Includes bibliographical references and index.

Authentic leadership has emerged as an important concept as people look for leaders who are transparent, original, and worthy of their trust. Calls for this type of leadership grew in the first decade of the twenty-first century as a result of numerous scandals (e.g., Enron, WorldCom, the housing market collapse, and failures in the banking industry) that rocked public trust. Authenticity is important to the leadership process as it is foundational when developing effective relationships between leaders and followers. This case focuses on Bill Clinton as an example of a leader who appears authentic, but whose decisions and behaviors as a public servant caused others to distrust him. Students will analyze the tenets of authentic leadership in regard to Clinton and then discuss questions regarding his authenticity. Students will also analyze Clinton from a psychodynamic approach to gain better insights into how his personality affects the leadership process. The psychodynamic approach focuses on the sources of energy and conditions that create motivational forces that drive human behavior from within (the inner world of individuals) and effect relationships between people, all of which is critical to the leadership process (Kets de Vries & Cheak, 2016). The question remains: was Clinton an authentic leader and how did his authenticity, or lack of authenticity, affect his leadership?

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