Transcript Authentic Leadership: Balancing the Equation

Associate Professor Narottam Bhindi ,
University of Wollongong,
Dr. Richard Smith, AUT
Dr. Jens J. Hansen, Waiariki Institute of
Technology,
Dr. Dan Riley, University of New England
Authentic Leadership in
Education:
A cross-country reality?
…or…
Leaders in their own mind?
…or…
LEGENDS in their own mind?
Abstract
Authentic Leadership (AL) is emerging as an
alternative perspective on leadership in
different organizational settings, including
education. This presentation draws upon
extant research and commentary on AL especially its relevance to leaders engaged
in education. Missing/unacknowledged
ingredients in the current AL paradigm are
considered and proposals to address a
research gap is described.
How many of the triggers in the
next slide can you identify with?
We reason that these triggers
sparked the AL movement.
How many have you seen?
 Context
of cynicism about leadership &
dissatisfaction with status quo;
 Self before service;
 Profits before the common good;
 Deceitful practices & cover-ups;
 Insincerity & superficiality;
 Obsession with efficiency & outcomes; and,
 Disquiet about control based, industrial
bureaucratic models.
And so we reason that…
Crises of confidence and increasing workplace
complexity impel a search for alternative, ethical, valuesdriven, compassionate and people centred leadership
paradigms, and;
 an increasing thirst for a higher standard of leadership
behaviour calls for greater congruence between what
leaders profess and what they actually do;
 This really is old fashioned Argyris and Schön stuff, with
leaders not double-loop learning and too often being
heavy handed?

THE EDUCATION SCENE
It appears that any educators and related
stakeholders feel educational leadership has
become too complex, complicated, burdensome
and even draconian.
They argue the traditional models of
leadership-- Heroes, Show Ponies, Lone
Rangers, ‘Head Kickers’ and ‘Lion
Tamers’-- are outdated and
inappropriate leadership ‘models’ for
human service organizations such as
education.
Which one is the hero?
What it is to be a show pony.
If that’s leadership, get off the horse.
And to think that we entered education
to promote peace and harmony!
Are head kicking leaders as effective as
lion taming leaders?
The quest for
professionalism,
intellectual stimuli, and
concern for effectiveness,
efficiency, and quality
must be underpinned by
a strong humanizing
values base if educational
leadership is to become
more dynamic,
distributive, responsive
and enabling, and
empowering.
Some propose that
leadership needs to become
more authentic.
Understanding Authentic Leadership

Bhindi & Duignan (1997) argue that leadership is
authentic to the degree that it is:
ethical;
 sincere;
 genuine; and,
 trustworthy in leadership action and interaction.


Bhindi & Duignan’s (1997) Authentic Leaders:
uphold honesty and integrity in their everyday dealings;
 constantly search for True Self (self-enhancement/selftranscendence) and,
 reject actions and interactions that are deceptive,
hypocritical, duplicitous, manipulative and destructive.

Authentic Leaders exercise
stewardship. For such leaders:
 Authenticity
is neither accidental nor contrived
but instead is intentional and, natural;
 Authenticity is connoted by deliberate
sensibility and sensitivity to others.
Bhindi & Duignan(1997)
Leadership is authentic to the degree that it is
ethical, sincere, genuine and trustworthy.
Authentic leaders uphold honesty and
integrity in their everyday dealings; they
practice mutuality and walk their talk.
The PASIFIKA way

In Aotearoa New Zealand
we apply a kaupapa
Maori frame-work which
includes, amongst other
values:





Whakawhanaungatanga &
Whanaungatanga
(belonging);
Aroha (goodwill & trust);
Tikanga (valuing each
other);
Manaakitanga (embracing
ourselves), and;
Kaitiakitanga (protecting
resources).

Similarly, there are value
sets throughout the Pacific
and its peoples, for instance:
Vakavanua Fiji…
 Whakawhanua Tonga…
 Fa’a Samoa…



…and of course, early
colonizers preached
numerous worldview
versions;
So what has academia done
with all of this AL stuff?
Australian Work
Author and Year
Theme
Bhindi & Duignan, 1997, & also,
Duignan & Bhindi, 1997.
Ethical leadership, spirituality,
sensibility, intentionality’
Duignan et al., 2003
Ethical behavior in service
organizations
Bhindi et al., 2002
Spirituality in workplace leadership
Bhindi & McCann
To be launched
North America
Author and Year
Theme
Terry, 1993; Staratt, 2004; Taylor
1991
Canvass philosophical and ethical
understandings of authentic
leadership
Sergiovanni, Fullan & others
Moral dimension of leadership
Avolio & colleagues at NebraskaLincoln, 2005
Currently engaging in, or
proposing additional research on
AL from different angles
Begley , 2006
AL, moral reasoning and sensitivity
to others
New Zealand
Perry, 2007
Covenantal approaches
to leadership
Robinson
Ethical leadership
Youngs
Servant leadership
Giles
Ethical/moral spiritual
concerns
Summary of thinking so far…
The research/thinking on AL leadership
seems mainly to have been leader-centric,
descriptive and narratively driven;
 It sometimes seems to be very ‘happyclappy’ in nature (or even seriously
reminiscent of the ‘chosen-frozen’);
 Substantially, it’s very ‘new-ageist’.

