How to be an authentic leader, 1. Understanding authentic leadership

Abstract

Strong leaders with an approach that supports, empowers and inspires staff are vital to the delivery of quality care and services for patients and service users. Every failing identified in the NHS, and the subsequent reviews examining them have pointed to the failing of leadership to maintain the standards of care, protection and quality required for clinical services eg Mid Staffordshire ( Francis, 2013 ) and the Shipman Inquiries ( Smith, 2003 ). Over the next few months, we will be looking at several leadership styles and how these can impact on patients, staff and health and social care. In simple terms, a leader influences others (either directly, or by delegating) to carry out a specific action or set of objectives. The essence of followers and followership is considered by authors as an essential aspect of understanding leadership and the importance of the interaction between the two parties ( Winston and Patterson, 2006 ). Authentic leadership is one of the leadership styles that is categorised as relational eg it focuses on building relationships with others, and it is also seen as a positive leadership form (Malila et al, 2017). Authentic leaders are considered to be key in creating improved nursing and organisational outcomes through promoting a positive emotional wellbeing and such leadership is associated with lower staff turnover ( Laschinger et al, 2016 ; Lee et al, 2019 ). Furthermore, authentic leadership has been linked with improved patient outcomes ( Boamah et al, 2017 ).