ABSTRACT
This chapter explores one of today's trends in leadership thinking, namely the idea that successful leaders are 'authentic', focusing in particular on the work of Bill George. The concept of authentic leadership started to gain traction after certain business scandals at the start of the new millennium, most notably those affecting Enron in 2001 and Tyco and WorldCom in 2002. Given the popularity of Machiavelli's The Prince today, as a classic in leadership, it is no surprise that the recommendation to lead by misleading is echoed in contemporary self-help books, partly targeted at a business audience. Authentic leadership and related concepts such as ethical leadership and responsible leadership are meant as counter-images to the figure of charismatic leadership. Louis Althusser, takes the perspective that Machiavelli was himself acting like a fox: 'the treatise on The Prince backfires on the Prince, and the addressee disappeared with the address'.
