Foreword The Strategic Centre for Leadership, Learning and Development (the Strategic Centre) at the Australian Public Service Commission aims to improve talent management and expand and strengthen learning and development across the Australian Public Service (APS). The APS Leadership Development Strategy, launched in 2011, observed that approaches to developing leadership capability are inevitably informed by the underpinning leadership theory. This paper is designed as a practitioner resource, providing readers with background information on key leadership theories preceding and including those underpinning the APS Leadership Development Strategy (2011) and the APS Leadership and Core Skills Strategy (2012-13). Our APS colleagues have a wealth of expertise in the areas of leadership, learning and development, and we welcome your feedback, comments and suggestions. A note on sources: The National Library of Australia contains almost 12,000 items on leadership; the Amazon catalogue includes over 45,000 paperback and 20,000 hardback volumes on the topic; the journal articles and books on leadership identified by Google Scholar numbers almost 1.8 million. With such huge numbers it is unfeasible to review even a small percentage of these sources, and unreasonable given others have completed extensive reviews covering much of this material. Citing approximately 8500 sources, the Bass Handbook of Leadership has been particularly useful in completing this paper. Heavy use has been made of this source, although effort has been made to extend and complement Bass’ work where necessary and appropriate.
Contemporary thinking on leadership The last thirty years has seen leadership thought evolve in a less linear manner. Rather than seeking ‘one true theory’ of leadership, contemporary thinking has explored the idea of leadership from different perspectives. These contemporary concepts of leadership inform the APS Leadership Development Strategy (2011) and resulting talent and leadership development activities. Authentic leadership Authentic leadership focuses on transparent and ethical leader behaviour and encourages open sharing of information needed to make decisions while accepting followers’ inputs. Broad interest in authentic leadership was prompted by the release of Bill George’s Authentic Leadership in 2003. For George ‘authentic leadership results from knowing yourself - your strengths and weaknesses – by understanding your unique life story and the crucibles you have experienced’. While various definitions of authentic leadership have been developed, Avolio, et al, suggest there is general agreement that the following are key components of authentic leadership: Balanced processing—that is, ‘objectively analysing relevant data before making a decision’. Internalized moral perspective— that is, ‘being guided by internal moral standards, which are used to self-regulate one’s behaviour’. Relational transparency—that is, ‘presenting one’s authentic self through openly sharing information and feelings as appropriate for situations’. Self-awareness—that is, a ‘demonstrated understanding of one’s strengths and weaknesses, and the way one makes sense of the world’ . Criticisms and challenges As a relatively recent addition to leadership’s theoretical landscape, significant criticisms of authentic leadership have not yet arisen. Proponents of authentic leadership do agree that additional work on defining and measuring authentic leadership is necessary. To discover whether authentic leadership is a foundation for good leadership, researchers suggest there is a need to ‘to examine how authentic leadership is viewed across situations and cultures’ . Further reading Avolio, Fred Walumbwa & Todd Weber, (2009). ‘Leadership: Current Theories, Research and Future Directions’ in Annual Review of Psychology, Volume 60. Bill George, (2003). Authentic Leadership: Rediscovering the secrets to creating lasting value. Adaptive leadership For proponents of adaptive leadership, leadership is a practice, not a position. Adaptive leadership focuses on leadership as a practice to be used in situations without known solutions.