Aim
Authentic Leadership (AL) is about optimizing business goals by integrating leaders’ personal resources and individual traits into their leadership roles. A fundamental premise for AL is to merge leaders’ professional and personal prerequisites into a unified leadership practice, thereby securing a holistic attitude. A typical risk during this process, however, is to lose track of the overall strategic business perspective.
In order to avoid this pitfall, we adopt an appreciative management approach in which classical Appreciative Inquiry and Strategic Management principles complement each other. Hence, HDP’s view on authentic leadership incorporates corporate values and strategies.
Scope
In order to develop an authentic leadership style, we believe that the following themes are crucial to cover:
Identifying who you are: Real and ideal leadership roles
The crucial question is: Why should anybody be lead by you? First step is to map who you are as a leader (reality) and how you wish to be (ideal) by using various testing tool and peer-interview processes.
Understanding personal roles: From role taking to role identity
This module seeks to capture the various dimensions of role taking, including role values, role functions, role requirements, role behaviors and the extent to which you can identify with your role as a leader and your other roles in life. Focus is on internalization, emotional control, and attentiveness to own resources within a corporate perspective. Thus, this module seeks to incorporate personal and corporate business values and strategies.
Understanding how personal roles are shaped through others/interaction: Finding your personal style
Level 1: The influence of co-leader and employees on personal leadership practices, underlying expectation, norms and values, overall leadership ideals in the specific organization, feedback mechanisms à shaping roles in context.
Level 2: Using AL as a management tool to leading other, including delegation, sharing responsibility, set an example, display empathy, being able to focus and listen, understanding employees à using role in context.
Moving towards authenticity : Merging personal and professional roles
Focus is action: Exert influence, be ‘contagious’, demonstrate initiative (lead the way), understand your impact and how to optimize your impact as a leader.
Methods
As indicated in our didactical model, we seek to create “learning in action” across the modules.
Specific tools that may be included: Role modeling, role playing on the opposite of our deals, feedback to self and other, lifeline defining moment professionally and personally and mirroring these, personal diaries, executive interviews, appreciative interview technique.
Specific tests that may be included: Hogan, JTI, Type Indicator, Personal Directions.
Effect
After completing this course, the leader will be able to:
- Add value to his or her leadership roles by integrating personal qualities
- Find ways to additional resources in leading others through AL
- Appreciate oneself and thereby being able to appreciate others
- Being able give constructive feedback to employees, stimulating growth
