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Leadership, Work Careers, and Self-Concept Clarity

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Book cover Self-Concept Clarity

Abstract

High self-concept clarity helps an individual to ground their behavior in consistent applications of their preferences, values, and principles. This consistency helps others to trust them and view them as being authentic. Both facilitate high-quality relationships that allow the individual to be comfortable and effectively assume leadership positions. Much of the existing literature on authenticity, however, assumes that the underlying character of the person is positive or socially valued. Many leaders have negative or socially reviled characteristics. We address questions about whether authenticity is still valuable in these cases. In all cases, we argue that it is best to know one’s self well.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. John Molson School of Business, Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

    Seth M. Spain

  2. School of Management, Binghamton University, The State University of New York, Binghamton, NY, USA

    Jayoung Kim

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  1. Seth M. Spain
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Correspondence to Seth M. Spain .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological Sciences and Institute for Autism Research, Canisius College, Buffalo, New York, USA

    Jennifer Lodi-Smith

  2. Department of Psychology, University at Buffalo, SUNY, Buffalo, New York, USA

    Kenneth G. DeMarree

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Spain, S.M., Kim, J. (2017). Leadership, Work Careers, and Self-Concept Clarity. In: Lodi-Smith, J., DeMarree, K. (eds) Self-Concept Clarity. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-71547-6_9

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