A conceptual model of authentic leadership in cross-cultural context

Abstract

The objective of this research paper is to present a conceptual model of authentic leadership in a cross-cultural context, aimed at exploring how cultural elements influence the development and perception of leaders’ authenticity. This model draws upon authentic leadership development model and incorporates a followership perspective to study authentic leadership. It posits that culture assumes three critical roles within this framework: expanding, enabling, and encoding. In the expanding role, the concept of authentic leadership is broadened in scope due to varying self-concepts across cultures as individuals from different cultural backgrounds express diverse expectations of what an authentic leader should be. In the enabling role, exposure to different cultures through international experiences enable leaders to enhance their cross-cultural psychological capital and cultural intelligence, allowing them to navigate variations in authenticity effectively. Finally, for the encoding role, the perception of leader’s authenticity, which is related to behavioral integrity, value congruence, and emotional authenticity, becomes intricate as the three factors are encoded due to the differences between leader’s and follower’s cultural norms and values.