14 |
05
PAVING THE WAY
FOR AUTHENTICITY
Three drivers of authentic behaviour
There are thus many reasons for companies to encourage
their managers and employees to adopt an authentic stance.
Thus far, however, the corresponding measures – where they
exist at all – have mostly been limited to paying lip service
to authenticity in the management model or simply demanding
that managers behave authentically. But such demands
are often simply too much for managers, given the corporate
structures and culture in which they operate.
The present study shows that companies can create an
ENVIRONMENT that enables and promotes authentic behaviour.
There are three factors driving authenticity: authority
based on professional expertise; a corporate culture that
values individuality, but also fosters a feeling of belonging;
and the ability to work with high autonomy. Some of these
factors refer directly to personnel leadership, while others
relate more to organisational aspects. For example, the ability
to work with autonomy is an aspect that is influenced by
both leadership and corporate structure.
PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE
Do managers (who are invested with power or authority) generally
behave more in accordance with their innate values and
ideas than do employees who have less influence? The obvious
answer would appear to be yes: after all, more influence
generally brings wit
h it greater creative power and autonomy in the workplace.
But the survey presents a more nuanced picture. In a nutshell,
power and authority heighten the impression that managers
are acting authentically. In its many different guises, power
has a considerable effect on authenticity, exhibiting a correlation
coefficient of 0.43. However, an analysis of the different
dimensions of power in accordance with the French & Raven
(1959) model (expert power, referent power, charismatic power,
reward power and coercive power) reveals substantial differences.
Professional expertise (expert power) has the strongest
effect on authority: managers who know what they are talking
FIGURE 1
Drivers of authenticity
AUTHENTICITY
AUTONOMY AT WORK
FEELING OF BELONGING
0,47
0,58
PROFESSIONAL EXPERTISE
0,43
= CORRELATION COEFFICIENT
DRIVERS
Professional expertise, a feeling of belonging and autonomy correlate strongly with authenticity (simplified linear representation).