Designing a Desirable Authentic Leadership Model for Principals

Authentic leader is viewed as one that is deeply conscientious of the way he thinks and behaves and he is perceived by the others as having this conscience not only of self, but also of the moral values and the personal characteristics of the others. The authentic leader, on one hand, acts in accordance with its deep values and convictions to construct the credibility and to gain the respect and the confidence of its subordinates. On the other hand, he encourages diverse points of view and he creates a relation of collaboration among its subordinates. The authentic leadership, which is a derivation and an improvement of the transformational leadership, has acquired great relevance in the last years due to the unexpected changes that the organizations and the contemporary societies had suffered. A more complete explanation of the way in which authentic leaders function in educational institutions and other working environments is provided by focusing on research and by describing the factors of authentic leadership. Therefore, this study paid special attention to designing the optimal model of genuine leadership with regard to the activities of educational managers, organizational structure of education, output and results in the education organization and tries to make a significant difference based on specific and necessary activities in education. This organization should design. This study was conducted in Iranian education; Although numerous studies have been presented in the field of authentic leadership and other leadership styles, more or less there is a need for a model based on authentic leadership style and consistent with the functional nature of educational managers. The important issue of this research is how to provide a desirable model of authentic leadership for managers.  One of the important aspects that has been paid special attention in this research is the concept of leadership style in schools. Management in any organization acts as its core and thinking brain, and this element is of particular importance in educational units. In addition to the commonalities with other formal organizations, education has its own characteristics that require special conditions and capabilities to manage and administer. In principle, the development of any society depends on the activities carried out in education, and the influence of the school principal as an educational leader cannot be ignored. Educational organizations, especially schools, as organizations that work to educate the current generation of the country, should benefit from the latest technologies and new theories of organization and management to quickly meet the needs of their customers, students, parents and society. The role of educational leaders in transferring updated experiences and needs in this field to the educational area, as well as providing constructive and research proposals and projects, is prominent and vital. Genuine leadership in education is defined as ethical leadership practices and moral literacy in behaviors associated with school leaders. Finally, it can be said that although numerous studies have been presented in the field of authentic leadership and other leadership styles, but more or less there is a need for a model based on authentic leadership style and consistent with the functional nature of educational managers. A distinct issue in this study to design a genuine leadership model is special attention to leadership in the educational organization. Therefore, this study devoted special attention to designing the optimal model of authentic leadership with regard to the activities of educational managers, educational organizational structure, output and results in the educational organization and tries to design a model suitable for this organization. The present study aimed to design an appropriate model of authentic leadership. An exploratory sequential mixed method (qualitative-quantitative) was used. Qualitative part of the study included qualitative content analysis; quantitative part was conducted by using a survey method. To do so, qualitative part of the study identified components of authentic leadership among principals; quantitative part was performed to statistically examine qualitative data. Participants of the study included 13 professors majoring in educational administration chosen by using a purposive sampling technique. Having used a cluster sampling, the researcher selected 132 school managers from among total population. A semi-structured interview was used to collect the qualitative data. Individual interviews consisted of four open-ended questions. Concerning qualitative content analysis, three phases of open, axial, and selective coding were used.  To validate the qualitative data, criterion of acceptability was used. Also, to make sure of the validity of the qualitative data, participants’ feedbacks were taken into consideration. To verify the reliability of qualitative data a holistic method was employed.    The questionnaire involves 45 items and 11 components that has been adjusted according to five-point Likert scale . At qualitative phase, in order to analyze interview data   open coding, axial coding and selective coding were employed and at the quantitative phase, confirmatory factor analysis test by means of smart pls3 was chosen.   Having developed the questionnaire, the researcher sent a copy to a group of experts, professors, and principals. The validity of the questionnaire was confirmed based on the feedbacks and comments. It was, therefore, found that the questionnaire items were capable of explaining and measuring what needed to be measured. To check reliability of the questionnaire, it was administered to 30 managers of Khorasan Razavi schools in order to compute Cronback’s Alpha. Finally data showed a coefficient of .81 thus confirming the reliability. To analyze the qualitative data three phases of open, axial and selective coding were used.  Primary phase of qualitative data included 45 open codes extracted from the interview administered to the experts. The findings of qualitative phase consisting of 11 components (inspiring, flexibility, extroversion, commitment, deep attraction, cooperative spirit, transparency in relationship, sympathy, balanced information process, moral landscape and common landscape) were recognized. In the third phase of the data analysis, the 11 elicited concepts were categorized as the main category or theme entitled authentic leadership. To test the conceptual model of the study in quantitative part, modeling algorithm in Smart PLS was used and required analyses were conducted in three sections, e.g. measurement model fit, structural model fit, general fit (measurement and structure).  Results of factor analysis indicated a fitness of the desirable model of authentic model. It can be concluded that the 11 identified components could strengthen and develop authentic leadership among principals.