| dc.description.abstract | In changing business environments, the ability of organizations to adapt to their own need for
renewal can make a real difference. This need for organizations to change their strategy
periodically, to adapt to exogenous changes imposed by the market, is closely related to the
need for leadership within them. It is in this context that the relationship between leaders and
followers emerges strongly, within which we intend to identify a decisive aspect in the
organizational changes of companies. Leaders, with their characteristics and behaviors, can
strongly influence the perceptions and emotions of their team members, which, especially in
situations of uncertainty as a change process can be, may require special attention in managing
them. In particular, the following article decided to consider the figure of the authentic leader,
defined as a leader who is characterized by strong moral integrity, consistent alignment between
his or her values and actions, and a tendency to support his or her followers through sincerity,
transparency, and constant communication.
The aim is to analyze how the presence of authentic leaders in organizations can be a
determining factor for the success of organizational change processes, especially in the long
term, by analyzing aspects of the relationship between them and their followers. To this end, a
review of the existing literature on the aforementioned topics was first conducted, and then a
theoretical framework and propositions were defined to be proved. Through a series of semistructured
interviews, we then arrived at a detailed picture of the role of trust between authentic
leaders and followers, how it affects employees' well-being and readiness for change, and
finally, the influence of authentic leaders in their followers' choices during and after
organizational change processes. While on their followers' trust and willingness to change,
authentic leaders undoubtedly show an obvious influence, followers' choices have a very
subjective component and, in some cases, take into consideration various aspects, while
recognizing the importance of a basically positive relationship with their leader. | en_US |
