Authentic Leadership Development Research Articles

Authentic leadership: Centering context to critically examine authenticity.

Conversations on authentic leadership development all too often are devoid of contextual considerations. Little attention is placed on how authentic leadership is actualized by individuals who hold marginalized and minoritized social identities and/or whose lived experiences diverge from the privileged majority; and therefore, must strategically negotiate facets of self to "do leadership." This article illustrates how facets of one's lived experiences, social identities, and worldviews significantly shape and guide how "authentic" leaders show up and practice leadership authentically. This article highlights how elements like code-switching and impression management challenge preconceived notions of what it means to be "good" and "genuine" as a leader to better understand how a theory like authentic leadership gets operationalized. This deeper analysis of authentic leadership provides a nuanced perspective to inform curricular and co-curricular designs that are mindful of context, power, and privilege as well as the uniqueness of the individual.

Integrating the technology acceptance model for social media-based learning with authentic leadership development: symmetric and asymmetric modeling.

The growing trend of social media use has influenced all segments of society, including education, during the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, authentic leadership is an emerging concept in positive psychology for dealing with emergencies in the digital era. The possibility of a relationship between the two was checked in preservice teachers studying in a teacher education department of a university in Pakistan. The conceptual framework of the study was built around teaching acceptance model (TAM) and Authentic leadership theory. The survey method suited the aim of the research, and questionnaires aided us in gathering participant self-reporting responses. We conducted two surveys, and in between them, a course was taught online using social media as a teaching and learning platform. The survey results checked preservice teachers' positive intentions toward social media-based learning, and the post-course survey studied the development of Authentic leadership attributes among the preservice teachers. Technology acceptance was measured across three constructs: ease of use, usefulness, and positive intentions. The results also reported the development of three authentic leadership characteristics: ethics, self-regulation, and self-awareness. This study is among the pioneering studies integrating TAM (i.e., the acceptance of social media-based learning) with leadership theory (i.e., authentic leadership). It also adds a methodological contribution by combining symmetrical (i.e., partial least squares structural equation modeling) and asymmetrical (i.e., fuzzy set qualitative comparative technique) for data analysis. The study's findings are valuable for teacher education institutions, as they help prepare future teachers to become authentic leaders capable of addressing future crises by leveraging education through social media-based teaching and learning platforms.

Design Principles for Sustainable Leadership Learning: A Complex Analysis of Learner Experiences

Many institutions of higher education claim to produce leaders and many assume that graduating from a university equates to someone naturally growing in their ability to lead. Developing leaders is considered a worthwhile endeavor in society today and developing a leadership identity is considered foundational to leadership development in college. While colleges and universities purport to develop leaders, little is known about how best to help students develop sustainable leadership learning. Utilizing design-based research, this study examined the learning experiences of college students in three different semesters of a personal leadership course through their reflections about course activities designed to help them develop their leadership identity. Using network maps from student reflections, we analyzed the complexity of learner experiences and developed a set of design principles anchored in the relationships between learning experiences concerning strengths, weaknesses, and theoretical foundations. The following design principles emerged from this study: framing for authentic learning, scaffolding for learner agency, social and collaborative learning, and multimodal engagement. By using these principles in designing leadership experiences, college leadership educators will be empowered to create opportunities that are sustainable and inclusive and that promote lifelong learning in regard to students’ authentic and personal leadership development practices.

Linking authentic leadership and employee turnover intention: the influences of sense of calling and job satisfaction

PurposeThis research aims at examining how authentic leadership impacts social workers' withdrawal behaviors through two intermediate mechanisms: sense of calling and job satisfaction.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional survey was distributed among social workers from 26 social work organizations in the cities of Guangzhou, Shanghai, and Shenzhen in China (N = 667). SPSS was used to conduct preliminary analyses and structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to test the hypotheses developed.FindingsThis study found that authentic leadership has a negative direct effect on social workers' turnover intention. In addition, social workers' sense of calling and job satisfaction mediate the relationship between their perceptions of authentic leader behaviors and turnover intention.Practical implicationsBased on this study's findings, the authors suggest social work organizations to invest in authentic leadership development to promote employees' psychological capacities and prevent employee turnover. Social work organizations need to foster employees' sense of calling to the field which improves the workplace outcomes.Originality/valueThis study is among those few empirical studies which help to validate the role of authentic leadership within social service organizations in China and shed light on understanding the underlying mechanisms through which authentic leaders affect organizational outcomes.

