Authentic leadership theory (AVOLIO; GARDNER, 2005) has been attracting the interest of many scholars this past decade as a consequence of the leadership crisis prompted by chilling examples of corporate and government scandals. Within the context of clarifying what distinguishes the authentic from inauthentic leaders, the present study seeks to understand to what extent the personal value system, rooted in Schwartz's (1992) motivational theory of human values, influences the degree of authenticity of a leader. To accomplish this goal, a survey was conducted with 213 executives in leadership positions in organizations with diverse nature and purposes. Data was analyzed using hierarchical multiple linear regressions. Findings suggest that a personal value system that prioritizes self-transcendent and openness to change exert a significant influence on the authenticity displayed by the leader, allowing us to conclude that the axiological priorities of the authentic leader favor egalitarian values at the expense of hierarchical values. The results thus corroborate the theory of authentic leadership that sustains the authentic leader is oriented to the collective well-being and harmony. Furthermore, these results provide some initial support for the authentic leadership theory, since despite proposing that authentic leaders differentiate from inauthentic ones because their behavior is guided by their personal value systems, these claims were not corroborated empirically till now.
Personal values; Leadership; Authenticity; Self-transcendence; Schwartz
