A crisis in management has led to the appearance of Authentic leadership. The aim of this work is to determine the characteristics of Authentic leadership in educational institutions and to respond to the question as to whether authentic leaders are satisfied with their job. The third aim is to determine differences among the researched regions. The sample included 227 randomly selected directors from primary and secondary schools in Serbia, Montenegro and the Republika Srpska. The research

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... an ALQ questionnaire for the estimation of leadership behaviour. Descriptions for the results prediction and multiple linear regressions were used. A multivariance analysis of variance was used to compare the groups. The research results showed that every fourth director is an authentic leader. Authentic leadership has a significant influence on job satisfaction through two aspects: internalised perspective and balanced processing. There are no differences in Authentic leadership in the researched areas. The results could be useful for educational institutions in countries where the research was conducted. Further research could be carried out in other countries while cultural differences should be taken into account. One limiting factor consists of the fact that the analysed data are obtained only from school directors. Leaders of educational institutions should provide management through the development of their own authenticity and the authenticity of their followers. The characteristics of Authentic leadership were reviewed and tested practically in the West-Balkan environment.