Getting Real With Leadership: An introduction to Authentic Leadership Theory
First Presenter's Institution
Valdosta City School District
First Presenter's Brief Biography
Cherelle Townsend is a Professional School Counselor at S.L. Mason Elementary School in Valdosta, Ga. She has served in her current role for 4 years. She believes that building relationships is the most important thing you can do with students. In addition to her role as a school counselor, she is also the Parent Engagement Facilitator, a member of the district Teacher Retention and Recruitment Committee, and a member of Tier 2 and Tier 3 PBIS teams at her school. She is currently pursuing a doctoral degree in Education Administration from FAMU university. Her research focus is the impact of school leadership practices and school climate on student achievement in Title 1 schools.
Second Presenter's Institution
Valdosta City School District
Second Presenter’s Email Address
taylor.nimmo@gocats.org
Second Presenter's Brief Biography
Taylor Nimmo is a Professional School Counselor at S.L. Mason Elementary School located in Valdosta Ga. For education, she holds a B.S. in Organizational Leadership with a double-minor in Psychology and Public Administration, and a M.Ed. in Counselor Education both through Valdosta State University. She holds membership in the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) and Chi Sigma Iota (CSI) and is currently pursuing her Ed.S. in School Counseling. Her goals include promoting optimal health by supporting her students' academic, developmental, and emotional needs.
Third Presenter’s Email Address
gregory.vaughn@gocats.org
Third Presenter's Brief Biography
Mr. Vaughn serves as an intervention specialist and the PBIS Coach at S. L. Mason elementary school in Valdosta, Georgia. This is his first year in both roles, but he was an active member of his school's PBIS team all five years he taught in the classroom. Currently, he leads a tier 1, tier2, and a tier 3 PBIS team while being an active member on the school's leadership team. He provides support to other staff members in his school for implementing behavior interventions with fidelity. He is a member of the district Teacher Retention and Recruitment Committee, the district digital leadership team, and a member of his school's Culture and Climate Committee. His main focus is helping to create a positive culture and climate within the school for all students and staff members.
Document Type
Event
Primary Strand
Positive Behavior Interventions and Support
Relevance to Primary Strand
The four basic components of authentic leadership include:
- Self-Awareness.
- Relational Transparency.
- Balanced Processing.
- Strong Moral Code
If school leaders and teachers approach their work from an authentic approach by incorporating the tenants and principles of an authentic leader, this could ultimately transfer to students. The information learned from this presentation could possibly be applied in a classroom session.
Alignment with School Improvement Plan Topics
Leadership / Development
Brief Program Description
Authentic leadership is a relatively new area of leadership research (Northouse, 2021). Although originally identified early in transformational leadership, authentic leadership was not clearly identified. Practicing authentic leadership leads to long-term and ethically sound organizational performance. This presentation will provide an overview of authentic leadership practices and tips on how to implement these practices in their schools.
Summary
Authentic leadership is a relatively new area of leadership research (Northouse, 2021). Although originally identified early in transformational leadership, authentic leadership was not clearly identified. Bill George popularized authentic leadership in management studies and popular culture by reflecting on his success in the business world (Coveli & Mason, 2017). Authentic leadership theorists assert authenticity is the root of positive leadership and development (Johnson & Hackman, 2018). Practicing authentic leadership leads to long-term and ethically sound organizational performance. Self-awareness, balanced processing, internalized moral perspective, and relational transparency are the components of Authentic Leadership Theory. Authentic leadership can be defined in multiple ways from different viewpoints. The intrapersonal perspective of authentic leadership focuses closely on the leader. The interpersonal perspective outlines authentic leadership as relational. The developmental perspective of authentic leadership is viewed as something that can be nurtured in a leader. Participants will complete a self-administered questionnaire to assess Authentic Leadership. Participants will also receive strategies on how to incorporate authentic leadership practices into their schools in their current roles.
Evidence
Previous research has shown that authentic leadership serves as the single strongest predictor of an employee's job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and workplace happiness (Jesen & Luthans, 2006). Bird et. al (2009) examined the relationships among the authentic leadership style of school principals and the trust and engagement levels of their teachers in a county school district in a Southeastern state. The authenticity of the school principal was found to be significantly positively related to teacher trust and teacher engagement levels. Bento and Rieberio (2013), found that the level of authenticity of the leader, in the four characteristics defined for the ALQ, in the perception of the subjects inquired, is above the moderate level.
Learning Objective 1
list the four components of authentic leadership
Learning Objective 2
measure their authentic leadership by assessing four components of the process: self-awareness, internalized moral perspective, balanced processing, and relational transparency
Learning Objective 3
identify strategies to increase authentic leadership
Recommended Citation
Townsend, Cherelle; Nimmo, Taylor; and Vaughn, Gregory, "Getting Real With Leadership: An introduction to Authentic Leadership Theory" (2023). Southeast Conference on School Climate. 34.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/secsc/2023/2023/34
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Getting Real With Leadership: An introduction to Authentic Leadership Theory
Authentic leadership is a relatively new area of leadership research (Northouse, 2021). Although originally identified early in transformational leadership, authentic leadership was not clearly identified. Bill George popularized authentic leadership in management studies and popular culture by reflecting on his success in the business world (Coveli & Mason, 2017). Authentic leadership theorists assert authenticity is the root of positive leadership and development (Johnson & Hackman, 2018). Practicing authentic leadership leads to long-term and ethically sound organizational performance. Self-awareness, balanced processing, internalized moral perspective, and relational transparency are the components of Authentic Leadership Theory. Authentic leadership can be defined in multiple ways from different viewpoints. The intrapersonal perspective of authentic leadership focuses closely on the leader. The interpersonal perspective outlines authentic leadership as relational. The developmental perspective of authentic leadership is viewed as something that can be nurtured in a leader. Participants will complete a self-administered questionnaire to assess Authentic Leadership. Participants will also receive strategies on how to incorporate authentic leadership practices into their schools in their current roles.
