South African managers in public service: On being authentic

• Main Authors: Antoni Barnard, Nirvana Simbhoo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Taylor & Francis Group 2014-01-01
• Series: International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health & Well-Being
• Subjects: Authenticity; authentic leadership; identity work; psychological well-being; interpretative phenomenology; hermeneutic phenomenology
• Online Access: http://www.ijqhw.net/index.php/qhw/article/download/20630/31864

South African managers in public service consistently face challenges related to managing a well-adjusted and productive diverse workforce. Following the notion that leadership authenticity fosters positive psychological employee capacity, the aim of this study was to explore the meaning essence of authenticity as lived in the work–life experiences of senior managers in public service. Five senior managers in public service were purposefully selected based on their articulated challenges with being authentic at work, whilst attending a diversity sensitivity workshop. From a hermeneutic phenomenological perspective, in-depth interviews were used, and an interpretative phenomenological analysis yielded two predominant themes offering a description of what it means to be authentic. Authenticity is experienced as an affective state that results from a continuous self-appraisal of the extent to which expression of self is congruent with a subjective and socially constructed expectation of self in relation to others. Authenticity seems to develop through a continuous process of internal and external adaptation, and it leads to ultimately building a differentiated yet integrated identity of self. A reciprocal dynamic between feeling authentic and self-confidence alludes to the potential importance of authenticity dynamics in identity work.