The Effect of Authentic Leadership on Innovative Work Behavior Mediated by Work Meaningfulness

Volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity (VUCA) relentlessly targeted the corporate and economic sectors in the twenty-first century. Innovative work behavior is seen as the most important contributor to the organization's performance and sustainability in the face of VUCA. Authentic leadership is a variable that impacts innovative work behavior. This research aimed to examine the effect of authentic leadership on innovative work behavior by mediating the role of work meaningfulness. 208 employees from one of the Learning & Consulting companies in Indonesia were selected by simple random sampling. Data analysis used a simple mediation model by Hayes. The result shows that work meaningfulness has a role booster as a mediator between authentic leadership and innovative work behavior. The results of the study revealed that organizations could enhance creative work behavior by offering authentic leadership development programs for all leaders. The leader can stimulate information and opinion, build trustworthy relationships with employees and communicate the company's vision, goal, objectives, and values linked to employees' personal values. Then for strengthening, companies can further support by explaining the importance of the meaning of work, the roles and contributions of employees to the company and the large purpose. It is hoped that this study has provided some insights into the effect of authentic leadership on innovative work behavior mediated by work meaningfulness.

The role of HEXACO in the development of authentic leadership and its consequences on task performance

PurposeThe objectives of the current study were to identify the antecedents and outcomes of authentic leadership. For antecedents, the research considered the HEXACO (Honesty-Humility, Emotionality, eXtraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Openness to Experience) personality model and thereby identified the impact of authentic leadership on employee performance with the mediating role of psychological safety and employee engagement by using the trait theory.Design/methodology/approachThe current study adopted a positivism research philosophy followed by a deductive approach. Overall, 347 samples were collected from the public sector organizations using quantitative research techniques, and data were gathered through a self-administrated questionnaire. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used through structural equation modeling (SEM)-Mplus to generate the results and test the formulated hypotheses.FindingsThe results revealed that honesty-humility significantly impacts authentic leadership (β = 0.094 and p < 0.05). Similarly, other dimensions of HEXACO also play a significant role in forming authentic leadership. After analyzing the HEXACO as the antecedent of authentic leadership, sequential mediation of psychological safety and employee engagement was checked and identified that authentic leadership in the presence of mediators was insignificant. Hence the full mediation has been recorded.Originality/valueSince its inception, a plethora of research has been available on the authentic leadership theory. However, the empirical evidence revealed that most research is related to outcomes of authentic leadership. As far as antecedents of authentic leadership are concerned, the literature is still silent, specifically on the development of authentic leaders. The current study is significantly contributing to the theory of authentic leadership, and in this context, the study is unique since it is taking the HEXACO personality model as an antecedent of authentic leadership to investigate its role in the development of authentic leaders. Moreover, the study is also identified as the impact of authentic leadership on task performance, not in isolation, but by taking psychological safety and employee engagement as a mediating mechanism.

Authentic leader(ship) development and leaders' psychological well-being: an outcome-wide analysis

