What is Good Leadership?

The moral triumphs and failures of leaders carry a greater weight and volume than those of nonleaders. In leadership we see morality and immorality magnified, which is why ethics is fundamental to our understanding of leadership. Ethics is about right and wrong and good and evil. It’s about what we should do and what we should be like as human beings, members of a group or society, and in the different roles that we play in life. Leadership entails a particular kind of role and moral relationship between people. By understanding the ethics of leadership we gain a better understanding of what constitutes good leadership

Handmaiden and Queen: What Philosophers Find in the Question: What is a Leader?

The word “philosophy” was born when the Greek philosopher and mathematician Pythagoras of Samos (572-497 BC) was asked if he thought he was a wise man. He answered no, he was merely a lover of wisdom – a phileo sophia. The philosophers who came after him were not as humble. Since philosophy was the study of just about everything, they dubbed it the “queen of the sciences”. Philosophy reigned supreme until Christian times when the theologian Clement of Alexandria (150–215?AD) demoted philosophy from the “queen” of the sciences to the “handmaid of theology”. The Enlightenment philosopher John Locke (1632–1704) also regarded philosophy as a “handmaid” – but to the sciences. He said that the job of philosophy is to clarify assumptions, concepts and definitions, and interpret, analyze and synthesize the results of the sciences (Locke, 1961). Locke clearly describes what it means to do philosophy; however, he did not think that philosophy consisted of a distinctive body of truth. Most philosophers agree that philosophy is a handmaiden, yet there are areas in which it still holds claim to the throne, most notably in logic and (despite the best efforts of theologians) ethics.The other classical divisions of philosophy are metaphysics, which is concerned with the character of reality; epistemology, or the study of the nature, origins, and extent of knowledge; and aesthetics, which is about the assumptions behind our judgments about the arts

Business Leadership and Moral Imagination in the Twenty-First Century

My assignment in this year\u27s series on Moral Values: The Challenge of the Twenty-First Century is to talk about moral values in a free society and the challenge for business leaders in the twenty-first century. My perspective on this topic is as a philosopher and educator. I also speak as a consultant who has developed corporate programs on ethics and leadership, primarily in the financial services industry. The focus of my presentation is on the issues that need to be addressed in order to educate the next generation of leaders

The Working Life: The Promise and Betrayal of Modern Work

Joanne B. Ciulla, a noted scholar in Leadership and Ethics, examines why so many people today have let their jobs take over their lives. Technology was supposed to free us from work, but instead we work longer hours-often tethered to the office at home by cell phones and e-mail. People still look to work for self-fulfillment, community, and identity, but these things may be increasingly difficult to find in today\u27s workplace. Gone is the social contract where employees and employers shared a sense of mutual loyalty, yet many of us still sacrifice personal time for jobs that we could lose at the drop of a stock price. Tracing the evolution of the meaning of work from Aesop to Dilbert, and critically examining the past 100 years of management practices, Ciulla asks questions that we often willfully ignore at our own peril. - When you are on your deathbed, will you wish you had spent more time at the office?- Why do we define ourselves by our jobs rather than by other activities we do outside of work?- What can employers and employees promise each other in today\u27s business environment? Provocative and entertaining, The Working Life challenges us to think about the meaning of work and its impact on our lives.https://scholarship.richmond.edu/bookshelf/1023/thumbnail.jp

Worthy Work and Bowie\u27s Kantian Theory of Meaningful Work

Over the years, Norman E. Bowie has applied Kant’s ethics to several aspects of business ethics, but the one that I find the most compelling is his Kantian theory of meaningful work. He writes about it in his book Business Ethics: A Kantian Perspective (1999) and in an article ‘A Kantian theory of meaningful work’ (1998a). Bowie’s writing in this area demonstrates how Kant, perhaps more than any other philosopher, offers the most stringent and lucid account of what a moral employer/employee relationship should look like. Kantian ethics also provide Bowie with a foundation for explaining his idea of meaningful work. Bowie is optimistic about the ability of corporations to provide meaningful work. For example, in his paper ‘Empowering people as an end for business’ (1998b), he argues that ‘the primary purpose of business is to provide meaningful work for employees and if managers focus on this goal, business will produce quality goods and services for consumers and profits as beneficial by products’ (Bowie 1998b, p.106). I think that this might be true, but achieving it requires managers and businesses to take an extraordinary leap of faith to practice and sustain this goal over time. In Bowie’s review of my book, The Working Life: The Promise and Betrayal of Modern Work (2000), he criticizes me for not defining meaningful work and offering suggestions on what organizations can do to provide meaningful work (Bowie 2002). In this chapter, I will compare and contrast Bowie’s and my perspectives on meaningful work

