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What is Authentic Leadership?

Authentic leadership refers the management style in which leaders exhibit their real, genuine and sincere way of management that is true as who they are as individuals (TechTarget, 2018)
In the authentic leadership theory, this leadership style consists of four specific features such as self-awareness, balanced processing, relational transparency, and an internalized moral/ethical perspective. According to the research by Vogelgesang, Clapp-Smith, and Palmer in 2009, these 4 elements should be studied respectively on metacognitive and cognitive CQ (cognition), motivational CQ (motivation), and behavioral CQ (action) (p. 106)
Cognitive process or self-awareness in authentic leadership does not conclude trust built by motives, feelings, desires of the people in the surrounding but it also help leaders recognize their own strengths and weaknesses, thereby catching outward the ego and misconceptions thanks to the process of metacognition to become more sensitive in analyzing the available data before delivering the most appropriate decisions in cross-cultural situations (Vogelgesang, Clapp-Smith, and Palmer, 2009)
Motivational process:  authentic leaders place the moral values in the top priority compared to other values. Moral standards are the disciplines and guidelines for all of decisions of the leaders, which brings the self-satisfaction and self-worth to them in the responsibility for moral outcomes and refrains from the violation of the moral standards since these makes them feel self-disapproval. Obviously, the motivational process entails the close relations between values and morality in the actions and decisions of authentic leaders.
Active process (Behavior): refers the relational transparency in authentic leadership to raise up the openness and truthfulness in the relationship, which in return develops mutual intimacy and trust in the organization (cited as Vogelgesang, Clapp-Smith, and Palmer, 2009). This is highest process in authentic leadership which facilitates the favorable conditions for the harmony of relations and compassion within the organization in favor of the effective work settings. Timely and relevant information to be shared is the aspect of the process. 
Although authentic leadership inspires inspirations, loyalty and trusts of employees and attribute to the effective working environment of the organization, the theory has not been tested yet and there is no certainty for the application of the theory to all moral nuances in the organization. Consequently, it is critical to combine authentic leadership with cultural intelligence in favor of the best work performances. The elucidation for the pros of the combination in my organization (in the hospitality industry) could be elaborated as follows:
Cognitive process or self-awareness: in essence, the hospitality environment is diverse engagement and interactions of multinational cultures. It is much more critical for leaders in the industry to understand and be aware of the intercultural issues in the properties. Particularly, languages and other cultural values are learnt and trained in our hotel to guide employees get out of their own cultural norms, pursuing the new knowledge to recognize the language, habits of guests from different nationalities. Different greeting rituals are arranged in the hotel to exhibit the respect guests’ cultures and provide the proper services during their stays.   
Motivational process: in addition to the services to guests, we focus on the perception that the way we treat the employee is similar to what we serve guests. In order to provide the best proper services, leaders have to put people (employees) first, respecting the cultural diversity in the organization as a whole. In order to deal with any issues, cultural differences are taken into account, particularly staff events are held according to local holidays.
Active process (Behavior): Since the leader of my team follows a micromanagement style, he does not work well in dealing with the dynamics and diversity of the team. He possesses the traditional leadership as the way he teaches his sons. There is rarely clear message on the tasks assigned or solutions to the certain issues before transferring to his subordinates and other head departments, which makes us confused about the right track to follow. Particularly, he is not straight to the point in the communication, instead he does imply the surrounding issues and suppose it is clear and understandable for the staffs. Consequently, there is no relational transparency in the instance. 
Today’s economy in flat world with the participation and connection with the globe, diverse cultures must be considered in favor of the most effective cooperation. Global leaders play more important roles in leading the team thanks to increased culture intelligence to adapt the novel situations. The significant steps are equipped in the following for the leaders in play: 
-          Effectively adapt their leadership style to fit multicultural situations involving customers, suppliers, and associates
-          Drive strong motivational dynamics to entail the success adaptability of leaders
-          Cultivate cultural knowledge: high cultural intelligence means broad knowledge and understanding about the culture to result in shaping the way to operate differently in varying cultures.
-          Develop the ability to strategize in cross-cultural situations thanks to slowly and carefully observe the happenings and the other people’s thinking. This is the ability to think of thinking of not only leaders but also others to understand different cultural contexts and resolutions (Livermore, VanDyne, & Ang, 2011)
-          Prepare for right actions: highly flexible behaviors of the leader to deal with the specific context such as speech, verbal or non-verbal actions. The appropriate speech exhibits with proper words and phrases to communicate since the actions could offer positive or negative feedbacks of employees’ subjects to the words used.


References
Authentic leadership. (September, 2018). TechTarget. Retrieved from https://searchcio.techtarget.com/definition/authentic-leadership
Livermore, D., VanDyne, L, & Ang, S. (November, 2011). Cultural Intelligence why every leader needs it. [pdf file]. Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/KIMTUY~1/AppData/Local/Temp/CQ_Why%20Every%20Manager%20Needs%20It_Nov%202011.pdf
Vogelgesang, G., Clapp-Smith, R. Palmer, N. (2009). The Role of Authentic Leadership and Cultural Intelligence in Cross-Cultural Contexts: An Objectivist Perspective. International Journal of Leadership Studies, 5(2), 102-117. Retrieved from: http://www.regent.edu/acad/global/publications/ijls/new/vol5iss2/IJLS_vol5_iss2_vogelgesang_authentic_leadership.pdf

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