Ethical Leadership

Leadership has always been at the heart of management discourse. Still, ethical leadership has gained more prominence following the collapse and scandals that engulfed the corporate world (Enron, WorldCom—Corporate scandals) not too long ago. The performance and culture of an organisation are closely related to the quality, effectiveness, ethical attitude, and approach of its leader. This is because leaders do not only inspire but drive the performance and culture of the organisation. Recent studies have also established that ethical leaders are perceived as very effective leaders as they recognise the uniqueness of their people and thus motivate them to more excellent performance. Many unethical behaviours by leaders have had catastrophic effects on the different stakeholders, while leaders who have built an ethical culture have formed a culture of excellence in their organisations. Ethical leadership is therefore concerned with treating employees and other stakeholders with dignity and building a culture of excellence where all the stakeholders can flourish. This chapter would therefore focus on what constitutes ethical leadership and how organisations can build a culture where employees and all stakeholders can thrive and build a sustainable business.