AUTHENTIC LEADERSHIP IN EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS

This work investigates authentic leadership models in the organizational culture of a school. The aim of this quantitative research is to define the factors of authentic leadership in educational institutions in order to provide answers to the questions related to the existence of specific authentic leadership in a school. The sample included 227 randomly selected directors of secondary and primary schools in the former Yugoslav republics: Serbia, Montenegro, and the Republic Srpska. The research included the use of an ALQ questionnaire for the estimation of leadership behavior. The components of authentic leadership are defined using factor analysis and other statistics techniques. The findings developed in this research indicated the fact that directors in educational institutions have a specific authentic leadership style. We suggest the concept of authentic leadership based on the four following factors: Communication-conformist, self-consciousness, self-discovery, and self-concept. Supporting these factors provides the directors with the possibility of obtaining a high level of authentic leadership.