PurposeDespite a fast-growing interest in leadership development programs, there is limited research on the impacts of leadership development and a narrow focus on professional competencies as outcomes. The authors’ aim was to test whether authentic leadership development (ALD), an identity-based leadership development approach, is associated with positive changes in leaders' psychological well-being.Design/methodology/approachIn a large sample of leaders (N = 532) from five different ALD programs, the authors conducted a pre-registered outcome-wide analysis and tested within-person changes in key indicators of psychological well-being and explored individual differences moderating these changes.FindingsResults showed significant increases in self-concept clarity, sense of purpose in life and personal growth about two to three weeks after the programs ended. Changes in stress and health were not consistent. These changes did not differ across socio-demographic status (gender, age), work-related factors (leadership, industry and tenure) and most personality factors (extraversion, agreeableness, openness to experience). Those with high emotional variability experienced greater improvements in some outcomes of well-being while individuals with higher income and conscientiousness (who had high baseline self-concept clarity) experienced smaller improvements. Longer follow-up assessments were associated with smaller changes.Originality/valueAs one of the most comprehensive assessments of ALD outcomes to date, this study shows the potential of ALD for improving outcomes beyond leadership skills, the well-being of leaders, highlighting the return on value in leadership development and pointing to learning and development as a workplace well-being intervention.

How and when to activate hospitality employees’ organizational citizenship behavior for the environment in South Korea and Vietnam

Due to the salience of organizational citizenship behavior for the environment (OCBE) in implementing the organizational sustainability strategy, our study aims to examine mechanisms underlying hospitality employees’ OCBE. The data were gathered from 459 employees and 98 supervisors from the South Korean hospitality context and 581 employees and 117 supervisors from the Vietnamese hospitality context. The results showed that, in both samples, green authentic leadership served as a mediation channel for the link between green human resource practices and hospitality employees’ harmonious environmental passion, which in turn mediated the linkage between green authentic leadership and hospitality employees’ OCBE. Shared green vision among managers was positively linked with green authentic leadership as well as positively interacted with green HRM practices to predict green authentic leadership. This study advances the green HRM literature by identifying green authentic leadership and harmonious environmental passion as a two-phase mediation mechanism and managers’ shared green vision as a moderator for the effects of green HRM practices on employee OCBE. These results suggest to hospitality managers how to optimally promote OCBE among employees by establishing green HRM practices, facilitating the sharing of green vision and the development of green authentic leadership among managers.

Adoption of social media-based knowledge-sharing behaviour and authentic leadership development: evidence from the educational sector of Pakistan during COVID-19

PurposeThis research paper aims to explore the influence of social media–based knowledge-sharing intentions (SMKI) on prospective authentic leadership development (ALD) to deal with the future crisis. In the existing literature, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, there is no significant empirical evidence to test the relationship between SMKI and ALD. Thus, this study contributes to the growing literature regarding the role of SMKIs, ALD, social media–based knowledge-sharing behavior (SMKB) and facilitating conditions (FCs). However, in this study, the authors developed a conceptual framework based on technology adoption and leadership theory. It was used to identify preservice educational leaders’ SMKIs and their effect on ALD to deal with an educational crisis during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, SMKIs are strengthening ALD, directly and indirectly, using SMKB and FCs.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, the higher education students are considered preservice leaders who were enrolled in educational leadership and management programs. However, this study’s target population and sample are students enrolled in educational leadership and management programs. Therefore, higher education students are considered preservice educational leaders. Therefore, a multilevel questionnaire survey approach was adopted to collect data from preservice educational leaders (n = 451 at Time 1 and n = 398 at Time 2) enrolled in education departments in the selected universities in Pakistan. A total of 398 survey questionnaires were finalized with a return ratio of 89%. The partial least square structural equation modeling with SmartPLS 3.2.8 was used for the data analysis.FindingsThis research found that SMKIs are positively and significantly connected with ALD. This study also confirms that SMKB significantly and positively mediates the relationship between SMKIs and ALD. Therefore, this study concludes that preservice educational leaders were ready to adopt SMKB.Practical implicationsSocial media–based knowledge sharing can be helpful to develop authentic leadership among preservice educational leaders during a crisis. Preservice educational leaders as authentic leaders can prove to be an asset in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.Originality/valueThis research integrated the technology adoption model and leadership theory to provide empirical evidence of SMKIs’ direct and indirect influence on ALD through social media–based knowledge-sharing actual use behavior by preservice educational leaders during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, the moderated mediating effect of the FCs was also studied in the relationship between SMKIs and actual user behavior as well as ALD.

