Programme overview
Introduction:
Authentic and servant leadership address a costly gap in many organisations: managers who state one set of values and act on another when targets, politics or pressure rise. Staff notice the gap quickly, withhold candour and discretionary effort, and leader credibility erodes. This Core Concept course helps managers and senior leaders clarify their values through life-story reflection and multi-rater feedback, apply the four components of authentic leadership and the practices of servant leadership, and hold to their principles in difficult decisions. Participants produce a Personal Leadership Purpose Statement and Values-in-Action Plan.
Course Objectives:
- Clarify personal leadership values and purpose using life-story reflection, crucible experiences and multi-rater feedback
- Apply the four components of authentic leadership, namely self-awareness, balanced processing, internalised moral perspective and relational transparency, in routine management decisions
- Practise servant leadership behaviours of listening, stewardship, growing people and building community with direct reports and peers
- Detect ego-driven derailers and value-action gaps under pressure and choose principled responses to ethical dilemmas
- Evaluate trust, credibility and follower outcomes using authentic and servant leadership measures such as the ALQ and servant leadership scales
- Produce a Personal Leadership Purpose Statement and Values-in-Action Plan with behaviour indicators and feedback checkpoints
Target Audience:
- Managers who lead teams and set the behavioural tone for how decisions are made
- Department heads accountable for staff engagement, retention and team credibility
- Senior leaders who shape organisational values and must model them visibly
- Leaders of cross-functional or matrix teams who rely on trust rather than formal authority
- HR business partners and leadership development leads who design values-based leadership programmes
Course Outline:
Day 1: Values-Based Leadership Foundations and the Personal Leadership Story
- Values-Based Leadership Case: Credibility Gaps, Say-Do Ratio and Follower Cynicism
- Leadership Approaches Compared: Transactional, Transformational, Authentic and Servant
- Life-Story Timeline and Crucible Experience Reflection Exercise
- Personal Values Card Sort and Values Hierarchy Ranking
- Multi-Rater 360 Feedback Report Reading: Blind Spots and Hidden Strengths
Day 2: Authentic Leadership and Servant Leadership Models
- Walumbwa Four-Component Model of Authentic Leadership
- Authentic Leadership Critiques: The True-Self Debate and Perception-Based Evidence
- Greenleaf Servant-as-Leader Principle: Serving First, Leading Second
- Spears Ten Characteristics of Servant Leadership Mapped to Management Routines
- Barbuto and Wheeler Five Dimensions: From Altruistic Calling to Organisational Stewardship
Day 3: Leading from Values in Daily Management
- Balanced Processing Routine: Inviting Dissent and Opposing Evidence Before Decisions
- Relational Transparency Practices: Candid Disclosure Within Professional Boundaries
- Servant Listening Protocol for One-to-One Meetings
- Developmental Coaching Questions for Growing Direct Reports
- Stewardship and Community Building: Team Charter and Shared Purpose Session
Day 4: Ego, Derailers, Moral Courage and Trust Outcomes
- Ego, Humility and Hubris Warning Signs in Senior Roles
- Value-Action Gap Analysis Under Target and Political Pressure
- Moral Courage Decision Frame for Ethical Dilemmas
- Trust and Credibility Outcomes: Engagement, Retention and Candour Indicators
- Measuring Authentic and Servant Leadership: ALQ, ALI and Servant Leadership Behaviour Scale
Day 5: Role-Play Practice and the Values-in-Action Plan
- Role-Play: Holding a Values Line When a Senior Stakeholder Pushes a Shortcut
- Role-Play: Admitting a Leadership Mistake to the Team
- Personal Leadership Purpose Statement Drafting
- Values-in-Action Plan: Behaviour Indicators, Feedback Checkpoints and Accountability Partner
- Peer Review Panel and Plan Refinement
Skills You Will Gain:
- Values Clarification
- Balanced Decision Processing
- Relational Transparency
- Servant Listening
- People Stewardship
- Ethical Courage
- Ego and Derailer Control
- Leadership Credibility Measurement
Why Attend This Course:
- Leave with a Personal Leadership Purpose Statement and Values-in-Action Plan reviewed by a peer panel
- Rehearse holding principles under pressure from senior stakeholders, with observer feedback on each attempt
- Know what the research on authentic and servant leadership supports and where it remains contested
- Compare leadership dilemmas with managers from finance, energy, healthcare and public service organisations
Conclusion:
Authentic and servant leadership turn stated values into behaviour that staff can see and trust. The week moves from values clarification through life-story reflection and multi-rater feedback, through the four-component authentic leadership model and the characteristics of servant leadership, to balanced decisions, transparent communication, listening and developing people, then to ego, derailers, moral courage and the measures that track trust. The final day rehearses principled responses in role-play and produces a Personal Leadership Purpose Statement and Values-in-Action Plan.