Abstract

Authentic Leadership (AL), a second generation member of the neocharismatic leadership paradigms, has re-emerged in the last six years in response to corporate managerial corruption. Early empirical work has demonstrated the promising effects of AL on performance, motivation, and well-being. Naturally, the question arises of whether AL can be influenced by a formal training protocol; similarly, with the increasing cost of training programs, identifying candidates most likely to benefit from such interventions would be critical. Through a longitudinal design comprised of a three week training intervention, and pre- and post-intervention surveys, this study tested the effect of a transformational leadership (TFL) training protocol, and pre-training TFL self-ratings, on manager post-training self-ratings of AL and its four subconstructs ( self-awareness, internalized moral perspective, balanced processing, and relational transparency). Results suggested that AL perception did change over time but that this change was not related to the training intervention. Instead, I speculate that the historic economic recession may have constituted one of the 'life events' touted in the literature as influential on authentic leadership change. Support for this argument, implications for future research and practical application, as well as study limitations are discussed.