"Walking the Talk" Alone: Leading and Following Authentically in and Inauthentic World

Abstract

The evolving literature on authentic leadership rests on an implicit assumption that leaders and followers
who strive to promote authentic relationships in organizational settings can achieve them. However,
organizations are rife with potential barriers to authenticity, including ego defense mechanisms,
interaction partners who are either unwilling or unable to attain authenticity, and organizational contexts
and cultures that apply pressures to compromise one’s core values or true emotions. Under such
circumstances, authentic behavior may be naïve, risky, and even counterproductive. As such, many
leaders faced with such pressures may fail to act with character and integrity. To explore these barriers,
this paper reviews a diverse body of literature to identify potential boundary conditions for authentic
leadership and followership that are operative at the intrapersonal, dyadic, group, and organizational
levels. We conclude by suggesting avenues for future research to explore the circumstances that
constrain leader and follower efforts to promote authentic relationships.