SYNTHESIS
Authentic leadership was defined from one theory to the other in various ways but with congruencies. It is thought to involve most of the inner attributes of individual such as knowing oneself, transparency in every actions whether good or bad, and natural capacity to build a harmonious relationship with others.
Authentic leaders are as guided by qualities of the heart, by passion and compassion, as they are by qualities of the mind. Leaders are all very different people. Any prospective leader who buys into the necessity of attempting to emulate all the characteristics of a leader is doomed to fail (George 2003).
This paper then would like to find out of what we think about an authentic leader, how we perceive and assess effectiveness of such leadership, and what we think are necessary for such system to work; with consideration of how we see and make our judgment before as compared now…
The following questions were asked:
1. Assuming that you didn’t read any article re leadership, in your own definition, what is authentic leadership?
2. When was the time you actually became a leader?
3. In terms of leadership, and relating with the current events in our country today, what do you think is needed for a system to work?
Based from the questions above, this paper would like to know in what sense do we see leadership today.
From the data I have gathered, most of the responses explicated leadership as being true to oneself and others, being able to lead, build trust and further build harmonious relationship that is thought to result in a well-coordinated and fruitful companionship that aim for only one goal established by all the members of the team.
When asked about leadership experiences, as observed from the responses, most answered a definite time that they became leader of a group; particularly during their secondary and tertiary level. But only few mentioned that they became leaders of their own selves. This is a very observable dilemma, wherein once an individual is asked about a certain situation; he/she tends to see things in a greater perspective rather than analyzing the specific and simple ones. Like in this case, we tend to ignore, forget or not include for that matter our leadership experience for our own selves: being the leaders of our own dreams, our own decisions, and our own future without necessity of considering others for an act would affect none but us… “We claim we’ve been leaders of others, but we seldom assert becoming a leader for our own…”May I just cite one of the responses: “Leadership can happen at any age, any time and at any place”.
Responses also showed that collaboration, cooperation and communication are important for a system to work… Emphasis on the role and responsibility of both the leader and the follower was made.
Much have been focused on studying qualities necessary for a leader and how he should reach out to his followers; but less has focused on what qualities are necessary for the followers and how they should reach out to the leader, without the thought of who should start and make an effort first because they see it as a responsibility to be assumed by everybody being part of a system.For such system to work, its main component which is the people must function well. There should be equality in terms of responsibilities and tasks. How much we expect from a leader should be the same in the case of the follower. No one should take the burden alone but instead, as a team, they must operate as one. Each must assume a great responsibility of leadership in their own ways, by acting upon the influence of the notion of “how it feels to be in that position”…“Leaders are more of a facilitator and partner of their followers.”
I should say that authentic leadership would only take place if each of us will learn to assume the qualities of a leader, not by any means forcing ourselves to become someone or act as if you’re the exact one; but rather letting our innate capacities and personas evolve, as we reach maturity in our dispositions and judgment in life…
I personally feel that because of so many changes and happenings that continue to occur in our community today, we keep on seeking solutions to address dilemmas that arise, interrelating every event we encounter, and then come to exhaustion with too much ideas and terminologies, only to find out that we’re lost from what we only ought and suppose to know…
Just like in leadership, in my own point of view, much have been said about what and how to be an authentic leader when we only have to know who is right or not, and distinguish from good and bad…
We have the best leaders from the past; but they don’t have much of what we have now in terms of expectations, notions about leadership and researches.
What they only have are their selves, who are willing to serve and help to achieve a common goal. Each of them has their distinctive ways, styles, and belief about a good leader, but they all succeeded in their quests…I think each of us is unique… each of us has our own culture and principle… our moral and ethical dilemmas vary… Our personality and totality as a person is the product of the complexities and differences of every aspect in life. We have our own belief as individual; and our own norms at home, separate from that of our community, our country, and from the rest of the world. So, perception regarding authenticity and effectiveness of a leader is individualized,
what’s important is to make a connection between differences that were possessed.Bill George, (2004), Becoming an Authentic Leader; Volume 13 Number 1
Bob Terry (2010), Authentic Leadership: Courage in Action, Chapter 6
Kevin Cashman, (1998), Leadership: from the inside out
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i knew it! at least one of you would react the way i did my outline! 
