Transformational Leadership and Authentic Leadership as Practical Implications of Positive Organizational Psychology

Abstract

A large body of evidence suggests that leadership can be learned, and followers may respond to such learned behavior positively. Indeed, motivation, engagement, health, and wellbeing of employees in an organisation depend on the quality of the managers to a great extent. In this context, managers need to be equipped with the skills and behaviors both to engage and to protect the health and wellbeing of their teams. In this chapter, the theoretical backgrounds of transformational leadership and authentic leadership are explained, and these theories are compared and contrasted with each other. It also discusses how these leadership theories might help to enhance positive psychological abilities and positive attitudes of both leaders and their followers, and how these leadership theories contribute to the development of the management-training programs.

Linking servant leadership to positive deviant behavior: The mediating role of self‐determination theory

“…Hence, another possible extension of this research involves investigating the multi‐dimensionality of the servant leadership style and differentiating the influence of each dimension. The fact that recent studies have found a link between satisfaction of basic psychological needs and intrinsic motivation and other types of leadership, such as authentic leadership and transformational leadership (Jensen & Bro, 2018; Valsania et al., 2016; Yavuz, 2020), both of which have some dimensions in common with servant leadership (van Dierendonck, 2011), suggests the interest and possibility of exploring the differential effects of the dimensions of servant leadership.…”

Operationalizing an Internal Compass Toward True North in the Development of Authentic Leadership: A Coaching Approach

“…The True North analogy has had great appeal and now seems firmly linked to leadership in the literature (Becker, 2009;Diddams & Chang, 2012;Leavy, 2016;Seco & Teixeira, 2019;Sherman, 2017). Although the characteristics of an authentic leader vary slightly from author to author, sources have a common core of principled morality, ethical judgment and actions, transparency, and self-regulation (Chan, 2005;Walumbwa, Avolio, Gardner, & Peterson, 2008;Yavuz, 2020). AL has become classified within the field of positive psychology along with ethical, servant, and spiritual leadership (Northouse, 2019), and has become popular in response to the call for higher standards of character and integrity, as it seeks to find a way to move organizations, communities, and societies forward by focusing on what is right with people, and building on those strengths (Contreras, 2016;Fry & Whittington, 2005).…”

“…Because of the embeddedness of AL, it has been equated to one of the highest forms of effective leadership (Chan, Hannah, & Gardner, 2005; Eigel & Kuhnert, 2005; Yavuz, 2020), and numerous researchers have built on the view of centrality by studying the AL effect on, for instance, intrapersonal and interpersonal trust (Beddoes‐Jones, 2013; Chan et al, 2005), positive organizational behavior (Gill, Gardner, Claeys, & Vangronsvelt, 2018; Yammarino, Dionne, Schriesheim, & Dansereau, 2008), and follower performance (Guenter, Schreurs, van Emmerik, & Sun, 2017; Leroy, Palanski, & Simons, 2012; Seco & Teixeira, 2019).…”

“…Although others may guide or influence you, your trust is derived from your life story, and only you can determine what it should be.The True North analogy has had great appeal and now seems firmly linked to leadership in the literature (Becker, 2009; Diddams & Chang, 2012; Leavy, 2016; Seco & Teixeira, 2019; Sherman, 2017). Although the characteristics of an authentic leader vary slightly from author to author, sources have a common core of principled morality, ethical judgment and actions, transparency, and self‐regulation (Chan, 2005; Walumbwa, Avolio, Gardner, & Peterson, 2008; Yavuz, 2020).…”

“…In line with such a focus on the individual authentic leader, certain important aspects of AL have been delimited out of the study although each is worthy of focused research attention in its own right. The areas delimited out are: skill and competency development (AL level 6; Vogel, Reichard, Batistič, & Černe, 2020); leader behaviors (AL level 7; Bravo, 2018); followership (Bravo, 2018; Brown, 2018); the influence of workplace context on AL development (Cha et al, 2019); the links between positive psychology and AL (Seligman & Csikszentmihalyi, 2000; Yavuz, 2020); and the place of intuition in AL development (Hollis, 2018). AL levels 6 and 7 are, however, mentioned below for completeness.…”