because of the possibility to acquire fist-hand knowledge on how authentic leadership is applied to a practice setting beyond theory. The focus of the assignment is placed on the identification of specific characteristics and actions of three leaders to identify the extent to which they can be considered authentic leaders.
The three leaders to be assessed in this exploration include a school director of an educational facility where I used to work, my school physics teacher, and my college professor. While their names will not be used to preserve anonymity, the experiences and interactions matter the most for making conclusions on the qualities of authentic leaders. I aim to delve deep into the details of my experiences with the three leaders and use my knowledge of authentic leadership to connect theory to real-life events and interactions.
Leader I: School Director
The first leader for the current exploration is the director of a school in which I previously worked, Mrs. S. Getting the job at her facility was a new experience for me as I have had no experience working in such an environment, which means that the transition phase was quite hard and nerve-wracking. Despite being aware of my professional responsibilities and tasks to be performed throughout the day, I lacked confidence in myself that I would be a good ECE counselor. Still, Mrs. S took a stance to support me and guide me throughout the period of adjustment. She showed that she was trusting of me as a professional and motivated me toward the accomplishment of my goals. This trust was essential for me as a starting-up early education counselor because I was the one who had to build trust with children and guide them through their learning experiences. In addition, Mrs. S participated in my training for the job as well as offered some advice on how I can enhance my personality to be a well-rounded individual who can positively impact children throughout their learning process.
As a result of the collaboration with the director and her belief in me, I slowly but surely reached the position of the best school counselor and also started counseling parents and teachers. Furthermore, Mrs. S inspired me professionally to participate in professional counseling sessions and audits that would provide an immense experience that could be essential for my future practice. Without the inspiration given by Mrs. S and her hands-on involvement in my intense training and adjustment, I would not have been as successful. In her qualities, the director showed compassion, understanding, trust, and had a clear vision of what she wanted me to achieve. As mentioned by Evans (2000), trust is the crucial link between the leader and the led, and vital to enhancing job satisfaction and loyalty, which is a contributor to followership. The actions of Mrs. S spoke to her authentic leadership – she wanted to emphasize the building of honest relationships between her and me to reach the desired outcomes that would be built on an ethical foundation. It was revealing to see Mrs. S being very honest with me through sharing her personal stories when she was only starting working with children. She was open about being highly stressed and sometimes not knowing what to do because the job was overwhelming. This gave me the power to realize that getting better takes time and hard work, and nothing will come quickly.
I will always be grateful for the openness of the authentic leadership that Mrs. S exhibited. Her authentic leadership was transferred through the building of trust, the honesty about personal experiences, the positive outlook on the future of practice, as well as creative and independent thinking and action (Gibbs, 2006). Mrs. S was proactive in engaging me in a reciprocal relationship with her in order to develop a sense of understanding about the steps that will be taken for adjusting me to the new practice setting as well as developing professionally. I remember the work with Mrs. S fondly because she made an impression of a reliable leader who is authentic in her relationships with followers. She remains open to any communication and is free to give advice if I need it, which is an outstanding quality that not many leaders have.
Leader II: College Professor
The second leader whom I would like to explore in the current assessment is the college professor, Mrs. J, who was instrumental in helping me choose education as the focus of by further career. The main focus that Mrs. J placed in her teaching was on listening and sharing of experiences between her and her students. In the very first lesson, the professor asked students to share their thoughts about the upcoming course and also shared both her vision and her doubts. This quality is one of the fundamentals of authenticity building. According to Starratt (2004), authenticity is not formed in a closet or on a desert island. Rather, an authentic leader is shaped through interactions with other people, and dialogues help discover oneself as a unique individual with specific values and beliefs that shape one’s personal approach toward leadership (Avolio & Gardner, 2005).
Beyond listening and the sharing of unique perspectives and experiences, Mrs. J showed such an important quality as leading with vision, which was crucial in helping me choose education as my future career. In our face-to-face interactions, the professor mentioned that she sees me being a good teacher or counselor because there was nothing as rewarding as being a role model and an advocate for young generations’ learning. She pushed me to consider this career path because I briefly mentioned it one time, and Mrs. J remembered my sentiment and continued reminding me about it. While she did not engage in much persuasion as If I ‘must’ become an educator in the future, she listed a range of benefits ranging from personal fulfillment to advancing to higher roles and positions in education. As an authentic leader, the professor pushed herself to raise the bar of her interactions with followers to offer valuable knowledge and perspectives that they cannot find anywhere else. For her, teaching was more than a technique but came from her own identity as a leader and the desire to show integrity and understanding. Mrs. J’s teaching style aligned with the principle laid out by Palmer (1997) who suggested that teaching depended less on methods being used and more to the degree that a person trusts his or her selfhood, which is made available and vulnerable to others.
The authenticity of my professor as a leader, therefore, stemmed from her asking what her students want to adjust the overall educational interactions with her to fit the dynamic in the classroom. Mrs. J was never the one to speak the most, instead, she consistently encouraged discussions that are based on transparency and the positive and negative implications that it can bring to the process. This is what made the professor stand out: she did not hide mistakes and weaknesses that inevitably emerged and was unapologetically herself, setting an example for her followers. Through observing how the professor acted with students and how she valued the interactions with others, I saw that education as a profession is much more than teaching and training others but it is also about finding meaningful relationships that enrich personal experiences.
