Affiliation:
1. Adventist University of Africa, Kenya
Abstract
Authentic leadership is a leadership approach characterized by four core values which are transparency, internalized moral perspectives, balanced relationship, and self-awareness. The 21st century world is yearning for such leaders who can straighten the moral compass in both the Church setting and in the secular world although such leader are not easy to find because of the world’s influence, human imperfection, and competitive environments. This paper describes and discusses how the approach is defined by different scholars, the benefits gained from exercising authentic leadership, obstacles to obtain it, and ways by which authenticity can be enhanced. Lack of authentic leadership has proved to cause poor interpersonal relations, employee dissatisfaction, corruption, and organization ineffectiveness. Authentic leadership is expected to contribute effectively to one’s leadership performance. A special emphasis in this paper is given on how authentic leadership applies to the church settings.
Publisher
Adventist University of Africa
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