Leadership Ethics

Are leaders morally special? Is there something ethically distinctive about the relationship between leaders and followers? Should leaders do whatever it takes to achieve group goals? Leadership Ethics uses moral theory as well as empirical research in psychology to evaluate the reasons everyday leaders give to justify breaking the rules. Written for academics practitioners and students without a background in philosophy it introduces readers to the moral theories that are relevant to leadership ethics: relativism amoralism egoism virtue ethics social contract theory situation ethics communitarianism and cosmopolitan theories such as utilitarianism and transformational leadership. Unlike many introductory texts the book does more than simply acquaint readers with different approaches to leadership ethics. It defends the Kantian view that everyday leaders are not justified in breaking the moral rules.