Newswise — How authentic do Americans perceive the leadership of their organizations?
A first-ever poll by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln revealed that many believe their leaders are doing quite well.
"The results are actually more positive than I expected," said Bruce Avolio, director of the Gallup Leadership Institute at UNL and an expert in leadership. "Being seen as an authentic leader is a pretty high standard, and we found that a considerable number of American workers are reporting evidence of authentic leadership in their organizations."
The nationwide telephone poll of 1,008 workers over age 18 was conducted in May and June by The Gallup Organization for the UNL College of Business Administration. Responses to the items comprising the poll were collected from respondents judging on a 5-point scale how frequently the leaders of their respective organizations displayed specific actions and behaviors.
Some of the findings:
Approximately one-third of U.S. working adults indicated the leadership in their organizations exhibited authentic leadership behaviors "frequently, if not always." Thirty-nine percent of workers surveyed reported their leaders "frequently, if not always" "act in the best interest of the organization" and "are genuine people."
The lowest-rated items were leaders who "make personal sacrifices for the benefit of the organization," with only 22 percent rating that item "frequently, if not always," and "admits when mistakes are made," with only 23 percent reporting that type of leadership "frequently, if not always."
Avolio said authentic leaders are "transparent" about their intentions and desires. They say exactly what they mean, go beyond self-interest for the good of the organization and act in the organization's best interest. They consider moral and ethical consequences of their decisions, and admit when mistakes are made.
"Most organizational leaders have to operate on trust to a very significant extent with their employees, and have to create the conditions for trust to flourish to build a sustainable organization," Avolio said. "More Americans these days are thinking about leadership and how to best assess and develop leadership, whether selecting project leaders or CEOs. There will be increasingly greater attention paid to placing leaders in positions of power that are authentic." Avolio and his colleagues at the Gallup Leadership Institute developed the first-ever U.S. poll on authentic leadership as a benchmark for further research and to highlight the need for further attention to this basic form of leadership. The intent is to conduct the poll on a biannual basis to track how leadership or American organizations change over time.
Avolio said much attention appears today to be paid to bad leadership.
"It's probably harder in this day and age to be an authentic leader," Avolio said. "There's more noise. There's more scrutiny from all levels. The media is smarter and much more aggressive and everyone is much more open now for review.
"Many leaders from the past may have operated with a more guarded, top-down decision-making style, which is simply not acceptable today in many organizations. The standard should be that anything one does in a leadership role should be justifiable and open to public scrutiny." Over time, Avolio said, leaders who continually pass "the test" will accrue enormous good will and trust.
"If leaders aren't transparent and trustworthy, they're eventually going to get caught," he said. "Very few will get away with what we have seen with past unethical behavior. The odds are in favor of being transparent."
Avolio said Warren Buffett of Berkshire-Hathaway is an excellent example of a leader who does what he says he will do, and has for years operated in the best interest of his organization and those he serves on the corporate board, which has proven to be in his best interest as well.
The survey also separated responses of genders and white vs. non-white, and size of organizations. Avolio said in general, women typically have more positive views of their organization's leadership, and non-whites had somewhat of a less positive view than whites. The survey also revealed that smaller organizations (of fewer than 100) are more likely to rate their leaders as displaying authentic leadership.
"In larger organizations it may be more difficult to sustain authentic leadership because people are less likely to know the leader or CEO personally. They may know only what they've read about him or her," Avolio said.
Among other results in the poll:
- 25 percent of women versus 16 percent of men felt their organizations picked the best people for leadership roles 'frequently, if not always'.
- 46 percent of men and women indicated that their organization gives them significant freedom to do their jobs 'frequently, if not always'.
39 percent of women versus 27 percent men indicated that their leaders highlighted the advantages of working with people from different backgrounds 'frequently, if not always'.
- 50 percent of the men and 57 percent of the women indicated 'frequently, if not always' that they felt their work made an important contribution to the mission of the organization.
- 26 percent of white Americans versus 20 percent of non-white Americans indicated 'frequently, if not always' that their organization's leadership made them feel like an owner in their organization.
- 48 percent of the white Americans indicated that their leadership gave them significant freedom to do their job 'frequently, if not always' versus 35 percent for non-white Americans.
- 34 percent of Americans from small organizations (fewer than 100) indicated that their leaders made them feel like an owner in their organization 'frequently, if not always' versus approximately 18 percent in medium to larger organizations.
- 31 percent of Americans from small organizations indicated their leaders pick the best people for leadership roles 'frequently, if not always' versus approximately 14 percent in medium to larger organizations.
- 56 percent of Americans from small organizations indicated that their leaders give them significant freedom to do their jobs 'frequently, if not always' versus approximately 38 percent in medium to larger organizations.
- 38percent of Americans from small organizations indicated that their leaders highlight the advantages of working with people from different backgrounds 'frequently, if not always' versus approximately 30percent in medium to larger organizations.
- 63 percent of Americans from small organizations indicated their leaders make them feel their work makes an important contribution to the mission of their organization 'frequently, if not always' versus approximately 45 percent in medium to larger organizations.
The Gallup Leadership Institute conducts basic and applied research on what constitutes authentic leadership development. The GLI mission focuses on researching the following areas: What are the life events that positively develop authentic leaders? What constitutes authentic leadership, followership and organizations? What interventions (training, educational, or otherwise) facilitate the development of authentic leadership?
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