We’ve even moved beyond the old stuff
into the exciting field of
Polemic/Motivational ‘Homilies’
& Sawaf, 1997AL as an energy field;
 McGraw, 2001 Self-discovery;
 Goffey & Jones, 2005 Sustaining AL;
 Adrienne, 2006  Inauthenticity
 Conclusion  the new age of leadership is
fragile and brittle to boot – can’t you feel the
vibrations?
 Cooper
What seems to be needed…
Multi-faceted research is needed to reform our
understanding of leadership authenticity –
especially the perspectives and perceptions of
followers;
 The research needs to focus on their perceptions
of leaders’ behaviours;
 The research needs to be ‘baggage free’ and
empirical in design.

Issues with AL

Pittinsky & Tyson argue that many of the
commentaries & research on AL are normative,
philosophical, & tantamount to exhortations.
They are:


Our issues are:


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prescriptions for self- improvement, & are almost
entirely leader- centered.
Much ado about the eyes of the beholder – i.e. the
leader;
Being leader-centric overlooks follower-centred
research possibilities.
It’s a bit like Schrodinger’s cat…
Schrodinger’s cat is so tipsy – it’s finally used its final life…
AL is alive…
…or is it
mythical?
Balancing the Equation
“ Research on authenticity, has not, to date,
examined authenticity from the perspectives of
followers, in particular, what cues or markers are
used by followers to determine whether a leader
is authentic?”
Pittinsky & Tyson, 2003
Proposed Research



We propose to investigate how teachers/educators
regard authenticity in leadership;
We want to discover what, if any criteria they use to
‘assess’ the authenticity of their leaders, and the
extent to which these criteria are consistent with the
extant research and literature;
The research team will comprise:

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Bhindi (Wollongong);
Smith (AUT);
Hansen (NZ Consultant); &
Riley (UNE).
A multi-faceted overarching question
is being posed:
Who sees what behaviours, when, in
which situations, and what effects are
perceived with respect to their leaders’
behaviours and the effect of those leaders
upon the educational remit of the setting?
Research Focus
 The
proposed research will involve case
studies of school leaders as authentic leaders
as perceived by their teachers;
 It will explore the extent to which schools as
human service organizations exemplify the
ideals of autonomy, collegiality, and shared
leadership in a manner that is consistent with
the espousals of AL.
 There is undoubtedly value in also looking at
leadership in tertiary agencies – leaders might
become quite shocked at what their staff
think.
Justification for Study
As leadership is legitimized by followers, it is
important to ‘map’ (describe/plot) follower
perspectives on markers of AL.
2. In line with literature and practice of
distributive leadership, the relationship
between leaders and followers may, in fact,
be better understood through achieving
deeper understanding of what perceptions
followers hold about the genuineness of this
kind of leadership at their workplace.
1.
Research procedures

This will be a trans-Tasman series of case
studies:
 Armidale,
NSW;
 Wollongong, NSW;
 North Shore, Aotearoa New Zealand;
 Rotorua/Whakatane, Aotearoa New Zealand.

The overarching methodology involves a
case study evaluation of schools as
organisations
Research procedures cont.

A mixed methods approach will be used:
 Relevant
institutional and government
materials for documentary analysis;
 Websites will be reviewed for evidence of AL;
 On-line surveys to staff from schools using a
purposive sample of teachers;
 In-depth semi-structured focus group
interviews with cross-section of teachers.
In summary…
In summary, this mixed methods series of
case studies will span rural and
metropolitan settings, will gather
qualitative and quantitative data and is, at
best, exploratory in nature. It is not an
ambitious task because it only completes
an initial exploration of a leadership
construct/myth that we believe to be
important.
What emerges from this session?

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There is a need for this study;
A cross-country analysis may be useful;
The politics of leadership will be scrutinized
which may show that all that glitters is not AL:

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The happy-clappies might not be that happy
The chosen-frozens might become heard;
We’ve concluded that an empirical study with a
range of data is required if we’re to move
beyond the charismatic bind.
 We don’t want potentially explosive situations
like this in schools, do we?

References
Bhindi, N. and Duignan, P. (1997). Leadership for the New Century:
Authenticity, Intentionality, Spirituality and Sensibility. Management and
Administration Journal 25:2.
Bhindi, N., Gerber, R., & Riley, D. ( 2002). Spirituality in Leadership: The
Missing Link? Second International Conference on Catholic Educational
Leadership, Australian Catholic University, 5 August.
Bhindi, N. (2003). Practising Creative Leadership: Pipe Dream or Possibility?
The Practising Administrator,Vol.1, pp. 18-21.
Bhindi, N.(2004). Creating and Sustaining A Learning Breathing School.
Keynote Presentation, Bomaderry Public School, Retreat, 18 July.
Creighton, T. (1999) Spirituality and the Principalship: Leadership for the New
Millennium. International Electronic Journal For Leadership in Learning, 16
April.
Miller, C. (2002). The Politics of Grace and the Abuse of Power In Graves,
S. R. & Addington, T. G. (eds.) Life @ Work on Leadership. Jossey-Bass.
Moxley, R. (2000). Leadership and Spirit. Jossey-Bass.
Starratt, R. J. (2004). Ethical Leadership. Jossey-Bass