A CONSCIOUS AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP APPROACH IN THE

WORKPLACE

The study by Robert E. Hofman depicts the organisational concepts of conscious leadership
and authentic leadership. It explores the perceptions of the employees in different groups
and the impact of conscious authentic leadership model on organizational behaviour.

Conscious Leadership: The Construct

A conscious leader is one who brings a deeper sense of reality and self-awareness into
the organization and has a transcendent perspective on leading people. The nature of
conscious leadership involves more than just cognitive thoughts, however. It involves explicit
intentionality to act. The act of doing is the result of the intention to do; this is what it means
to be conscious.

A conscious leader is proactive and contemplative. The implication is that conscious

leaders need to know themselves intimately and continually question their intent and
organizational direction in order to make decisive choices that impact their workforce. While
remaining true to their own persona, it is important for conscious CEOs to maintain a realistic
notion of their personal values, belief system, leadership behavior and vision, and how this
impacts employee perception. Conscious-authentic leaders tend to be more sensitive and
aware of their employees perception of who they are as a person, their personal values,
beliefs and leadership behaviour

Self-Awareness: The Core Component of Conscious Leadership

Conscious-authentic leaders purposefully attempt to reveal their actual or true

self and not the ought self or the image they hope to reveal to others. This is a crucial aspect
of what conscious-authentic leadership requires, particularly if the leader intends to sustain
a higher level of interconnectivity and interpersonal relationship building with employees.
The authors state that in order to accomplish this, a continuous stream of cognitive cues
must flow to the brain. So Conscious-authentic leaders have learned how to cope with the
social pressures and other forces that tend to cloud the mind. This approach to leadership is
driven by a new wave of conceptualization. It is apparent that in order to create and sustain
a competitive advantage moving forward, leaders will need to think more critically, more
consciously, more creatively, and more openly. If, in fact, a paradigm shift does begin to take
hold to where consciousness, authenticity, and humanness become fundamental tenets of
leadership in the workplace, leaders will need to become even more receptive of cognitive
cues and how to deal with them. Self-awareness and reality are truly critical components of
the conscious-authentic leadership construct. The conscious leader is able to inspire people,
organizations, and the community at large by mentally modelling consciousness in these days
of constant change, chaos, and uncertainty.

Conscious-authentic leaders listen actively with an invisible ear to the inaudible word.
This gives them the opportunity to observe the human condition that exists within their own
organization and allows for more spontaneous and positive action based on what they see
and hear unfolding around them. Andrew S. Grove, former CEO and chairman at Intel, is an
example of a conscious-authentic CEO who used this very strategy. In his book, Supra-
Conscious Leadership: New Thinking for a New World, depicts that we all have the capability
to live within three levels of human awareness to which we can gain access by changing the
mind programs that control all behaviour. This process is accomplished by creating the
following three states of awareness: (a) program awareness, (b) ego-mind awareness, and (c)
supra-consciousness. To become a skilled conscious-authentic leader, two things are
required. First, the conscious-authentic CEO must recognize and effectively manage mind-
sets in order to produce the leadership called for in each situation, rather than remaining
inflexible exhibiting a leadership approach for all seasons. Second, the conscious-authentic
CEO must recognize that employees can only give responses that fit the policies, practices,
and programs that the CEO has in place. If the responses do not satisfy the demands of the
leadership challenge, the leader is responsible for influencing employees to change their
mind-sets, as needed, to achieve the desired organizational outcomes.

Self-Identification

The consensus among management theorists and writers on the topic of conscious and
authentic leadership is that self-awareness is the primary component and a necessary
characteristic to be observed. Therefore, it is vital for leaders to demonstrate their ability to
identify who they are as people their real self to allow their organization the opportunity to
perceive them as they really are. This form of emotional intelligence is a true source of soul-
searching and personal insight. The author says that there are three types of defining
moments. First, issues of personal identity force the CEO to ask, Who am I? Second, issues
that concern the workforce raise the question, Who are we? The third type defines the
companys role in the community and raises the question, Who is the company? He relates
that defining moments are more than mere mental exercises and, if utilized consistently with
a conscious effort, they become opportunities for growth and a tool for success.

