What are the four components of authentic leadership and which do you think is most important and why?

Leaders who relate to their teams and inspire effective action are critically important to business success. According to a study in the Leadership & Organization Development Journal, employees' perception of authentic leadership serves as the strongest predictor of job satisfaction and can have a positive impact on work-related attitudes and happiness.

In addition, research outlined in the Harvard Business Review shows that a majority of employees believe authenticity in the workplace leads to several benefits, including:

• Better relationships with colleagues
• Higher levels of trust
• Greater productivity
• A more positive working environment

For professionals seeking to advance their careers and make a lasting impact on their firms, investing the time and effort into becoming an authentic leader can be immensely valuable.

But what characterizes authentic leadership, and why is it a worthy pursuit? Here are five traits of authentic leaders offered by Harvard Business School Professor Nancy Koehn, who teaches a free, online leadership lesson about legendary explorer Ernest Shackleton.

Characteristics of Authentic Leaders

1. They’re Committed to Bettering Themselves

To become more effective at motivating and guiding others, authentic leaders need to first focus on bettering themselves.

“Authentic leaders begin with the will and commitment within to work on themselves,” Koehn says. “They are not trying to be perfect or to somehow spring from the rib of Zeus into an iconic individual, but rather, they say, ‘Day by day and week by week, I’m going to work on myself.’ This commitment—made with oneself—is the most important starting characteristic.”

Investing in yourself through such avenues as taking an online course can be a way to acquire the knowledge and skills needed to help your team thrive. Beyond bolstering your resume, participating in leadership training can enable you to build a network you can lean on as you continue to grow.

Related: 3 Benefits of Leadership Training For Professionals

2. They Cultivate Self-Awareness

A keen sense of self-awareness is one of the most important traits a leader can possess. Moreover, research shows companies that employ professionals who exhibit high levels of self-awareness tend to perform better financially.

According to Koehn, cultivating this foundational component of emotional intelligence involves asking yourself questions, such as:

• What am I experiencing?
• What are my strengths?
• How am I showing up in the world?

Through looking inward and engaging in self-assessment, you can not only gain a deeper understanding of your own emotions and beliefs, but improve your perception of those held by others.

3. They’re Disciplined

Being an authentic leader requires more than just building self-awareness—you need to put it into practice, too. And that requires discipline.

Make it a point to check in with yourself as you complete daily tasks, such as delivering feedback and communicating with your colleagues, to ensure you’re bringing self-awareness to your role.

With a stronger sense of your motivations and limitations, you can identify your personal leadership style and chart a professional development plan that capitalizes on your strengths and rectifies your weaknesses.

4. They’re Mission-Driven

A deep and abiding commitment to a mission is integral to both authentic leadership and business success. According to a recent survey by EY and Harvard Business Review Analytic Services, 89 percent of executives said a sense of collective purpose drives employee engagement, and 84 percent said it leads to greater success in transformational efforts.

As you progress through the different stages of your leadership trajectory, consider what issues and challenges motivate you to take action and empower others to do the same. Koehn says that while identifying your mission can take time, it’s a worthwhile pursuit.

“Some leaders, like the abolitionist Frederick Douglass, discover their mission early on,” Koehn says. “Others, like environmental crusader Rachel Carson or newspaper publisher Katharine Graham, stumble into it. Recognizing a mighty purpose and embracing this is critically important.”

5. They Inspire Faith

Gaining the trust of your colleagues and influencing them to believe in and mobilize around a mission is a key tenet of effective leadership.

“The last, but by no means least, characteristic of authentic leadership is a willingness to take a leap of faith when things are difficult,” Koehn says. “To help your followers believe the mission is worthy of pushing forward, even in the face of unexpected hurdles, and that the vast future ahead of them, as Lincoln said, is worth fighting for, being inspired by, and identifying with.”

Whether communicating organizational change or assessing the potential challenges of scaling your venture, make it a point to be transparent with your employees and tap into the motivational drivers that enable them to develop and deliver.

The Importance of Authentic Leadership

As more organizations commit to purpose and make authenticity paramount to their business strategy, enhancing your leadership capabilities can be a boon to your career.

“It’s what we’re thirsty for now,” Koehn says. “We’re looking for leaders who can help us make a leap of faith and be integral to creating a better world, and to believe this is worthy of doing and possible.”

No matter where you are professionally, taking the time to commit to bettering yourself, heightening your emotional intelligence, putting your leadership skills into practice, and embracing a mission can lead to substantial returns—for yourself, your team, and your organization.

