Dr Hannes Leroy

About me:

Hannes completed his PhD in authentic leadership development at the University of Leuven in 2012. After that he worked at Cornell University (Johnson School of Business) before continuing his academic journey at Rotterdam School of Management, currently as an Associate Professor.

Hannes Leroy is interested in authentic leadership and how to develop it. That interest includes not only a passionate and critical view of the concept of authenticity but his past work also includes a better understanding of its unique outcomes (e.g., safety, error hiding and work engagement), antecedents (e.g., mindfulness training), and similarities and differences from related concepts (i.e., leader behavioral integrity, leader communication transparency). On the development side he is passionate about authenticity both in terms of developing leaders to use their unique or authentic self as a source of their leadership strength as well as the idea of real (i.e., actually moving the needle) leadership development.

Nationality: Belgian

• Authenticity.
• Leadership
• Leadership development

I am interested in authenticity – the extent to which one remains true to oneself – at work: whether individuals feel authentic, are perceived as authentic, and encouraged to be authentic. I study the emergence of authenticity across multiple levels of analysis; for example, I have investigated the individual (e.g. mindfulness), leader (e.g. authentic leadership), team (e.g. psychological safety), and organizational (e.g. climate for inclusion) antecedents of authenticity. In turn, authenticity is associated with important outcomes throughout the employment process. My research has shown that authenticity helps us understand how organizations maintain a credible image as an employer and company, how job candidates manage to portray a credible impression, whether employees internalize organizational values and become fully engaged in their jobs, whether and how employees voice and implement innovative ideas, under what conditions employees are willing to report and learn from work (safety) errors, and finally how authenticity in leadership at different levels helps fosters engagement, trust, and inclusion.

Additionally, I am interested in what constitutes and drives effective leadership development. Aligned with the previous topic, I am interested in leadership development.

• PhD