We believe that in order for the term authentic leadership to have an added value and be useful,
it has to be different than other terms commonly used in the leadership literature. In this regard,
definitions that encompass positive leadership qualities that are not directly related to the term
authenticity, e.g. developing the leader’s associates, or are covered by other leadership concepts, e.g.
transformational leadership, may be too broad and non-distinctive to be useful. To be distinctive and
useful, the term authentic leadership has to draw attention to aspects of leadership that have not
been strongly emphasized by other leadership terms and models.
We start with the term authentic leader, because it is less complex than the term authentic leadership,
and because any concept of authentic leadership has to include an authentic leader as one of its
components.