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The Role of Sociocultural Context in the Leader–Follower Relationship: An Analysis of Lee Kuan Yew’s Authentic Transformational Leadership

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Authentic Leadership and Followership

Part of the book series: Palgrave Studies in Leadership and Followership ((PASTLEFO))

Abstract

Through a strong vision, authentic transformational leaders inspire followers to transcend their own self-interests for the good of the group. While the characteristics underlying authentic transformational leadership have received attention, less emphasis has been placed on how and under what conditions transformational leadership achieves authenticity within the leader–follower relationship. Taking a case study approach, this chapter assesses Lee Kuan Yew’s leadership style, specifically his ‘Asian Values’ vision. By addressing the sociocultural contexts in which authentic transformational leadership occurs, we argue that Lee’s leadership style ultimately failed because his vision was incongruent with the ontologies and values of other societies in Asia, resulting in a message that appeared inauthentic. This chapter concludes with recommendations for making authentic transformational leadership more functional across different cultural contexts.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Global Business Leadership Department, College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, Collegeville, MN, USA

    Deborah Pembleton

  2. Department of Political Science, College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, Collegeville, MN, USA

    John Friend

  3. Department of Political Science and Department of Global Business Leadership, College of Saint Benedict and Saint John’s University, Collegeville, MN, USA

    Zhiyuan He

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  1. Deborah Pembleton
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  2. John Friend
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Fielding Graduate University, Santa Barbara, California, USA

    Dorianne Cotter-Lockard

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Pembleton, D., Friend, J., He, Z. (2018). The Role of Sociocultural Context in the Leader–Follower Relationship: An Analysis of Lee Kuan Yew’s Authentic Transformational Leadership. In: Cotter-Lockard, D. (eds) Authentic Leadership and Followership. Palgrave Studies in Leadership and Followership. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65307-5_6

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