Different individuals may intend to become leaders. However, it is quite complicated for many individuals. The level of perception can be different for many people, and it creates an impact on the leadership role as well. It is an effective and comprehensive evaluation of Sally Helgesen’s story of leadership. Sally Helgesen faced several challenges in his leadership journey. The role of authenticity in the leadership process is mandatory. It seems imperative to become an authentic leader despite depicting the mantle of leadership in this contemporary era. The study revolves around the role of self-awareness, authenticity and possible mantle of the leadership in the leadership journey.
The role of self-awareness in Sally Helgesen’s story of leadership is visible. Sally Helgesen was struggling to find her career. She had two options. First, she wanted to be a writer. The second option was to become a teacher after completing her degree. Being a writer in New York City, she found herself scary, grandiose, and fraudulent. She perceived her as an outsider looking in. However, the case revealed that she did not contain the effective self-awareness in the beginning. She was unmotivated when working as a writer in New York City. Her evolution started in Texas where she wanted to derive some key cultural insights and write a book. Actually, she was acting upon her dream to become free and independent women to streamline some ideas and thought. Sally decided to become a writer and write some books on cultures, leadership, current issues, and speeches. The role of self-awareness is prominent in this whole journey because it motivated her. For Instance, being a writer, she was quite confused and scary at the initial stage. However, through self-awareness, she was determined to achieve her career goals and objectives (Northouse, 2015).
Interestingly, she never opted to become a leader in the future. The self–awareness revealed some key internal strengths and the journey started. She wrote The Female Advantage: Women’s Ways of Leadership (1990, and it became the best seller for a while. She started to attend different seminars around the globe as a leader. Again, she still thought about his role of the leader. The self-awareness helped him to define the authenticity of his role. Thus, in this whole journey, self-awareness was the motivator or game changer for her. So far, the impact of the self-awareness on Sally was positive.
The leadership authenticity is an effective leadership approach to build leadership legitimacy. It can be done by creating and sustaining honest relationships with people or followers (Ladkin & Spiller, 2013). Relevant leadership direction is necessary to be authentic. Sally Helgesen’s leadership was triggered by the authenticity due to her inner thoughts. Being an outsider looking in, she always intended to come up with a pertinent rationale. Internalized moral perspective enhanced leadership authenticity.
For Instance, she had a concern regarding her authenticity, as she thought that she always opted to observe and write. Based on reviews and observations in different books she wrote, she wondered how people started perceiving her as a leader. She was concerned regarding the authenticity, but she was an authentic leader due to internalized moral perceptive. Her writing experience made him authentic and relevant. Writing for Chief Executive Officers concerning current issues in the organizational life actually made her authentic.
As mentioned, Sally was an authentic leader because she always wanted to meet her team. The mantle of leadership is important for the leadership role to meet goals and objectives. Interestingly, she depicted the mantle of leadership to expect acclaim and visibility. After writing some remarkable books, people could not perceive her as a leader. Through the mantle of leadership, she intended to depict the new leadership, determination in different circumstances (Sheldon, 2010).
Being an authentic leader, she wanted her words highly influential and admired at a higher level. However, the case of leadership mantle can be different for different people. For Instance, some people just want to streamline their opinions and thoughts in different speeches. On the other hand, leaders like Sally are also opinionated but with increased attention. Thus, the mantle of leadership is important to increase attention and justify her dream.
The mantle of the leadership was related to leadership authenticity. Sally depicted authenticity through her work and the mantle of leadership actually justified it. The case revealed that the mantle of leadership has helped her to streamline her inner thoughts. She depicted how to become a leader by embracing authenticity. Falsified facts about current dome issues can be exposed early in the leadership journey.
However, being authentic actually justified the purpose of the leadership mantle. With the leadership mantle, the leader becomes more responsible, and therefore, the authenticity must be triggered. Path-goal theory can be applied to this particular case. Sally has adopted the leadership style and behavior, according to the behavior of other people, environment and circumstances. Sally wanted to meet her dream, and accordingly, she embraced this way to get expected outcomes (Wong & Cummings, 2009). Authentic sally with prominent leadership mantle became the successful leaders, and it seemed a complete journey.
Every leader reaches the point where he/she has to embrace the leadership. It starts with responsibility. On the leadership journey, people start following a person due to his work and contributions. Sally started as a writer, but she reached the point where people started following her due to her work and contribution. For Instance, observing the role of women as a leader in the company and become the advisor to organizations was the main point to become the leader. As mentioned, she started touring different countries to give lectures and attend several seminars.
Being a sharp leader or individual, it is important to identify or assess these points. Again, self-awareness and authenticity are two prominent factors, which create the impact (Horowitz & van Eeden, 2015). Sally is the best example for future leaders in society and organizations. Reaching a point to become the leader or embrace leadership is the leader’s journey or evolvement. If a leader has clear goals and objectives at the beginning like Sally, he/she can definitely reach that point.
In the end, it is to conclude that the leader must contain the self-awareness, authenticity, and the mantle of leadership. Self-awareness can help a leadership like Sally to derive personal insights, including strengths and weaknesses. Self-awareness opened ways for Sally to clear the direction for the future. Due to self-awareness, she selected a different field from her parents because she knew the scope. The authenticity emerged in the journey due to her intentions, determination, and commitment. The mantle of leadership was important for her to increase attention and enhance her contribution. After reaching the particular point, Sally successfully embraced the leadership. In this comprehensive case study, self-awareness, authenticity, the mantle of leadership and leadership embracement have been examined along with some key insight. Sally’s leadership journey is a good lesson for current and future leaders.
References
Horowitz, D. S., & van Eeden, R. (2015). Exploring the learnings derived from catalytic experiences in a leadership context. SA Journal of Human Resource Management, 13(1), 1-10.
Ladkin, D., & Spiller, C. (2013). Authentic Leadership: Clashes, Convergences and Coalescences. Edward Elgar Publishing.
Northouse, P. G. (2015). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Loss Angeles: SAGE.
Sheldon, F. (2010). The Fundamentals of Leadership: Essential Tools of the Trade. Wheatmark, Inc.
Wong, C., & Cummings, G. (2009). Authentic leadership: a new theory for nursing or back to basics? Journal of Health Organization and Management, 23(5), 522-38.
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