Authentic Leadership

In this chapter, I consider the main tenets of authentic leadership scholarship, and bring them into conversation with the work of Hannah Arendt. In examining current scholarship, I suggest there is a tendency to privilege a leader’s self-knowledge. Such an approach may serve to suppress a plurality of perspectives and, in turn, work against the creation of a meaningful environment. Conversely, thinking with Arendt complements existing scholarship because it alerts us to the need to consider equality and difference. Specifically, her concept of uniqueness, understood as a person’s particular qualities and social location, together with her notion of plurality, or how we exist in a world of others, can deepen our understanding of how notions of authenticity informs leadership. The manner in which we see ourselves is always related to who we are in specific contexts. It is through action and speech that each individual reveals herself to others (Arendt, 1958, pp. 181–188). This individual unveiling is always related to a person’s cultural and socio-historical place in the world.