Leadership Ethics: An Introduction

Citation

Bullock, J. (2009), "Leadership Ethics: An Introduction", Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 30 No. 5, pp. 493-494. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437730910968769

Leadership and ethics are common elements in business and politics. Leadership ethics, the intersection of these two elements, gives rise to much discussion and deliberation among scholars and citizens alike. History provides many examples of good and bad leaders, allowing examination of their ethics and decision‐making principles. Moreover, philosophy and psychology lend structure to this examination, enabling a systematic view of ethical ideology that influences the actions of leaders. Leadership Ethics: An Introduction leverages history, philosophy, and psychology in its exploration of this vitally important topic, bringing the discussion forward to contemporary times, including salient examples of leaders – heroes and villains alike – and events from world politics and business in which ethics and moral principles were challenged. The central thesis of the book is that “rule breaking is not justified in everyday leadership.” Application of ethical theory and moral psychology occurs within this construct to provide readers with a context for considering how leaders view themselves and the importance of their goals and to provide a perspective on how they should “think about morality and their place in the moral community.”

Two major approaches, leader‐ and group‐centric, are used to provide structure and a framework to support the reader's contemplation of leadership ethics, reflecting the importance of both leaders and followers. Within each of these approaches, chapters focus on potential justifications for rule‐breaking by everyday leaders while acknowledging that these may fail to provide actual justifications. Each potential justification is discussed in conjunction with a relevant moral theory, allowing the reader to make a determination of whether the justification is valid. Within leader‐centric approaches the book begins with contemplation of the “beliefs, desires, ends, and characteristics of leaders” and the theory of moral relativism or its corollary, moral exceptionalism to highlight fundamental beliefs of leaders that their behaviors are justified. This is then contrasted with reason and amoralism in which actions of leadership indicate a disregard for the categorical demands of morality, focusing instead on desired outcomes, within the purview of Kantian ethics. Power and self‐interest advance behavioral considerations into the realm of egoism in which privileges of leadership positions enable rule‐breaking. Elevating the focus from the leader to the broader confines of morality, the notion of being virtuous without adhering to moral rules is examined within the framework of virtue ethics. Switching to group‐centric approaches, the permission and consent of referent powers bestowed on leaders by followers call into play the theory of contractarianism in which moral rules create a contract underlying modern organizations and democracies. This is expanded into a discussion of situations and circumstances affecting important group goals and the role of the theory of moral situationism in leader behavior. Membership and moral particularity posits another possible explanation for the influence of group goals and associated obligations of leaders to break the rules to achieve these goals evoking justification based on the theory of communitarianism. Contemplation of rule‐breaking for the greater good leverages cosmopolitan moral theory in which a leader acts outside the bounds of morality to serve a “higher cause.” The book culminates with a critical assessment of these approaches, affirming the central thesis that “rule breaking is not justified in everyday leadership.” Advancing a Kantian view, readers are urged to re‐think how “everyday leaders ought to act” given accountability, responsibility, morality, and their role within the moral community.

Leadership Ethics: An Introduction is well suited to students and scholars alike. The book is characterized by the author as a “guided introduction to leadership ethics” that applies philosophical ethics and moral psychology in the examination of leaders, their attributes and characteristics and actions in relation to group goals. The narrative provides sufficient grounding for support students who have not yet been exposed to moral philosophy or psychology to enable independent evaluation of positions asserted. The author also provides a select bibliography for students in addition to information on works cited. Scholars will find empirical research of interest, conducted by the author and others, that examines the psychological phenomena referred to as the “better‐than‐average effect” in relation to a leader's beliefs about personal and group goals and the propensity to see themselves as exceptional. This book engages the reader in a critical examination of justifications of leaders who break the rules. It provides a solid theoretical basis for understanding and assessing these actions to allow the reader to answer the question, “Do the distinctive features of leadership justify rule‐breaking behavior?”