As for me, I believe that you can always use the principles of authentic leadership in your everyday life. I believe that everyone should act according to his values and be himself. One should also be aware of his own strengths and weaknesses, emotions. Everyone should also be having good relationships with others through honesty and openness. In addition, trust is very important for harmonious relationships towards others. I think I am an authentic leader because I am a very true and transparent person. I act according to my values and what I believe is right.

With regards to our profession as a nurse, authentic leadership can be a great help to solve our problems but I believe that’s not it. There are many things needed to solve problems but authentic leadership is the main ingredient to reach success.

With much being said, in what situations can you apply the principles of authentic leadership?
As you think of the scenarios where we can apply the principles, do you think authentic leadership is the ultimate solution in every problem we encounter with our profession?

Authentic leadership can be applied in a lot of situations. This is actually not only limited in a Nursing environment or organization but in all of humanity as well. Actually leadership for me is an action rather than a position. In that sense I can say that in an environment where we practice an action for change and development, authentic leadership can already be applied as well.

Authentic leadership might be a factor that can contribute to a solution of problem, however, I think it is not the ULTIMATE SOLUTION. Depending on the problem, I think it can be best solved if both the leader and follower take part on it. It has just been pointed out by some studies that leaders are the forefront of developing an organization because they tend to influence their follower to act. But if you will look closely to the problem, collaboration of all the people in the organization can best solve a predicament.

We can find leaders everywhere – school, company, society, at home, etc. in every situation, sometimes only one or a group will initiate to find solution for the remaining members. In nurse-patient dilemma, the nurse should lead or have the first move to solve a patient’s problem. So, i think that in any scenario, if one recognizes a problem and take a step forward without any hesitation without being drawn away from his genuine self a solution is to be manifested.
But one of the most important for a leader-follower relationship is we trust each other and respect to one’s “voice” all the time.

Authentic leadership has been a big buzzword in the corporate world nowadays. To think that people in the business industry are now thinking of benefiting in this type of leadership where ones values and integrity has been given utmost importance what more in the health care industry where we, as nurses, value ethics.

Authentic leadership may not be the only solution to various problems in our current diversified society, for the theory, as stated by Wong and Cumming, has flaws and weaknesses. On the other hand , the authors have likewise emphasized that it is the root construct of positive forms of leadership, therefore it has been developed as a leadership style at its best.

I can safely say that I may have some of the qualities of an authentic leader, but if I don not possess all the attributes of what an authentic leader should be , then I cannot call myself an authentic leader as for now, but of course I see myself in the future to develop the skills and through time and experience I can be molded to become one.

I agree with all of you. It is indeed a difficult journey for one should attain a self actualization in order to become an authentic leader. However, we should not forget that like any other leadership styles, it has its own waterloo but it should not be a hindrance rather it should be the point of our strength to further hone this model and utilize it in our profession

A study made by Bolden, R., Gosling, J., Marturano, A. and Dennison, P. entitled “A Review of Leadership Theory and Competency Frameworks” published in June 2003, looked at some of the leadership models and frameworks used in practice by a number of private and public corporations. They found out that these organizations promoted a “somewhat limited model version of ‘transformational model’, that the leader is seen as the sole source of leadership, that emphasis is placed on values such as honesty, integrity, empathy, trust, ethics and valuing diversity, that the leader is also expected to display excellent information processing, project management, customer service and delivery skills, along with proven business and political acumen, that leaders build partnerships, walk the talk, show incredible drive and enthusiasm, and get things done, that the leader demonstrates innovation, creativity and thinks “outside the box”, that leaders are entrepreneurs who identify opportunities - they like to be challenged and they’re prepared to take risks.
In the desire to come up with effective leadership, the study concluded that organizations will really spend time, money and a lot of effort to develop their own leadership framework, and that this is evidence that there is really no single leadership theory that can apply solely to any one organization.

I believe authentic leadership is an upgraded form of leadership theory that incorporates some of the elements of Transformational leadership. I believe also that authentic leadership cannot solely be applied to any one problem in our profession. But it is worth trying to test its effectiveness in nursing practice.

Authentic leadership can be applied in any areas not only in the nursing profession but other fields as well that it can be applied. For school to institution in the government, from business to worldwide organizations, as long as there are leaders and followers involve in the process. But the concept of authenticity can be applied through interaction with other people. And from there, we could develop and enriched what we already have.

I think authentic leadership is just one of the solutions we could use to solve a problem that we encounter in the nursing profession. There are other ways in which problems can be solved with the use of the other principles of leadership; we just have to find out which one best suit the problem. Problems concerning the nursing profession can also be affected by other factors not necessarily in leadership and we have to consider these factors in solving the problem.

