The Road to More Ethical and Virtuous Thinking

It is important to understand and acknowledge the problem and road to achieving more ethical thinking and behaviors. To know how organizations and individuals can embody ethical and virtuous thinking, we must identify what has created unethical behaviors and cultures. Getting to the core of the issues, a number of organizations and industries are highlighted exemplifying where questionable and unethical behavior occurred. To understand this behavior, this chapter discusses toxic or rogue behaviors, how they evolved, and the impact they have on organizations. By briefly addressing four main values-based leadership approaches (authentic, transformational, servant, and spiritual), the value of values-based leadership is explained. Although theoretical concepts are discussed here, it is focal in understanding leadership approaches to be able to provide a solution to enactment and embodiment of virtue.