Developing responsible, self-aware management: An authentic leadership development program case study

Given the ongoing call for responsible management and leadership, it is incumbent for development programs to provide students with the knowledge and skills to lead organizations that are effective, ethical, and meet the United Nation's sustainable development goals. One such way is to develop authentic leaders. The purpose of the current mixed method case study was to understand how students in an authentic leadership development program offered at a United States university improved self-awareness and how this change informed their leadership behaviour. The current study contributes to the understanding of the development of responsible management and leadership by describing the pedological approaches the participants found effective in developing heightened self-awareness. Students were able to improve self-awareness using a combination of didactic and experiential learning through the development of a trusted community of diverse leaders. They viewed self-reflection experiences as a way to gain self-awareness of who they are as leaders and be more present in their leadership. In this self-reflection, students reported gaining a greater sense of self (self-concept clarity), which gave them more confidence in their leadership. Heightened self-awareness facilitated behavioural changes in relational transparency and moral and ethical decision making, but not balanced processing.

Authentic Leader(ship) Development and Psychological Well-being: An Outcome-Wide Analysis

Despite a growing interest in leadership development, there is limited research on the impacts of leadership development and a narrow focus on changes in professional skills and competencies as outcomes. In this research, we propose and test whether identity-based leadership development approaches, such as authentic leadership development (ALD), may improve leaders’ psychological functioning and well-being. In a large sample of leaders (N = 532) across five different ALD programs, we conducted a pre-registered outcome-wide analysis of within-person changes in psychological well-being and explored individual differences moderating these changes. Results showed significant increases in self-concept clarity, sense of purpose in life and personal growth, and some decreases in perceived stress. These changes did not differ across socio-demographic status (gender, age), work-related factors (leadership, tenure) and most personality factors (extraversion, agreeableness, and openness to experience). Individuals with higher baseline self-concept clarity (i.e., those with higher income and conscientiousness) experienced less beneficial changes. Those with high emotional variability reported greater reductions in stress. This study demonstrates identity-based leadership development as a potential well-being intervention in support of employees’ mental health which is growing in importance during the COVID-19 pandemic and concurrent social-economic challenges.

Nonprofit Board Membership: A Novel Mechanism for Authentic Community Engagement and Leadership Development for Resident Physicians.

Many residency programs have increased curriculum emphasis on the social determinants of health in recent years, and genuine longitudinal experiences for community engagement can be rare and challenging to design. The pediatric residency program at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh has its separate Pediatric Advocacy-Leadership-Service (PALS) program track with 6 total residents across all trainee levels in a given academic year. Since 2011, the PALS program's mission is to train residents to be outstanding primary care pediatricians with the knowledge and skills to provide effective health care, leadership, and advocacy on behalf of children and families in medically underserved communities. This specific training is accomplished through multiple elements in the spirit of the acronym. Authentic leadership training, beyond personality profiles and suggested readings, is exceptionally difficult to provide. The PALS program provides the following unique training opportunity to meet this need.Enabling authentic community engagement while simultaneously offering robust leadership development, the PALS program facilitates each resident to be a member on the board of directors of a local nonprofit organization during residency training. This pairing is done with individual attention to each resident's interests and the community organization's vision and values. First-year PALS residents are asked to critically reflect on personal strengths, goals, and areas of growth. Local community pediatrician and public health leader, Dr Amy Nevin, has years of experience with grassroots community health networks to coordinate “the match” between each nonprofit organization and resident. To enable junior residents to contribute meaningfully as board members, she and the PALS third-year residents provide specific mentorship and are in communication with various local nonprofits gauging specific organization needs. First, an interview is completed, and the nonprofit leadership decides whether the resident physician is their desired board member candidate. If all parties are interested in proceeding, clear expectations are outlined upfront. For example, residents are never expected to make large personal financial donations to the organization. Residents are transparent regarding their rigorous clinical schedules. Nonprofit organizations provide board meeting times to the residents and share reasonable attendance expectations. Residents then provide board meeting times in advance to residency program leadership for accommodations when possible. The timeline varies per each pairing but is finalized by the end of intern year at the latest to provide at least 2 full years of active nonprofit board membership.The resident nonprofit board membership experience has been an empowering community opportunity with mutual benefits for both local nonprofits and residents. Several residents have cited their nonprofit board role as one of their most rewarding experiences of residency. Many residents invited their community partners to visit the hospital for guest lectures during teaching conferences. Community nonprofits have utilized resident perspectives, often the only medical voice on many boards, on numerous occasions including navigating the COVID-19 pandemic. The list of participating nonprofit organizations (Table) has grown even as some partners actively seek a new resident board member as graduating ones complete their residency programs. Most residents had never previously held board responsibilities, and this leadership opportunity intends to serve all graduates as future community health leaders in their careers. Further investigation is needed longitudinally to survey graduates and community partners of this experience to understand its long-term career impact.

