Eliciting the True Self: The Effects of Doctoral Education on Students’ Implicit Leadership Theories and Authentic Leader Identity Development

Abstract

The essence of authentic leadership is alignment of actions with an identity grounded in the “true self.” Theoretically, achieving such alignment requires self-awareness of discrepancies between current leadership capacity and elements of aspirational identity. Using personal constructs psychology, this study explores evidence that doctoral education serves as a catalyst for developing authentic leader identity. Repertory grid technique was used to elicit the implicit leadership theories of students enrolled in their first and final Leadership Core courses in an interdisciplinary doctoral program. Data analysis revealed significant differences in the complexity and integration, but not differentiation of leader identity.