Intuition

Intuition is another important component of the conscious authentic leadership construct.

Intuition is defined as direct knowing of something without the conscious use of reasoning.
Intuition is that feeling you get when you know something, but you dont know how you know
it. Intuition may mean letting go and going beyond the individuals inner world. Intuition is
what a leader can call upon to bridge the gap between solid information in hand and what
may be needed to fill in the gaps in order to make an experienced, knowledgeable choice or
a major decision. Researches shows that intuition is a tool for decision making purposes.

Critical Consciousness

Conscious-authentic leaders are critical thinkers. They are aware of the diversity of values,
social structures, and behaviours that exist in their world. They exude a sense that life is full
of possibilities. Critical thinking is often referred to as critical consciousness and is thought
to be a pure form of cognitive activity generated at a higher level of understanding. In most
instances, it takes time to develop reflective cognitive skills and most leaders arent even
aware of them.

Authentic Leadership: The Construct

Authentic leadership is really about owning yourself, knowing who you are and what your
leadership style is. Many people dont realize it, but a big part of true leadership is the ability
and willingness to identify, accept and share yourself as a whole person there is an apparent
level of similarity and synchronicity between the constructs of conscious-leadership theory
and authentic-leadership theory and their recent development. By combining them, there is
a high probability that the merger could provide a broader perspective on this leadership
approach as well as a narrower focus on the essential components. Indicative of this is the
fact that both constructs are defined by similar components.

Values

In defining conscious-authentic leadership in the workplace, a major component is intrinsic

values. In order to be true to ones values, there needs to be inherent knowledge and
understanding of what ones core values really are.

Self-Identification

It refers to the process of fixing and expressing ones own identity, privately through
reflection on ones self and publicly through self-disclosures, self-presentations, and other
activities that serve to project ones identity to audiences. The authors explain that personal
identities are categorized based on a persons unique attributes and characteristics. The
authors explain that personal identities are categorized based on a persons unique attributes
and characteristics.

Emotions

People are emotional beings and produce organizational outcomes. Emotions can provide
valuable insight to individuals to better determine who they are and how they respond to
others in given situations and, conversely, how others respond to them.

There is a study conducted among two groups to evaluate the concepts of leadership.
The study shows the comparison of two groups of companies and their respective CEOs. Each
group is comprised of three companies. Group I is led by CEOs who use a conscious-authentic
leadership approach in the workplace. They infuse their personal values, beliefs, and
relational leadership behaviour into the policies, practices, and employee programs within
their respective organizations to achieve specific organizational outcomes. Group II CEOs do
not use this leadership approach. The companies selected for study were categorized by
disinterested third parties in the business community. This study explores the perceptions of
the employees of both groups and the impact of the conscious-authentic leadership model
on organizational behaviour and specific organizational outcomes in the workplace. The
organizational outcomes tested in this study are voluntary employee-withdrawal behaviour
and absenteeism during the period 20032005. An employee questionnaire was administered
to the employees of both groups to measure organizational behaviour. The same
questionnaire was administered to the CEOs to determine their level of self-awareness and
their sense of the reality of the human condition within their respective organization. A
separate leadership questionnaire was administered to the CEOs for a self-assessment of
personal attributes and leadership style. The findings provide a working definition of
conscious-authentic leadership behaviour and a working model of the components of this
approach as implemented by Group I CEOs in the workplace.

Conscious leadership and authentic leadership are just emerging in the literature as
leadership constructs. The current business environment would appear to favour more focus
on a leadership approach in the workplace that reaches inward into the very core of a leader
who places the interests of others before his or her own. As we continue into the 21st century,
there is a strong indication that this could be the century in which leaders will rise to
unprecedented heights to generate a new leadership paradigm and infuse critical
consciousness, humanness, and authenticity within their leadership approach. As evidenced
by this study, a conscious-authentic leadership approach in the workplace can enhance
organizational health, personal well-being, and specific organizational outcomes.