Put Knowledge into Practice and Explore Authentic Leadership with HR Professionals
Our Knowledge into Practice Event ‘Exploring Authentic Leadership’ in May 2024 aimed to foster and encourage collaborative discussions exploring authentic leadership from theoretical and practitioner perspectives. At Edinburgh Napier University, we value and appreciate the importance of exploring the transfer and exchange of practical approaches and knowledge with academic theory to bridge the gap and knowledge exchange between academics and practitioners. Our emeritus Professor Helen Francis led the CIPD Knowledge into Practice events for over two decades, it was fantastic to reinvigorate the events and we will continue this in 2025 and beyond.
In today’s fast-paced and ever-changing business landscape, the role of authentic leadership has become increasingly critical. Authentic leaders inspire trust, foster meaningful connections, and cultivate cultures of transparency and collaboration. Sustainable, authentic leaders embrace reflective practice, inclusive approaches, and balance objectives. Leading not only with competence but also with integrity, empathy, and a deep sense of purpose.
Our academic speaker, Dr Laura Gerard from Edinburgh Napier University highlighted a deep understanding of the theoretical underpinnings and empirical research surrounding authentic and sustainable leadership to delve into leaders’ behaviours, the associated impacts, and outcomes associated with authentic and sustainable leadership. Having undertaken empirical research (Gerard, 2020; Gerard et al., 2017) exploring leaders’ perspectives on the prospects and challenges of sustainable leadership, how leaders develop and the culture they enable and exist within is a central facet of adopting a sustainable mindset. Consequently, key points of Laura’s talk included:
- Exploring leadership in 2024 highlights the need to be agile, flexible, and adopt a responsible business mindset. The role of leaders is to have positive impacts and arguably centers around the enhancement and development of those they support and also themselves.
- Components and characteristics of authentic leadership theory emphasise being self-aware, having strong personal values and convictions, leading from different points of view, and having transparency in the moral perspective they adopt. This aligns with the theory surrounding sustainable leadership where leaders adopt a long-term perspective, balance objectives, adopt individual reflexivity, and involve stakeholders. Ultimately, a sustainable leadership culture centres upon leadership development, peer networks and embedding effective communication.
- There are a large number of impacts of inauthenticity and unsustainability for both individuals and organisations; including decreased productivity and morale, negative impacts of stress, and tensions within organisations.
- Ultimately, authentic, ethical, and sustainable approaches in leadership are no longer just nice to have but are a necessity due to the impacts they have on stakeholders and building effective relationships.
Complementing this academic perspective, Gill Scott, who is a seasoned HR leader with extensive experience in driving transformative change presented. Gill shared firsthand perspectives on authentic leadership’s impact on organizational culture and performance. She brings a unique perspective to the discussion of authentic leadership, drawing upon years of hands-on experience in navigating the complexities of human resource management and organizational development. Gill talked about the importance of understanding what informs our personal “brand” – what we say and do, other’s perceptions of us, and who we think we are.
She shared her own story of trying to be the leader she thought she needed to be, rather than the leader she was made to be, and how this led her to think deeply both about her own identity and how she could become a truly authentic leader. Gill’s favourite leadership book is “Why Should Anyone Be Led By You”, by Goffee and Jones, and she led us through her key learnings from it, including;
- The importance of really knowing, and then being, yourself, equipped with a deep understanding of your unique leadership qualities
- Leaning into those qualities so that you are even “more yourself”- turning up the dial to increase your leadership impact and taking personal risks to stretch and grow
- But doing all of this with skill, getting input and feedback from trusted others, and knowing when to dial qualities up or down
Gill went on to present an overview of the cultural changes that she had led across her organisation, role modeling a new way of leading authentically, which led to significant improvements in culture, engagement, and organisational performance. She closed with a reminder that being an authentic leader requires hard work, perseverance, and resilience, but comes with rewards, for you as a leader and for the people that you lead, which make the investment so very worthwhile.
We then facilitated round table discussions centred around a variety of topics enabling attendees to blend real-world applications with scholarly analysis. All attendees had a positive experience, feeling they had an opportunity to contribute, and gaining value and enjoyment from the discussions. Additionally, they felt they gained something useful that had a practical application in their workplace. Learning from others, sharing views, and exploring alternative mindsets were positive takeaways from the event.
The presentations plus the roundtable discussions, enabled participants to develop a deeper understanding of how authentic and sustainable leaders can drive positive change, foster employee engagement, and cultivate environments where individuals and organizations can thrive. This knowledge exchange is invaluable and something that Edinburgh Napier and the HRM subject group attach immense importance too.
The event was sponsored by The Business School of Edinburgh Napier University and the CIPD in South East Scotland Branch. This event along with future events is targeted at practitioners, policy makers and academics interested in sharing views and perspectives.
Look out for the next event in early summer, 2025!
The event will be posted and you can sign up via The CIPD Branch in South East Scotland Events | Eventbrite
Blog written by: Dr Laura Gerard and Gill Scott