Model Kepemimpinan Autentik pada Sekolah Berbasis Agama Katolik

&#x0D; Authentic leadership research related to antecedents and consequences is still limited, especially with regard to antecedents and consequences. Several studies show that the role of psychological capital, self knowledge and self consistency has not been consistent. Likewise, related to organizational commitment as a consequence of authentic leadership. This study aims to examine the antecedent model and consequences of authentic leadership in Catholicism-based schools. Authentic leadership antecedent test involves those consisting of self knowledge, self consistency and psychological capital as antecedents to authentic leadership. Consequence testing involves organizational commitment. The results show that psychological capital has a greater correlation than self consistency and self knowledge. The implications of antecedent roles for authentic leadership and affective commitment need to be considered in the development of authentic leadership.&#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D; &#x0D;

Credible and Authentic Leadership Development in Organizations

Leadership practice that is founded on values is the new order in contemporary organizations that operate under complex and dynamic environments. The survival of such organizations requires the review of classical leadership theories and the adoption of newer approaches that have heightened the demand for effective leadership. Leaders’ misdeeds such as those witnessed in Enron and WorldCom, hypocrisy in the pulpit, infidelity in the family unit, politics of deceit, and so on have dented the leader’s image and the followers have lost the confidence they had in them. These developments justify the need to embrace authentic and credible leadership as an alternative leadership approach to rebuild followers’ trust and sustain operations of the organizations. The principles of authenticity and credibility are more critical than ever before in the restoration of confidence to followers where credibility has waned. It is on this basis that this qualitative study was undertaken to understand authentic and credible leadership development. The objective of the study was to identify how credibility and authenticity relate and the values and qualities that leaders perceive as important for defining credible and authentic leaders. The study adopted a qualitative research design. Three congregants from a Baptist church located in Nairobi city, Kenya were interviewed for their views about leadership, differences between authenticity and credibility, qualities of credible leaders, how credible leadership can be developed, outcomes of credible leadership, and the followers’ role incredible leadership development. The findings resonated with what is known in literature and in theory. The qualities that were found to define credible leaders included being forward-looking, visionary, compassionate, supportive, good listener, having integrity, being firm, being fair, and acting as role models. The fear instilled by leaders to the followers was found to be an impediment to the followers to effectively play their oversight role. The conclusion drawn was that credibility is a must-have tool for leaders to meaningfully engage their followers with a view to providing solutions to the problems faced at the workplace and addressing their needs. It smoothens the relationship and provides an enabling environment where leaders and followers can freely engage.

Reflecting on Crucibles: Clarifying Values in Authentic Leaders

This qualitative study explores the role of crucibles, life-triggering moments, parents’ life mottos and definitions of success, and holding values in the lives of authentic leaders. This research used the life-story approach to explore the experience of such concepts on authentic leaders. Self-identified leaders with more than five years of experience in a leadership position or in a role of managing and developing others were invited to this research. Qualified authentic leaders (between 65 to 80 in ALQ) were invited to a qualitative interview utilizing the life story approach to explore significant forming factors of their leadership qualities. An inductive coding method was used in analyzing the transcription of interviews. Significant themes and codes show that life-triggers, crucibles, parents’ life mottos, their definition of success, and holding values play a significant role in authentic leadership development. Leadership scholars should emphasize the forming experiences of authentic leadership in their leadership development studies. In other words, the experienced dynamics of parents (life mottos and definitions of success), the experience of crucibles are suggested as antecedents of authentic leadership. The research shows that parents’ dynamics, crucibles, and life-triggering moments resonate with Erikson’s stages of development on authentic leadership development.

