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Nature‐Based Training Program Fosters Authentic Leadership
Author(s) -
van Droffelaar Boy,
Jacobs Maarten
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of leadership studies
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.219
H-Index - 14
eISSN - 1935-262X
pISSN - 1935-2611
DOI - 10.1002/jls.21569
Subject(s) - authentic leadership , intrapersonal communication , psychology , leadership style , wilderness , shared leadership , transparency (behavior) , social psychology , servant leadership , leadership , personality , public relations , pedagogy , applied psychology , political science , interpersonal communication , ecology , law , biology
Authentic leadership is frequently promoted as a leadership style that responds to the contemporary challenges that leaders face. The current experimental study ( n = 66) tested intrapersonal change toward authentic leadership after participation in a nature‐based training program that included a stay in remote wilderness without any facilities. Authentic leadership was measured before, immediately after, and 1 year after the training program. All components of authentic leadership increased, namely self‐awareness, internalized moral behavior, balanced processing, and relational transparency, with medium to large effect sizes ( d ≈ .7). Changes in general personality traits were of a lower magnitude, suggesting that change was specific to authentic leadership, rather than extending into general psychological characteristics. The findings demonstrate that a nature‐based training program can increase authentic leadership. Immersion in wilderness is possibly conducive to change in leadership style, and could be considered as a strategy for fostering leadership change.