Exploring the Tensions of Authentic Leadership Theory

The paradox of authentic leadership lies in the inherent paradox of authenticity. We do not know what authentic or authentic leadership is. However, if we let go of the need to define it and approach the topic with curiosity, we can begin to discover how we can understand authentic leadership theory through a new lens. This thesis explores the tensions and paradoxes of contemporary authentic leadership theory. Through random sample interviewing of a range of participants on the topic of authenticity and authentic leadership, raw data was gathered and further categorized using the methodology of Grounded Theory, Inductive Thematic Analysis, and Autoethnographic Narrative. This data, once clustered, was then analyzed through the lens of Graham Harman’s Object-Oriented Ontology and Immaterialism. There were several themes that surfaced throughout this process, including the difficulty of defining authentic and authentic leadership, the sense that authentic leadership exists and is somehow related to ethics, the importance of experience and perception in authentic leadership, and the inevitability of the unknown and complexity of life. The conclusions from this thesis are related to the tensions between what authentic leadership theory claims and what authentic leadership theory can manifest in practice. This tension is reflected within the claim that we can know what is authentic and that we can define it, which is made by contemporary authentic leadership theory. However, through the lens of Object-Oriented Ontology, we see that we cannot know what is truly authentic and therefore, cannot make this claim through authentic leadership theory