Somehow, I may say that I have become an authentic leader or not in my past experiences. But what I am sure about is that I’ve become a leader before.

In my opinion, principles of authentic leadership can be applied not only in nursing practice but also in education, research and everyday living. Authentic leadership can be a big help in nursing practice for it can develop a healthy work environment. As what you’ve cited in your discussion: “Healthy" as defined in the AACN Standards for Establishing and Sustaining Healthy Work Environments (American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, 2005) and in the original construction of the Nursing Work Index (Kramer M, Hafner, LP. , 1989) means productive, able to give quality care, satisfying, and able to meet personal needs.Thus a healthy working environment is a work setting in which policies, procedures, and systems are designed so that employees are able to meet organizational objectives and achieve personal satisfaction in their work.”18(p3),34(p741). It is also a good concept in order to know yourself more and act according to what is right and morally ethical.

I think principles of Authentic Leadership is not only ultimate solution in every problem we encounter with our profession. It should be a combination of the different types of leadership, the concepts that we learned during our undergrad years and experiences that we gained from the past that may be relevant to the problems encountered.

For me, I can say that I experience being a leader but I can’t say whether I’m an authentic leader or not because I think it depends on others perspective if I was able to deliver authenticity or not.

i think, principles of authentic leadership can be applied in everyday situations we encounter in our lives... in every decisions we make, such principle can be utilized for us to come with better choices and outcomes... when interacting with other people, when trying to solve such problem, in reflecting things, when giving the best stand and opinion--- here we can all apply the principles of authenticity....

but then, notion of authentic leadership is something that is quite hard to achieve if we will base it from the standards of the theories..., and i guess, it is not the ultimate solution for every problem that we encounter in our profession, however, it may be a great factor that would help us to resolve such..., this is because problems we experience in our profession do not only involve matters re leadership, external factors alone can serve as a threat in our profession, and our own personal choices as well...

i am an authentic leader as based from my own standards!
somehow, i guess i've met the criteria mentioned by some theorists regarding authentic leader....

While authentic leadership sounds like a good thing (how can one argue with being honest and real), it may be that being completely and utterly authentic can be problematic for modern leaders in our complex organizational world. First there is a danger that a leader will lose the distinction between him or herself as a person, and him or herself as a leader, which is a constrained role within a constrained context. Second, and a very practical issue, is that complete and utter honesty and openness is not always possible in a world of proprietary knowledge, actions that must be kept hidden in the planning stages, and so on.

Those that end up subscribing to the need for authentic leadership need to recognize its limitations.

http://work911.com/leadership-development/faq/authentic.htm

“All you have to tell me is that you are a nurse, and I already know you have leadership skills. Every nurse has leadership skills. You manage other members of the healthcare team, you cause others to act, and you facilitate positive outcomes.”

However, despite of the established leadership styles, there is still a great need to discover new approaches to meet the demands of the ever changing needs of our profession. Stress-related illness contributes to rising healthcare costs and disability, and creating a healthy work environment is a priority for maintaining an adequate nurse workforce. Nurse Managers play an integral role in creating the healthcare work environment. But what is a healthy environment and how can we achieve it?
"Healthy" as defined in the AACN Standards for Establishing and Sustaining Healthy Work Environments (American Association of Critical-Care Nurses, 2005) and in the original construction of the Nursing Work Index (Kramer M, Hafner, LP. , 1989) means productive, able to give quality care, satisfying, and able to meet personal needs.Thus a healthy working environment is a work setting in which policies, procedures, and systems are designed so that employees are able to meet organizational objectives and achieve personal satisfaction in their work.”18(p3),34(p741) The term healthy work environment with its humane elements appears to be used interchangeably to incorporate healing work environments.23 Philosophical approaches associated with healthy and effective work environments include learning organizations, healthy work environments supportive of the whole human being, joyful workplaces, and patient-focused environments.