Developing character-based leadership through guided self-reflection

The call for ethical, empathetic, and self-aware leaders has been amplified in recent years as communities and responsible businesses grow keenly aware of the positive impact such leadership can have on individual and organizational behavior (and the detrimental impact felt when such leadership is not present). Management educators are poised to answer this call by implementing character-based leadership development throughout business school curricula. In this paper, we propose guided self-reflection as an evidence-based and practical tool for character-based leadership development and present two illustrative applications of using guided self-reflection within varied management education contexts. We approach character-based leadership development as an opportunity to integrate across theoretical leadership frameworks that share a common emphasis in character strengths, and focus our illustrative applications on servant leadership, authentic leadership, and intercultural leadership. In our first illustration, we describe how we use guided self-reflection as the basis of an undergraduate leadership course and present data supporting the impact of this approach on authentic and servant leadership development. In our second illustration, we describe an application of guided self-reflection within a study abroad program, and share results of pre- and post-study abroad assessments to support the impact on intercultural leadership development.

The development and practice of authentic leadership: a cultural lens

PurposeDespite increasing interest and scholarship on authentic leadership, definitions of the construct remain contested. In addition, limited research exists on its enactment in practice and its sustainability in a global context. The purpose of this study was to explore the practice of authentic leadership and understand more about how it is cultivated and sustained.Design/methodology/approachTo address these issues, an international sample of leaders nominated by peers as exemplifying authenticity in their leadership was interviewed. This study used consensual qualitative research (CQR; Hill, 2012; Hill et al., 1997), a team-based, exploratory methodology, to conduct data analysis.FindingsThis study describes the results of the analysis, highlighting leaders’ beliefs, values and behaviors; their leadership development and the barriers and supportive factors they experienced as leaders. The findings from this exploratory analysis across all cases, including subgroups, may help contextualize the complexity of authentic and sustainable leadership and provide better understanding of authentic leadership development.Research limitations/implicationsAdditional research on social identities and training in leadership are critical. The results of this study suggest new directions in studying the development of authentic leaders as well as in researching the experiences of organizations and team members.Practical implicationsThis study provides insight and direction for individuals and organizations seeking to better understand the practice of authentic leadership, its development and how it can be sustained over time and across contexts and social identities.Originality/valueThis exploratory approach involving interviews with leaders around the globe provides information about the direct lived experiences of leaders identified as authentic by their peers. This study further highlights the leaders’ critical leadership beliefs and practices, as well as ways in which they cultivated and learned to sustain their leadership practices. This study also sheds light on ways in which experiences might differ across gendered and cultural contexts.

Authentic Leadership and the Stages of Career Development: A Diverse Perspective

This symposium will explore how authentic leadership choices change according to the stage of life and career development of the leader as well as the organizational context. The symposium will consider the challenges and opportunities for authentic leadership that executives grapple with throughout their careers. We will use an interview format and in the actual panel, one of the professors will engage two CEOs in an interview on their authentic leadership choices throughout their career. One of the CEOs will be a senior Indigenous leader from the First Nations of Canada, and the other will be the former CEO of one of the world’s largest aviation multinationals. The panelists will also consider issues of identity and authentic leadership for example in the context of women entrepreneurs. Many women entrepreneurs opt-out of corporate or industry positions to lead more authentically as entrepreneurs. However, female authentic leaders, as well as other underrepresented groups, both in corporate, or entrepreneurial contexts, face unique challenges. The panel will also consider issues of crucibles and life triggering events that contribute to authentic leadership development. Finally, the panel will discuss the building blocks of authentic leadership, specifically looking at emotional intelligence, mindfulness, and resiliency.

