Abstract
Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify what leadership coaches perceive to be the benefits of authenticity to their clients' success. Another purpose was to identify what barriers leadership coaches perceive as preventing their clients from developing authenticity. A final purpose of this study was to identify which strategies leadership coaches perceive to be most effective for supporting their clients in developing self-awareness, balanced processing, behavioral authenticity, and relationship authenticity. Methodology: The participants in this study were 29 professional leadership coaches. With a mixed-methods descriptive design, participants followed an online link to a survey which produced quantitative data. Five leadership coaches were then interviewed, providing qualitative data. Findings: Leadership coaches believe that the greatest benefit of authenticity to a leader is that leader's ability to inspire trust among followers. These coaches also believe that fear of being vulnerable and lack of time are the two greatest barriers to leaders developing greater authenticity through the coaching process. According to leadership coaches, values clarification, reframing beliefs, and self-observation exercises are the most effective coaching strategies for helping leaders become more authentic. Conclusions: Authentic leaders inspire trust among followers. An organization whose leader is able to accurately process feedback is able to respond quickly and sensitively to changes in the external and internal environments. A leader whose behavior is aligned with his or her values fosters similar behavior among followers with an end result of an organizational culture of trust. Such organizations have more long-term success because there is a focus on common goals, a willingness to take growth-oriented risks, and a stable workforce. Leaders who build and maintain authentic relationships with followers have the credibility needed with followers to efficiently move organizations through continuous change and improvement. Recommendations: Leadership development programs should include developing the self-awareness of participants. Organizations should incorporate screening for high levels of authenticity into their hiring and evaluation processes. Employment contracts for leaders should always include at least one year of coaching for the leader.