The concept of authentic leadership is increasingly the focus of much leadership scholarship, and many have called for a review of the basic assumptions that underpin it. Taking an interactional approach to authentic leadership (AL) and using naturally occurring workplace interaction as data, we seek to question two basic assumptions of AL scholarship, namely (1) that authentic leadership emanates from the atomized leader and (2) that there is a causal logic to it so that authentic leadership behaviours are the cause of follower outcomes. Addressing the research questions – what is the nature of the empirical phenomenon that is called AL and where can this be ontologically located? – our findings indicate that these two fundamental assumptions that underpin current AL research are not justified. Rather, what is taken to be AL is better understood as a collective and collaborative achievement, which can neither simply be attributed to the leader nor can the leader’s actions alone lead to follower outcomes.

真正的领导力概念越来越成为许多领导力奖学金的焦点，许多人呼吁对构成其基础的基本假设进行审查。我们采用互动方法来研究真实领导力（AL），并使用自然发生的工作场所互动作为数据，我们试图质疑AL奖学金的两个基本假设，即（1）真实领导力源自雾化的领导者，以及（2）有一个真正的领导者。因果逻辑，以便真正的领导行为是追随者结果的原因。解决研究问题–称为AL的经验现象的性质是什么？在本体论上可以将其定位在何处？–我们的发现表明，目前AL研究基础的两个基本假设是没有道理的。相当，