Awakenings: An Authentic Leadership Development Program to Break the Glass Ceiling

Companies are vital agents in achieving the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. One key role that businesses can play in achieving the 5th Sustainable Development Goal on gender equality is implementing training programs for their women executives so they can reach top corporate leadership positions. In this paper, we test the effectiveness of an Authentic Leadership Development (ALD) program for women executives. By interviewing 32 participants from this ALD program and building on authentic leadership theory, we find that this program lifts women participants’ self-efficacy perception, as well as their self-resolution to take control of their careers. The driver for both results is a reflective thinking process elicited during the program that leads women to abandon the stereotype of a low status role and lack of self-direction over time. Through the relational authenticity developed during the program, women participants develop leadership styles that are more congenial with their gender group, yet highly accepted by the in-group leader members, which enhances their social capital. After the program, the women participants flourished as authentic leaders, were able to activate and foster their self-esteem and social capital, and enhanced their agency in career advancement, increasing their likelihood of breaking the glass ceiling.

Can authentic leadership influence the employees’ organizational justice perceptions? – a study in the hotel context

PurposeThe primary purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between a positive style of leadership, specifically authentic leadership, and organizational justice perceptions of employees' in the hotel industry. The following research questions guided the study: What relationship existed between hotel employees' perception toward authentic leadership and organizational justice? What relationship existed between hotel employees' perception toward authentic leadership and distributive justice, procedural justice, interactional justice and informational justice dimensions? What relationship existed among hotel employees' perception toward organizational justice, authentic leadership and their demographic background?.Design/methodology/approachThe study approached the research questions from a quantitative, non-experimental research perspective utilizing a cross-sectional survey and descriptive correlational design, which describes the relationship or association between two or more variables in the study which are authentic leadership and organizational justice.FindingsThe results indicate that authentic leadership has a strong relationship with hotel employees' organizational justice perceptions, and authentic leadership predicted the employees' perceptions of organizational justice. Authentic leadership is a relative new leadership approach rooted in positive psychology emphasizing on the ethical and moral aspects of leadership, and the results of the study found that when employees perceive their leaders to follow the authentic leadership paradigm, they also perceive high levels of organizational justice. Authentic leadership has stronger relationships with informational and interpersonal dimensions of justice which implies that authentic leaders are strategic in their interactions with their employees. The results also imply that when employees perceive justice in terms of procedures and outcomes, they believe that organizations determine those more than their supervisors.Research limitations/implicationsThe differences in the strengths of relationship between authentic leadership and structural forms of justice (distributive and procedural), and authentic leadership and interactional forms of justice (informational and interpersonal), have implications for both justice and leadership theories. The results suggest that authentic leader behaviors create a fair climate – an interpersonally and informationally fair climate which promotes all forms of justice perceptions in individual followers. However, it needs to be further researched whether leaders with high interpersonal skills and information-sharing abilities showing consideration and respect to employees may result in higher levels of organizational justice perceptions. Thus, further research is needed to determine the relationship of authentic leadership and each of the organizational justice (distributive, procedural, informational and interpersonal) dimensions, which may provide more insights as to whether leader behavior contains element of justice itself.Practical implicationsThe findings showcase the need for organizations in the hotel and hospitality industry to establish programs that focus on leadership practices which improve employees' perceptions of organizational justice and, in turn, lead to positive organizational outcomes including reducing the considerable costs of employee turnover. It is also important that employees are aware of the policies and procedures and have a perception that they can connect and communicate to their supervisors and managers.Social implicationsThis study falls into the larger conversation of social justice and how an organization's leadership can be a strong associate for social justice movements by supporting equity within the organization.Originality/valueThe study integrates leadership and justice theories in a hotel context. The results of this study may motivate hospitality/ hotel leaders to include authentic leadership development as an actionable strategy to bolster fairness and mitigate some of the negative features of the industry.