Authentic performances: The role of impression management in audience understanding of leaders' authenticity

Due to the increase in scandals and failures in organisations, public concerns have increased over leadership, and authentic leadership has been promoted as the most feasible response to these concerns (Liu, 2010). However, there seem to be diverse views on what encompasses authentic leadership. Three qualitative studies were therefore conducted in varied settings in order to obtain participants’ understanding of authenticity and the role that impression management played in their understanding of authenticity. Study 1 involved group discussions after the participants were shown two video clips of organisational leaders. Study 2 involved a case study in an organisational setting, where interviews were carried out in addition to participant observation. Study 3 involved interviews with participants from diverse industries, in order to confirm the findings of the first two studies. All the three studies were consistent in the findings indicating that there is not one thing called authenticity and that impression management and authenticity are related. The findings only confirmed what we found in the literature indicating diverse views on what authenticity entailed, and therefore, that there is not one thing called authenticity

Cuban Exceptionalism and Leader Succession: The End of Charismatic Authority in Cuba

This article investigates the leadership succession in Cuba from Fidel Castro, who was widely perceived as a highly charismatic leader, to his younger brother Raúl Castro and then to the civilian President Miguel Díaz-Canel. This leadership succession provides us with an interesting and unusual case study of a successful transfer of authority from one type of leader to another. We examine the narratives of Cuban people through 32 semi-structured interviews, allowing us to draw insights into the Cuban people’s views of their leaders and the leadership succession. We identify themes that may explain how a crisis-free succession was possible, despite Weberian arguments that this was highly unlikely to occur

Leadership: A Diverse, Inclusive and Critical Approach

This book explores the different facets and wide-ranging approaches to leadership – from the evolution of leadership with a focus on traits, to critically assessing various styles and approaches to leadership. Chapters explore social constructionist approaches to leadership; relational leadership; ethics, leadership and strategic HRM; power and the dark side of leadership, as well as the implications of leadership in the digital era and leadership in an age of increased surveillance. The book critiques the domination of Western, white, and masculine centric approaches to leadership while examining the gendering and racialisation of leadership, and issues pertaining to exclusion and inclusion.Features include:· Non-Western case studies that give a truly global outlook.· A Decolonising Leadership feature that highlights diverse sources and perspectives to encourage you to look beyond the traditional leadership canon.· Reflective questions that encourage critical thinking. Suitable for upper undergraduate and postgraduate students studying leadership.Dr. Naveena Prakasam is a lecturer in Organisational Behaviour and Human Resource Management at the University of Southampton