Responsible Leadership in a Stakeholder Society - A Relational Perspective
Journal
Journal of Business Ethics
ISSN
0167-4544
ISSN-Digital
1573-0697
Type
journal article
Date Issued
2006-06-01
Author(s)
Maak, Thomas
;
Pless, Nicola
Abstract
We understand responsible leadership as a social-relational and ethical phenomenon, which occurs in social processes of interaction. While the prevailing leadership literature has for the most part focussed on the relationship between leaders and followers in the organization and defined followers as subordinates, we show in this article that leadership takes place in interaction with a multitude of followers as stakeholders inside and outside the corporation. Using an ethical lens, we discuss leadership responsibilities in a stakeholder society, thereby following Bass and Steidelmeier's sug-gestion to discuss "leadership in the context of contemporary stakeholder theory" (1999: 200). Moreover, from a relational and stakeholder perspective we approach the ques-tions: What is responsible leadership? What makes a responsible leader? What qualities are needed? Finally, we propose a so-called "roles model" of responsible leadership, which gives a gestalt to a responsible leader and describes the different roles he or she takes in leading stakeholders and business in society.
Language
English
HSG Classification
not classified
Refereed
Yes
Publisher
Springer
Publisher place
Dordrecht
Volume
66
Number
1
Start page
99
End page
115
Pages
17
Subject(s)
Eprints ID
22506