How Self-Compassion can enhance Authentic Leadership Development: A quantitative study - Tondock, Britta

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Résumé :
In the face of today?s business challenges, the demand for a more genuine leadership style is arising. Authentic Leadership as a way to authentically relate to oneself and others is meant to create meaning, trust and confidence amongst followers. At the same time, the Buddhist concept of Self-Compassion is becoming popular in the Western academic world. This study offers first insights into the relationship between Authentic Leadership and Self-Compassion. Theoretical similarities and connections between the two constructs are being presented. An online study (N=50) got conducted, asking young professionals from the international student organization ?AIESEC? about Authentic Leadership attributes and self-compassionate behaviours. Data analysis showed a weak positive correlation between Authentic Leadership and Self-Compassion. Methodical limitations of the study are being demonstrated. Implications for Authentic Leadership research and practice are being discussed, concluding that Self-Compassion could enhance the theoretical operationalization of authenticity as well as the intense process of Authentic Leadership Development. This study was shortlisted for the Association of Business Psychologist?s Workforce Experience Award in 2014.

Biographie:
Britta Tondock, M.Sc., was born in 1985 in Northeim, Germany. After finishing her apprenticeship as a banking specialist, she graduated in Business Psychology at the Leuphana University L?neburg in 2011. After doing a half-year internship in an educational institution in Brazil, she she finished her Master?s degree in Business Psychology at the Westminster University in London with distinction. Throughout her studies, she collected valuable practical experience in conducting teambuildings, Train-the-Trainer-seminars and leadership development courses for members of an international student organisation. Her high interest in personal growth and it?s value for organizational development brought her to conduct this study.