Authentic Leadership Essay

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Critiques to authentic leadership
Kellerman (2004) argued in her book why there are so many bad leaders that it is important to note that leadership experts make much more money by consulting than from their academic jobs; “Hence, any new leadership theory that captures the imagination and pocketbook of corporations has the side effect of being a very lucrative enterprise” (Rita A. Gardiner, 2011, p101). It should also be kept in mind that Furthermore, Gardiner states that this concept is still in early development stage, hence the empirical effect of authentic leadership on follower attitudes, behaviours, and performances is not yet perfectly developed. Parameters and conceptualisation requires consolidation, and practical and theoretical …show more content…

Deborah Gruenfeld and Lauren Zander (2011) have observed, in practice, that placing value to be authentic worked as an excuse for a bad behaviour. As Xun Zi’s evil nature principle suggests, the true shape of oneself is evil, not good. Deborah Gruenfeld and Lauren Zander (2011) states in the article Authentic Leadership Can Be Bad Leadership “It’s important to realize that what makes you you is not just the good stuff — your values, aspirations and dreams; the qualities others love most. When you are overly critical, non-communicative, crass, judgmental, or rigid, you are probably at your most real — but you are not at your best. In fact, it is often these most authentic parts of a leader that need the most management”. They further contended the negative side of authentic leadership – one of their client insisted her staff to use certain process (which she felt was most appropriate to herself) to handle every issue. She rejected any suggestions to change the process for efficiency of everyone else, with an excuse that it is just how she works. She was showing authenticity by staying true to herself, but it eventually blocked the team from being more productive and emotionally

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