2025 Theses Doctoral

Authenticity and Leadership in Context: Exploring Senior Executives’ Perceptions of Self and Authenticity in Financial Organizations

Park, Jennifer

The purpose of this study was to explore senior executives’ perceptions and experiences regarding authenticity and authentic leadership within the financial sector.

This research examined how 12 senior executives in the financial industry described their authentic selves, defined being authentic at work, practiced their authentic leadership, and learned to lead authentically in a high-pressure industry. Eleven followers of three senior executives also participated through the Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (ALQ) and qualitative survey questions, providing a more nuanced understanding of authentic leadership. Data collected through semi-structured interviews and the ALQ revealed that executives practiced a form of “bounded authenticity”—strategically calibrating self-expression within professional parameters rather than engaging in unrestricted self-disclosure.

The study identified five key findings: (1) authenticity in finance manifested as contextually negotiated rather than absolute; (2) authentic leadership is inherently relational in nature; (3) thoughtful emotional regulation and composure, rather than unfiltered emotional transparency, were valued as authentic leadership; (4) industry culture significantly constrained the expression of authenticity; and (5) the development of authentic leadership occurred primarily through experience, reflection, and relationships, rather than formal training programs.

The findings challenged universal models of authentic leadership by demonstrating the significant impact of the financial industry context on how authenticity is expressed in competitive environments, highlighting the importance of awareness, relationship-building capabilities, emotional awareness and groundedness, and an experiential learning mindset that integrated self-development with leadership skills.