In 2001, the American Association of Critical- Care Nurses (AACN) made a commitment to promote the creation of healthy work environments that are safe, healing, humane, and respectful for patients, patients’ families, and nurses.5 To this end, the AACN recently released a landmark publication specifying the standards necessary to establish and sustain healthy work environments in healthcare.5 Authentic leader- ship was identified as one of the 6 standards (skilled communication, true collaboration, effective decision making, appropriate staffing, meaningful recognition, and authentic leadership) crucial to creating and sus- taining healthy work environments in nursing practice.5The role of leaders is so pivotal that authentic leader- ship, not just any leadership, has been identif ied as “the glue that holds together a healthy work environ- ment.”6(p2) In fact, so important is leadership in estab- lishing the principles and elements of a healthy work environment for practice7 that a coalition of 60 nurs- ing organizations known as the Nursing Organizations Alliance8 has supported a set of principles that each member organization has been asked to discuss and endorse. Among the 60 members of the alliance9 are AACN; the American Association of Colleges of Nursing; the American Organization of Nurse Execu- tives; Sigma Theta Tau International, The Honor Soci- ety of Nursing; and the American Academy of Nursing. These organizations to some extent have incorporated the principles of healthy environments as part of their organizational strategic plans. For example, AACN has contributed with its document5 on standards for a healthy work environment, the American Association of Colleges of Nursing has issued a document10 describing the hallmarks of the professional nursing practice environment, the American Organization of Nurse Executives has produced a 2-volume series11 of exemplars of the healthy work environment, Sigma Theta Tau International has actively engaged in a call to shape the future through renewal,12 and the Ameri- can Academy of Nursing has through its members broadly contributed in the health policy arena. From a broader perspective, a call for transforming the work environment with leaders as key partners has also been echoed by other influential organizations.2,13,14

But what is an authentic leadership? What are the qualities of this leader that makes him more effective leader than the other types of leader? AACN definition of the term authentic, which proposes that leaders who are authentic “conform to fact” or speak the truth and therefore are worthy of trust, reliance, or belief.5 Congruently, George45 describes an authentic leader as an individual in a position of responsibility who is genuine, trustworthy, reliable, and believable. Furthermore, One conceptual definition of authentic leadership is proposed by Avolio et al41 as part of the beginning development of a theoretical framework to guide future research. These researchers define authentic leaders as “those individuals who are deeply aware of how they think and behave and are perceived by others as being aware of their own and others’ values/ moral perspective, knowledge, and strengths, aware of the context in which they operate, and who are confident, hopeful, optimistic, resilient, and high on moral character.”41(p804)

However, a question lingers my mind, how can one be an authentic leader? Does it possess a distinct feature from the other types of leader? The process of becoming an authentic leader appears to be a journey rather than a destination. Some of the identified essentials of becoming an authentic leader are the following:5. pursue a personal journey of self-discovery, self-improvement, reflection, and renewal6. develop an individual leadership style that is con- sistent with his or her personality and character.7. requires courage to commit to a process of personal transformation “from the inside out.”438. understanding one’s strengths and weaknesses while simultaneously accepting one’s “shadow side” is an essential compo- nent of becoming an authentic leader.45The key distinction of authen- tic leaders is that they are anchored by their own deep sense of self and know where they stand on important issues, values, and beliefs.54 Authentic leaders “stay their course and convey to others, often times through their actions, not just words, what they represent in terms of principles, values, and ethics.”54(p329) The combined work of multiple contributors41,43,45,49-51 supports the assumption that authentic leaders create lasting organizational value that extends well beyond bottom-line success.

Although it may be reasonable to conclude that authentic leadership may be increasingly needed in today’s complex healthcare systems, additional empirical work is necessary. Authentic leadership may not only be crucial to creating and sustaining healthy work environments for practice but also may hold promise in creating lasting organizational and professional value. The ripple effects of authentic leadership may be so marked that not only will organizations need to be cultivating authentic leaders in formal leadership positions but authentic leaders also may be needed at the front lines or the point of care. To produce leaderful organizations, however, requires a better scientific understanding of what authentic leadership is how it may be developed, and how it contributes to the creation of healthy work environments. Additionally, developing leaderful organizations implies a commitment to longitudinal research and to an emphasis on fostering leader- ship development at all levels in the profession. In light of the need for leaderful organizations for the 21st century and for further development of authentic leadership science, AACN is positioned to advance the current understanding of authentic leadership to document the empirical link with a healthy work environment. This important work potentially may affect not only the nursing workforce but also the profession, the healthcare delivery system as a whole, and society at large.

"Good leaders are not born; they are developed through experience, studying, mentoring, and a basic desire to be the best they can be."


Guide questions

• With much being said, in what situations can you apply the principles of authentic leadership?
  
• As you think of the scenarios where we can apply the principles, do you think authentic leadership is the ultimate solution in every problem we encounter with our profession?
  
• Are you an authentic leader?
  

References:
Maria R. Shirey, MS, MBA, RN, CNAA, BC. Authentic Leaders Creating Healthy Work Environments for Nursing Practice. American Journal of Critical Care. 2006;15: 256-267www.aacn.org/DM/Media/MediaView.aspx?mid=2864&itemid=56

American Association of Critical-Care Nurses. AACN standards for establishing and sustaining healthy work environments: a journey to excellence. 2005. Am J Crit Care. 2005;14(3):187–197.

Kramer M, Hafner, LP. Shared values: impact on staff nurse job satisfaction and perceived productivity. Nurs Res. 1989; 38(3):172–177