The Manifestation of Authentic Leadership Within the UK’s Royal Air Force 8 th International Studying Leadership ConferenceFiona Beddoes-Jones Birmingham, December 2009Hull University Business School

The Manifestation of Authentic Leadership Within the UK’s Royal Air Force 1.What is Authentic Leadership? 2.A Brief Critique of Authentic Leadership 3.(Some) Characteristics of Authentic Leaders 4.The Link Between Authentic Leaders and the RAF 5.The Proposed PhD Model 6.The PhD Research Questions 7.Initial Findings 8.Limitations of Study 9.Contribution 8 th International Studying Leadership ConferenceFiona Beddoes-Jones Birmingham, December 2009Hull University Business School

What is Authentic Leadership? “A leadership multiplier” (Chan et al. 2005) An opportunity for leadership theory and research to, “Move on to the next level of integration” (Avolio 2007) A consistent approach, with self-awareness & the well- being of others at its heart 8 th International Studying Leadership ConferenceFiona Beddoes-Jones Birmingham, December 2009Hull University Business School

(Some) Characteristics of Authentic Leaders Authentic leaders, “Know who they are and what they believe in, display transparency and consistency between their values, ethical reasoning and actions, focus on developing positive psychological states such as confidence, optimism, hope and resilience within themselves and their associates, and are widely known and respected for their integrity” (Avolio et al. 2005) 8 th International Studying Leadership ConferenceFiona Beddoes-Jones Birmingham, December 2009Hull University Business School

(Some) Characteristics of Authentic Leaders Authentic leaders genuinely desire to serve others through their leadership. They consistently act as a role model for their colleagues, associates and followers, respect others and are respected in turn by them. They accept themselves and others for who they really are and engender trust. They have self- clarity and are self-confident, although they may not be charismatic or extroverted. In short, they are ‘psychologically self-aware’ and ‘philosophically sound’ 8 th International Studying Leadership ConferenceFiona Beddoes-Jones Birmingham, December 2009Hull University Business School

(Some) Characteristics of Authentic Leaders 8 th International Studying Leadership ConferenceFiona Beddoes-Jones Birmingham, December 2009Hull University Business School Have a highly developed sense of how their roles as leaders carry a responsibility to act morally and in the best interests of others Know who they are at their core Understand the story of their life and how that relates to their authentic leadership journey Work hard at understanding and developing themselves Use formal and informal support networks to get honest feedback Are intrinsically motivated by inner values (May et al. 2003, Avolio et al & 2005)

A Brief Critique of Authentic Leadership Theory based concept, not yet ‘proven’ Relationships with other more established leadership models are not yet clear Relationships with other constructs such as Emotional Intelligence and Narcissism not yet clear Construct and research is ‘fragmented’ (Avolio 2007) Routes to development of AL not yet clear 8 th International Studying Leadership ConferenceFiona Beddoes-Jones Birmingham, December 2009Hull University Business School

The Link Between Authentic Leaders & the RAF Mission Command “The Agile Airman” Mutual Trust Integrity Emotional Intelligence Moral Courage Humility 8 th International Studying Leadership ConferenceFiona Beddoes-Jones Birmingham, December 2009Hull University Business School

The Link Between Authentic Leaders & the RAF Emotional Intelligenceself-awareness & awareness of others Integrity 1 of the 4 RAF core values (Respect, Excellence, Service) Desire to ServeService is 1 of the 4 RAF core values Humilitythe ‘opposite’ of Narcissism Mutual Trustmeasured on scales 3 and 4 Moral Courage measured on scales 3 and 4 8 th International Studying Leadership ConferenceFiona Beddoes-Jones Birmingham, December 2009Hull University Business School

The Proposed PhD Model 8 th International Studying Leadership ConferenceFiona Beddoes-Jones Birmingham, December 2009Hull University Business School

PhD Pilot Study Findings 8 th International Studying Leadership ConferenceFiona Beddoes-Jones Birmingham, December 2009Hull University Business School

The PhD Research Questions Hypothesis 1: There will be a difference between leaders’ perceptions of their position on the Authentic Leadership continuum and that of their subordinates, leading to an empirically measurable ‘authenticity gap’ Hypothesis 2: There will be a positive correlation between seniority of rank and a leader’s score on the Authentic Leadership scale as measured by their Subordinate and Peer Feedback ratings 8 th International Studying Leadership ConferenceFiona Beddoes-Jones Birmingham, December 2009Hull University Business School

The PhD Research Questions Hypothesis 3: Genuinely authentic leaders, who are highly self-aware, will give themselves a rating that matches that given by their followers. Therefore, there will be a positive correlation between self-rating scores of Authentic Leadership and within-group MSF ratings Hypothesis 4: Although the overall position on the Authentic Leadership continuum may be as the same, subordinates may give differing ratings of their leader’s authenticity within the 4 sub-factors of the scale 8 th International Studying Leadership ConferenceFiona Beddoes-Jones Birmingham, December 2009Hull University Business School

Initial (very tentative) Findings (Difficulties with data collection!) Sometimes there is within-group rater agreement at the Peer and Subordinate levels which is not necessarily reflected by Superior ratings Length of service does not seem to be a predictor of higher levels of perceived AL (8 – 29 years service) 8 th International Studying Leadership ConferenceFiona Beddoes-Jones Birmingham, December 2009Hull University Business School

(Some) Limitations of the Study RAF ‘clean’ sample; results may not be generalizable across other sectors or military disciplines (although a business population sample is also being collected) Relatively small RAF sample size 8 th International Studying Leadership ConferenceFiona Beddoes-Jones Birmingham, December 2009Hull University Business School

Contribution Academically: ● A new theory driven model of Authentic Leadership, empirically measured by a UK developed questionnaire ● Correlations between UK and US models ● New research on multi-source feedback Pragmatically: ● Leadership within the RAF not widely researched ● 360° Feedback not widely used within RAF 8 th International Studying Leadership ConferenceFiona Beddoes-Jones Birmingham, December 2009Hull University Business School