Leader III: School Physics Teacher
My school physics teacher also showed distinct qualities of an authentic leader despite the fact that physics classes were usually tedious and complex. Before meeting the physics teacher, Mr. K, our class was anxious because complicated subjects were often taught by teachers exhibiting authoritative qualities that are overwhelming to students. However, the first thing that the teacher did when entering the class was ask students to relax and say that physics was a matter of collaboration and teamwork, which was unexpected to hear. By doing so, Mr. K showed self-awareness by acknowledging the potential complexities of the subject without having any bias. Such an attitude toward presenting a subject is also evidence of high professionalism and the understanding of one’s mission as a teacher and a leader.
Mr. K’s approach to leadership was surprising because school teachers who I had previously encountered acted differently. As mentioned by O’Loughlin (2009), many teachers have trouble connecting with their inner selves, which leads to them having an authoritarian approach toward leadership. On the contrary, Mr. K wanted to connect himself to his students-followers and manifest a “capacity for connectedness” that would increase the quality of learning (Palmer, 1997, p. 3). When students made mistakes, Mr. K did not get angry or say that they should have studied harder. Instead, he encouraged other students to explain the subject at hand in an easy and understandable manner. The reciprocal relationships that developed with the help of strengthening connections within the classroom increased students’ commitment to the subject. To his followers, Mr. K was the leader who combined effectiveness and genuineness without trying too hard. This made him an authentic leader as well as a credible resource of knowledge who would inspire students and instill a sense of confidence in other people (Wright, 2013).
Mr. K was the first authentic leader whom I met within the educational setting. His attitude toward interactions with students and the way in which he taught physics was not like anything I had ever seen. He was consistent in his approach and stuck to his principles and behaviors exhibited in the classroom. His consistency and the absence of superficiality, which is among the core qualities of an authentic leader, was also reflected in the fact that Mr. K was the same in the classroom and outside it (Gardner, Avolio, Luthans, May, & Walumbwa, 2005). I used to meet him in a local café, and I never noticed that his demeanor or the way in which he interacted with me and others changed. According to Nicholson and Carroll (2013), approaching authenticity within the context of social virtue requires being apart and maintaining a society-wide dialogue about authenticity. Therefore, an authentic leader is one who is open to engaging in open and honest self-expression of opinions. This revealed to me that the teacher was authentically and consistently himself, which I greatly admired.
Concluding Remarks
What followers look for in their leaders can range depending on the setting or their needs. I have always wanted my leaders to show understanding and compassion for what I am experiencing as a student and as an early professional despite the cultural, organizational, or social differences. The common thing that all of the leaders described in this assessment share is that their followers willingly followed them, without being enticed or forced to do so (Kouzes & Posner, 2007). They were all competent in their jobs, were inspiring, honest, and forward-looking, all of which are characteristics of authentic leaders. This does not mean that the leadership approaches of the mentioned leaders were the same; rather, it was the response of their followers that was similar. All three leaders were trusted and respected because of their authenticity and openness to followers.
This assessment shows that it takes self-reflection and consistent practice to be an authentic leader. Only through interactions with other people and the discovery of one’s role, it is possible to develop a sense of authenticity and to be unapologetically oneself. When developing as a leader in the future, I would like to learn from the examples of the three leaders who were open to the perspectives of other people and were open to making mistakes, without being afraid of seeming imperfect to their followers. Eventually, what makes leaders authentic is that they do not hide behind the façade of knowing everything – they learn through their experience and self-reflection, which is ongoing in the course of one’s professional and personal life.
References
Avolio, B., & Gardner, W. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 2005, 315-338.
Duignan, P. (2013). Leading with moral purpose and authenticity. Web.
Evans, R. (2000). The authentic leader. The Jossey-Bass reader on educational leadership. Jossey-Bass.
Gardner, W., Avolio, B., Luthans, F., May, D., & Walumbwa, F. (2005). “Can you see the real me?” A self-based model of authentic leader and follower development. The Leadership Quarterly, 16(3), 343-372.
Gibbs, C. J. (2006). To be a teacher: Journeys towards authenticity. Pearson Education.
Kouzes, J. M., & Posner, B. Z. (2007). The leadership challenge (4th ed.). Jossey Bass.
Nicholson, H., & Carroll, B. (2013). Chapter 25: Essay: So you want to be authentic in your leadership: To whom and for what end? In D. Ladkin & C. Spiller (Eds.), Authentic leadership: Clashes, convergences and coalescences (pp. 286-301). Edward Elgar.
O’Loughlin, M. (2009). The subject of childhood. Peter Lang.
Palmer, P. J. (1997). The heart of a teacher: Identity and integrity in teaching. Web.
Starratt, R. J. (2004). Ethical leadership. Jossey-Bass.
Wright, C. (2013). Authenticity in teaching and leadership. Journal of Accounting and Finance, 13(2), 36-44.