The Jepson School: Liberal Arts as Leadership Studies

Around twenty years ago, I joined the faculty of the University of Richmond to help design the Jepson School of Leadership Studies.The easiest way to understand Jepson is as a liberal arts school with an explicit focus on the study of leadership. Our students take courses in history, philosophy, psychology, political science, and so on. These courses draw on the methodology and content of a discipline to understand leadership as a phenomenon and a practice. So as a school, we are multidisciplinary and some of our classes are interdisciplinary. By taking a liberal art approach to leadership studies, the Jepson School is not doing anything new, but rather reapplying the original intent of liberal arts education, which was not to learn a craft or useful skill, but to acquire knowledge that is good in itself and to educate citizens to live and make choices in a free society (Jaeger, 1986). Hence, the Jepson School is as much about the liberal arts as it is about leadership studies. In this chapter, I will briefly discuss the place of leadership studies in the liberal arts and then go on to describe the development of the Jepson School and how, from its inception to today, it grapples with the practical and philosophical challenges of being a liberal arts school of leadership studies

Introduction: Leadership ethics in Africa

The idea for this special issue originated at the inaugural conference of the Center for Leadership Ethics in Africa, at the University of Fort Hare. The articles do not cover all of the various countries in Africa, but they touch on some of the common themes and challenges of leadership across the continent. Moreover, this volume brings the voices and perspectives of African scholars into the ongoing conversation of leadership studies

Leadership at the Crossroads

A group of leadership experts explore the challenges and opportunities of leadership in today\u27s complex, demanding, and paradoxical environment-incorporating fresh perspectives from the fields of management, ethics, politics, history, sociology, philosophy, literature, and psychology. What is leadership? Not only has that question been debated since the beginning of human culture and society, but it\u27s a moving target based on the definer, and the epoch. The definition can be thought-provoking and profound: A leader is best when people barely know he exists, not so good when people obey and acclaim him, worse when they despise him, (Lao Tzu, 6th century BC ). Or the profundity may lie shrouded in the prosaic: A leader is one who has followers, (Peter Drucker, 20th century). However you define the concept, today\u27s challenges for leaders of all stripes are monumental, and the need for effective leadership is huge. More than anything, this set travels farther and digs deeper than most leadership books. It takes us from mere explanations of leadership to an understanding of it as part of the human condition. Reading it should be at the top of the to-do list for any leader in any era. In Leadership at the Crossroads, contributors from a wide variety of fields, including management, economics, political science, philosophy, sociology, history, literature, and psychology, explore the many facets of leadership. The set comprises: Volume 1: Leadership and Psychology; Volume 2: Leadership and Politics; Volume 3: Leadership and the Humanities. Collectively, this set showcases traditional and emerging approaches to leadership in both theory and practice and raises new questions brought on by society\u27s new challenges. It also suggests solutions for developing and promoting leadership in the corporate world, politics and diplomacy, religion, education, non-profits, and the arts. Whether identifying qualities that will serve a U.S. president well, or the characteristics of the essential can-do supervisor in today\u27s corporation, Leadership at the Crossroads supplies insights and intelligence that will help leaders make the most of the challenges and opportunities lying before them.https://scholarship.richmond.edu/bookshelf/1017/thumbnail.jp

Integrating leadership with ethics: is good leadership contrary to human nature?

What is it about human nature that makes ethical leadership in any context or culture difficult? This chapter examines leadership in terms of the basic philosophic question concerning human nature. To what extent does free will shape our lives and to what extent are our lives determined by our genes and by fate