Effect of Authentic Leadership on Academicians’ Performance through the Lens of Positive Organizational Behavior and Knowledge Sharing Behavior

Abstract

Due to recent upswing in leadership approach proponents of authentic leadership take a very normative approach, placing a strong emphasis on the creation of interferences to facilitate the development of authenticity. Authentic leadership represents a relatively new leadership framework stemming from the fields of leadership, ethics, positive psychology, and positive organizational behavior. Academicians and practitioners are concerned about how leaders in institutions affect the growth of positive organizational behavior, knowledge-sharing behavior, and employee performance since decades. Any institution, especially non-profit organizations like universities, may benefit from exhibiting the effective leadership style to boost employee productivity. If there was a correlation between the performance of academicians and that of actual leaders, this quantitative study sought to determine if such a correlation was due to positive organizational behavior and knowledge sharing behavior acting as an intervening variable. According to positive psychology, people may develop themselves while simultaneously promoting the growth of others by stressing their positive personality traits that result in the emergence of authentic leadership. Considering a sample of 350 academicians affiliated with both public and private universities in Pakistan, we were able to test and confirm our proposed hypothesis and verify the study model. The findings of this study have provided empirical evidence of the relationships between authentic leadership, positive organizational behavior, knowledge sharing, and academicians' performance. The implications of the study have advanced the theoretical and practical aspects by statistically proving a hypothetical model while providing concrete inferences that can be applied to enhance employees’ performance.