Attending professional conferences helps me stay current on management scholarship and fills in gaps in my knowledge. At a workshop on leadership development at the Academy of Management meeting in Boston, people were discussing the relationship between authentic leadership and eudaemonic (eudaimonic) well being, a term with which I was not familiar.
I've researched a little since. While the definitions vary somewhat, most come down to a distinction between hedonic or pleasure based well being and eudaemonic or meaningful, purposive well being. Ilies, Morgeson, and Nahrgang in a 2005 Leadership Quarterly article stated that eudaemonic well being "reflects the Aristotelian concept of eudaemonia: Aristotle’s view of human happiness that assesses the goodness of life based on 'living in a manner that actively expresses excellence of character or virtue.' " Aristotle, like Maslow and other humanist psychologists, saw life as being about growth, realizing one's potential. Ilona Boniwell provides an easy to read overview of theories of eudaimonic well being.
Ilies et al. argued that authentic leaders tend to have eudaemonic well being and nurture such in their followers. If you are short on time (and who isn't), just check out their model on p. 377 of their article. So how do we develop authentic leaders with eudaemonic well being? The presenters at the conference emphasized experiential learning, that people can become more authentic leaders through training and development. Louis Baron presented the results of a three year study that support this. Training and development sessions were 20% theory and 80% activities. Baron also used peer coaching where people were teamed up across companies to help each other, be "sounding boards" for each other, especially during "trigger events," moments in organizational life that pose significant challenges to leaders.
In my opinion authenticity in leadership goes back to ideas discussed by Mary Follett almost a hundred years ago.
To grow as a leader, as a person, one needs to reflect on one's own experiences and then try new approaches where needed. It is not enough to be self aware. As John Wenger blogged August 15, part of becoming more authentic is becoming more "self awake."
I've researched a little since. While the definitions vary somewhat, most come down to a distinction between hedonic or pleasure based well being and eudaemonic or meaningful, purposive well being. Ilies, Morgeson, and Nahrgang in a 2005 Leadership Quarterly article stated that eudaemonic well being "reflects the Aristotelian concept of eudaemonia: Aristotle’s view of human happiness that assesses the goodness of life based on 'living in a manner that actively expresses excellence of character or virtue.' " Aristotle, like Maslow and other humanist psychologists, saw life as being about growth, realizing one's potential. Ilona Boniwell provides an easy to read overview of theories of eudaimonic well being.
Ilies et al. argued that authentic leaders tend to have eudaemonic well being and nurture such in their followers. If you are short on time (and who isn't), just check out their model on p. 377 of their article. So how do we develop authentic leaders with eudaemonic well being? The presenters at the conference emphasized experiential learning, that people can become more authentic leaders through training and development. Louis Baron presented the results of a three year study that support this. Training and development sessions were 20% theory and 80% activities. Baron also used peer coaching where people were teamed up across companies to help each other, be "sounding boards" for each other, especially during "trigger events," moments in organizational life that pose significant challenges to leaders.
In my opinion authenticity in leadership goes back to ideas discussed by Mary Follett almost a hundred years ago.
To grow as a leader, as a person, one needs to reflect on one's own experiences and then try new approaches where needed. It is not enough to be self aware. As John Wenger blogged August 15, part of becoming more authentic is becoming more "self awake."
RSS Feed