Do you want to improve your leadership capabilities? Download our e-book on how to become a more effective leader or take our free, 35-minute leadership lesson about legendary explorer Ernest Shackleton, and discover how you can develop the skills to lead with courage and conviction.

Authentic leadership emphasizes how a leader can gain legitimacy and build trust through developing honest relationship with followers (Avolio & Gardner, 2005). Authentic leadership is defined in the following way: 

"A pattern of leader behavior that draws upon and promotes both positive psychological capacities and a positive ethical climate, to foster greater self- awareness, an internalized moral perspective, balanced processing of information, and relational transparency on the part of leaders working with followers, fostering positive self-development." (Walumbwa et al., 2008 p. 94).

This approach to leadership focuses on the ethical dimensions of the relationship between follower and leader and describes those behaviors that result in a trusting relationship. Authentic leaders have a positive outlook on life and are truthful and open in their interactions with others. They build trust with their subordinates and generate enthusiasm for project which enables effective individual and team performance.

Many researchers and practitioners have advocated for organizations to embrace the concept of authentic leadership because it can lead to stronger relationships and a commitment to the vision of the organization. The authentic leadership approach advocates for ethical standards rather than a focus on profit (Garner, Cogliser, Davis & Dickens, 2011).

Authentic leadership consists of four components

The research on authentic leadership suggests that there are four major components including

1. self-awareness,
2. relational transparency,
3. balanced processing, and
4. an internalized moral perspective. 

An authentic leader shows self-awareness through reflecting on their own strengths, weakness and values. An authentic leader truly knows themselves and values their gifts and recognizes their limitations.

When authentic leaders demonstrate relational transparency, they openly share their own thoughts and beliefs yet do not overly display their emotions to followers; they maintain a good balance. 

Moreover, authentic leaders are balanced in their approach because they solicit opinions from subordinates and welcome opposing viewpoints and consider the value of these viewpoints in a fair manner. 

Authentic leaders also display a strong moral code that they demonstrate in their relationships and decision-making; this ethical foundation resistant to external forces.

Authentic leaders are characterized by a high level of self-awareness

Some researchers have questioned whether authentic leadership includes a moral component because authentic leaders might be true to corrupt ideas. However, Bruce Avolio and other scholars have argued that faking ethical constraints is a sign of inauthenticity and that authentic leaders need to be both truthful and ethical.

Moreover, it is difficult to be self-aware, transparent, and balanced in processing information without the moral maturity associated with a positive personal value system (Avolio & Gardner, 2005). Authentic leaders show self-awareness through ensuring that their internal values reflect their behaviors and this process of self-regulation enables authentic leaders to withstand external pressure and influence.

Authentic leaders admit mistakes and share their successes

It is important to distinguish relational transparency from impression management. Authentic leaders do not engage in impression management strategies yet persist in aligning their core values with their intentions and behaviors within the firm. Both leaders and followers who engage in relational transparency have authentic relationships that derive from building trust and honesty. When a leader displays relational transparency they share both their strengths and weaknesses with others. They display authenticity through admitting when they make mistakes and sharing their successes with their subordinates.

Authentic leadership is connected with sharing feelings and motives

In displaying relational transparency, authentic leaders share their feelings and motives. Authentic leaders are connected with their values and morals and share these values openly with others. When authentic leaders show relational transparency they communicate openly and are “real in their relationships with others” (Northouse, 2013, p 264).

Without sharing sensitive information, authentic leaders are open and honest in a genuine way and choose to share appropriate information. This aspect of authentic leadership demonstrates high self-awareness because authentic leaders understand what drives them to do well and allows them to build strong and authentic relationships with their followers.

Authentic leaders have an internalized moral perspective

This level of relational transparency is based on authentic leaders having an internalized moral perspective so they regulate their behavior according to their moral values. This internalized moral perspective results in ethical decision-making and behavior. Moreover, authentic leaders balance information before making a decision and they based these decisions on their core set of values.

Organizations can implement authentic leadership programs

It also appears that organizations can implement authentic leadership programs to enable managers to become more authentic. The concept of authentic leadership is based on a mixture of individual differences and skills so is a multi-dimensional concept. These types of training and development programs can focus on allowing managers to become more self-aware so they are in tune with their values (Avolio, Griffith, Wernsing, & Walumbwa, 2009).

For organizations to gain a competitive advantage through positive leadership, researchers and practitioners have advocated for identification and development of authentic leadership. This CQ Dossier describes the four key components of authentic leadership with a particular focus on development of self-awareness in order for managers to process information more effectively, be transparent and honest with their subordinates, and to develop a strong moral core that is congruent with their values and ethics. The dossier also suggests that organizations can develop authentic leadership interventions that allow managers to become more self-aware.