As a significant paradigm in leadership studies, authentic leadership integrates core concepts from ethics, positive psychology, and organizational behavior. It emphasizes leaders’ alignment with their intrinsic values through dimensions such as self-awareness, relational transparency, balanced processing, and internalized moral perspective, thereby fostering trust, enhancing commitment, and improving organizational effectiveness. This paper presents a systematic review of the theoretical foundations, core models, and empirical research on authentic leadership. It begins by tracing the theoretical origins and conceptual definitions of authentic leadership, then critically examines representative theoretical models proposed by Terry (1993), Ilies et al. (2005), Gardner et al. (2005), George et al. (2007), Avolio et al. (2004), and Walumbwa et al. (2008). The paper systematically synthesizes existing empirical studies on authentic leadership practices, challenges, strategies, and frameworks, with particular attention to research conducted in the Chinese context. By identifying the major contributions and limitations of existing studies, this review reveals a critical gap in the literature: the systematic investigation of authentic leadership practices among deans in Chinese public universities remains notably underexplored. This paper provides a solid theoretical foundation and literature support for future empirical research on authentic leadership in the Chinese context.
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