'The Path with the Heart': Creating the Authentic Career

By Silviya Svejenova. 2005

153 citations recorded by the source corpus.

This study contributes to the stream of boundaryless career research by detailing a theory of authenticity-driven career creation. The perspective developed here is grounded in an in-depth case study of the trajectory of a creative individual who has followed a very personal career path, remaining true to his creative calling. With authenticity work I denote the set of actions and interactions, which the creative individual undertakes to achieve a distinctive and true-to-self identity and image over time and across audiences. The study reveals that authenticity work is in the duality of identity expression and image manufacturing. Furthermore, it has some elements that are consistent over time and others that keep changing. I identify four stages through which authenticity plays a role in career creation: exploring aspects of multifaceted identity and image; narrowing down and focusing the identity expression and image manufacturing; enhancing one's control over the creative and business aspects of the artwork, and finally, a quest for professionalism. These stages are labelled exploration, focus, independence, and professionalism, respectively. They are embedded in a structural context that enables and constrains authenticity work. The resolution of the constraints by the creative individuals pushes their careers forward.

Subfields: Experimental and Cognitive Psychology, Management of Technology and Innovation, Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

View Paper: https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/c5dff9ab711dedc5bc7a316ca8343c35a8ec78d0

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In Experimental and Cognitive Psychology

In Management of Technology and Innovation

In Organizational Behavior and Human Resource Management

Citations in the corpus

Protean Attitude and Career Success: The Mediating Role of Self-Management. (2008, background): “While these authors addressed respondents’ feelings regarding the authenticity of their career, we studied career insight, a variable that can be seen as related to but conceptually distinct from career authenticity (Sjevenova, 2005).”
From Synchronizing to Harmonizing: The Process of Authenticating Multiple Work Identities (2018, background): “…identities (McCall and Simmons, 1978; Burke, 1980; Thoits, 1991), based on what they consider to be their true selves (Baker and Aldrich, 1996; Svejenova, 2005).1 Yet individuals are also encouraged to continually express their true selves when enacting their work roles (e.g., Hochschild,…”
Business model innovation in cultural and creative industries: Insights from three leading mobile gaming firms (2020, background): “evidence of financial penalties for firms appearing to pursue quick profits (Jones & Smith, 2005; Peterson, 1997; Shusterman, 1999; Svejenova, 2005).”
Creative Leadership: A Multi-Context Conceptualization† (2015, background): “Creative freedom Alvarez, Mazza, Pedersen, and Svejenova (2005),”