Journal Entry;Authentic Leadership

A key aspect of leadership that I encountered over the duration of the module was authentic leadership. I learned what authentic leadership means and what it encompasses. Authentic leadership entails realizing that one’s followers have great potential and that by allowing them to exploit this potential, they can be more productive and self-independent (Mital & Dorfman 2012). Leaders who exemplify authentic leadership give emphasis to strong self-knowledge, high levels of integrity, as well as a profound understanding of mission or purpose. I also got to learn about some people in the aviation industry who exhibit or have exhibited authentic leadership. These are Sunil Joshua, the Commercial Training Manager at Etihad Airways who empowered his trainers to a level where they did not depend on him to run their daily routines, and Paul Asquith of British Airways who formulated a duty segregation approach aimed at encouraging participation of employees in decision making.

I have also learned about what servant leadership is all about and what a person who demonstrates this leadership approach should exemplify. Servant leadership models, as Mittal and Dorfman (2012) pointed out, are anchored in the human drive of a person to bond with other people and contribute to the society’s betterment. Servant leadership accentuates service motivation as exhibited by empowering and developing individuals with humility and empathy, and this emphasis distinguishes this leadership framework from others (Mittal & Dorfman 2012). Servant leaders are also listening. I learned that the servant leadership framework can bring about significant benefits to the way the business is developed and operated and can positively affect the company’s bottom line. A leader who exemplifies servant leadership may actually privilege the relationship between the follower and the leader although this leadership framework focuses less on attaining wider change goals.