The purpose of this paper is to discuss the emerging concept of authentic leadership and provide some insights into its domain and development in organizations.
The paper sees that authentic leadership has become a recent buzzword finding its way into scientific journals, popular press, and newspaper columns.
The paper finds that the study of authentic leadership is relatively new; a working definition, a method of measurement, and criterion‐based studies do not yet exist. As such, attempting to develop authentic leaders may only result in leaders who are trained to superficially exhibit authentic leadership behaviors.
The paper shows that when authentic leadership has been defined and is measurable, development of this type of leadership can begin. Until then, attempting to develop authentic leadership may result in negative outcomes.
