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However, a legitimate question remains: what sort of authenticity
are we really talking about? Isn’t it the case that managers
are always playing a role, and are they ever really able to invest
this role with their “whole self”? More importantly, should we
even desire that they behave authentically?
At this point, critics of authenticity generally conjure up the
image of the bad-tempered, misanthropic or demotivated
manager who indulges his/her personality to the full at work.
Naturally, this should not, and cannot, be what we understand
by authenticity.
It is true that every one of us, whether we are managers or not,
plays many different roles in life: as a father, sister, girlfriend,
trainer, club member or employee. It is normal, indeed necessary,
to adjust one’s behaviour to each of these individual roles.
Thus, behaving authentically does
not mean living out all one’s personal
traits to the full without regard
for the specific role or indulging
one’s every fleeting whim. Rather, it
has to do with a fundamental attitude,
where inner values and external
behaviour are in harmony.
Our definition of authenticity is based on a recent scientific
study on the nature of authenticity (Bosch & Taris, 2014):
ACCORDING TO THIS RESEARCH,
AUTHENTICITY IS THUS A BASIC
ATTITUDE ...
that promotes harmony between managers’
actions, inner values, and personal convictions
AUTHENTIC ACTION
that helps managers resist to bow to external
pressure
AVOIDANCE OF SELF-ALIENATION
that enables managers to actively steer their own
actions rather than having those actions dictated
by others
AVOIDANCE OF EXTERNAL INFLUENCE
that therefore projects:
CREDIBILITY AND RELIABILITY
We note that this kind of authenticity should not be misunderstood
as friendliness. On the contrary, an authentic manager
can lead with a more distanced or authoritarian style – as long
as the manager is reliable and does not surprise the employees
with unexpected behaviour. Transparency and expectations
that are clearly expressed are possible in a distanced
manager-employee relationship as well as in a very close one
– provided the manager acts with integrity. It is important that
these features are present because they strengthen the employees’
trust and grant them the confidence to act. ||