Description

Scales were developed and validated for four dimensions of authentic leadership: self-awareness, relational transparency, internalized moral perspective, balanced processing.

Definition

The authors define authentic leadership as "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".

Relational transparency refers to "presenting one’s authentic self (as opposed to a fake or distorted self) to others".

Items

• Says exactly what he or she means.
• Is willing to admit mistakes when they are made.

The authors reported two sample items of this scale only.

Source

• Walumbwa et al. (2008): Authentic Leadership: Development and Validation of a Theory-Based Measure? Journal of Management, Vol. 34, No. 1, pp. 89–126

Related Scales

• Self-awareness
• Internalized moral perspective
• Balanced processing