The benchmark measure of authentic leadership
Bruce J. Avolio, William L. Gardner & Fred O. Walumbwa
Global Leadership Institute
Basis * Intent * Example
Items * References
The Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (ALQ) is a theory-driven leadership survey instrument designed to measure the components that have been conceptualized as comprising authentic leadership. The four scales comprising the ALQ address the following questions:
- Self Awareness: To what degree is the leader aware of his or her strengths, limitations, how others see him or her and how the leader impacts others?
- Transparency: To what degree does the leader reinforce a level of openness with others that provides them with an opportunity to be forthcoming with their ideas, challenges and opinions?
- Ethical/Moral: To what degree does the leader set a high standard for moral and ethical conduct?
- Balanced Processing: To what degree does the leader solicit sufficient opinions and viewpoints prior to making important decisions?
Basis for the ALQ
The theoretical and empirical basis for the ALQ is covered extensively in the resources indicated below. The ALQ has gone through extensive validation work, and is being used currently in a number of projects around the globe to augment other measures of leadership including the MLQ.
Intent
We are making the ALQ available for research use to grow the information database associated with it and to provide further evidence of validity and reliability. The ALQ can only be used by researchers who have submitted the Agreement for Permission to use the ALQ including the description of their research.
To obtain the ALQ, we will ask you to
1. agree to our research use conditions and
2. complete an online abstract of your research project...
The Abstract of Research Project contains the following questions.
- Main Focus of the Research
- Key Hypotheses Related to the ALQ
- Sample Characteristics/Number of Participants
- Rater Sources/Methods of Data Collection
- Organizational Characteristics
- Country or Countries
- Language or languages if not English
Click
here when you are ready to complete these questions and
receive the ALQ
Example Items & Scale for the Rater Form
Instructions
The following survey items refer to your leader’s style, as you perceive it. Judge how frequently each statement fits his or her leadership style using the following scale:
| Not at all | Once in a while | Sometimes | Fairly often | Frequently, if not always |
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| My Leader | ||||||
| 1. | says exactly what he or she means | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 6. | demonstrates beliefs that are consistent with actions | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 10. | solicits views that challenge his or her deeply held positions | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
| 13. | seeks feedback to improve interactions with others | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |
Copyright © 2007 Authentic Leadership Questionnaire (ALQ) by Bruce J. Avolio, William L. Gardner, & Fred O. Walumbwa. All rights reserved in all medium. Distributed by Mind Garden, Inc.
Translations of this instrument are available. For a complete list of translations, along with more details on our translation policy, please visit our translations index page.
References/Resources
Books:
Gardner, W.L., Avolio, B.J., & Walumbwa, F. (2006). Authentic leadership theory and practice: Origins, effects and development. Amsterdam: Elsevier JAI Press.
Avolio, B.J., & Luthans, F. (2006). High impact leader: Moments matter in authentic leadership development. NY: McGraw-Hill.
Avolio, B.J. (2005). Leadership development in balance: Made/Born. NJ: Erlbaum & Associates.
Articles:
Walumbwa, F. O., Avolio, B.J., Gardner, W.L., Wernsing, T.S., Peterson, S.J. (2008, February). Authentic leadership: Development and validation of a theory-based measure. Journal of Management, 34(1), 89-126.
Avolio, B.J., & Chan, A. (In press, 2008). The dawning of a new era for genuine leadership development. Hodgkinson, G., & Ford, K. (eds.). International Review of Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 23.
Avolio, B.J. (2007). Promoting more integrative strategies for leadership theory building. American Psychologist, 62, 25-33.
Avolio, B.J., & Gardner, W.L. (2005). Authentic leadership development:
Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. Leadership Quarterly,
16, 315-338.
Gardner, W.L., Avolio, B.J., Luthans, F., May, D.R., & Walumbwa, F.O.
(2005). Can you see the real me? A self-based model of authentic leader
and follower development. Leadership Quarterly, 16, 434-372.
Avolio, B.J., Gardner, W.L., Walumbwa, F.O., Luthans, F., & May, D. (2004). Unlocking the mask: A look at the process by which authentic leaders’ impact follower attitudes and behaviors. Leadership Quarterly, 15, 801-823.
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