Subjectivities in defining authentic leadership: A cross cultural study of two NGOs in Ghana and New Zealand

ABSTRACT

This study involves the documentation of leaders’ and followers’ constructs of authentic leadership in a private organisation in Ghana and New Zealand, which were subsequently compared using the Q method. Three factors or types of authentic leadership were identified and named for each of the two settings, yielding six different perceptions of authentic leadership. While the findings indicated that authentic leadership is idiosyncratic, further analysis showed that some attributes of authentic leadership were common to the organisations. Overall, the results suggest that in defining authenticity in leadership, leader and follower perceptions as well as organisational-specific characteristics cannot be overlooked.