THE EFFECT OF AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP ON INNOVATIVE WORK BEHAVIOR, PSYCHOLOGICAL EMPOWERMENT AND WORK ENGAGEMENT: A RESEARCH IN BANKING SECTOR

Abstract

Purpose- The increasing uncertainty and complexity faced by organizations especially in the 21st century has made it more challenging for organizations to gain and maintain a competitive advantage. As it has been agreed more recently, the success of organizations and their long-term sustainability depend mostly on their employees. In order to cope with these difficulties and necessities of business life, employees need to exhibit different behaviors. Engaged, empowered and innovative employees create extraorninary results for their organizations. The effect of the leadership on employee behavior is confirmed toward the researches in management field. The subject of discussion is which behaviors of leaders provide expected results and the most appropriate leadership style for the situation. In the current circumstances, leaders are expected to inspire and empower employees to make decisions about how to achieve their goals; to behave ethically and have strong values, and to be aware of themselves and others, to be transparent in their relationships, and to evaluate situations objectively and impartially. The behaviors expected from leaders today lead us to think about authentic leadership. The impact of transformational and servant leadership on innovative work behavior, empowerment, and work engagement has been more studied so far. But research on the effect of authentic leadership is scarce. In this context, this study was designed to discover the effect of authentic leadership and its sub-dimensions on innovative work behavior, work engagement, and psychological empowerment. Methodology- This study is based on a quantitative method, and as such, data was collected using a questionnaire methodology. Authentic leadership, innovation work behavior, psychological empowerment and work engagement scales were used in the questionnaire to obtain the data of the research. A total of 600 usable questionnaires from Turkey's banking sector were obtained via convenience sampling methodogy. The study's data was analyzed using SPSS 24.0 and the Lisrel 8.7 program. Findings- As a result of this research, significant positive effects of authentic leadership on innovative work behavior, psychological empowerment, and work engagement were determined. Conclusion- Based upon findings, it can be stated that authentic leadership is effective in revealing employee’s innovative work behavior, psychological empowerment, and work engagement. From the practical perspective, the results of this study show that it is important for the leaders to truly understand themselves and how they affect their employees. Keywords: Authentic leadership, innovative work behavior, psychological empowerment, work engagement, banking sector. JEL Codes: M10, M19, M54