A “critical leadership ethics” approach to the Ethical Leadership construct

Abstract

This paper uses moral philosophy to critique leadership theory and the phenomenon of leadership itself. It is an example of what I call “critical leadership ethics,” which engages the existing literature to locate, catalog, and—ultimately—respond to the primary ethical problems of this applied context. I illustrate the approach by analyzing the Ethical Leadership construct. One positive aspect of this construct is that it helps us identify the ethically troubling features of leadership. But the main objective of the paper is ultimately a negative one. My primary thesis is that the Ethical Leadership construct fails to capture the true depth of the critique of leadership. In the final section of the paper, I draw on particular moral theories to develop the beginnings of a response to these problems. I also suggest how critical leadership ethics might move forward as a research agenda.

Keywords

Leadership ethics philosophy moral theory Brown and Treviño Kant constraints on leaders influence

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