The document discusses responsible leadership, emphasizing its components such as accountability, dependability, empowerment, and virtuousness. It explains responsible leadership as the art of fostering social and moral relationships among leaders and stakeholders, grounded in justice, recognition, care, and accountability. Three core assumptions of virtuous leadership are presented, highlighting the inherent value of virtuousness in promoting positive behaviors and outcomes for both individuals and organizations.

1. Responsible Leadership as
Virtuous Leadership
Kim Cameron
Journal of Business Ethics
September 2011

2. What is
“responsible leadership”?

3. Components of Responsible Leadership
 responsibility

4. Accountability
a responsible leader is accountable for their performance

5. Dependability
a responsible leader is dependable in achieving their
promised performance

6. Components of Responsible Leadership
ability and resources to
achieve an objective
“response-able”

7. Freedom of Action
a responsible leader is able to act freely

8. Empowerment
a responsible leader is empowered to perform

9. Components of Responsible Leadership
 play a supportive role
 maintain a strong character

10. Role: Stakeholder Theory
a responsible leader manages many stakeholders

11. “Responsible leadership can be understood as
the art of building and sustaining social and
moral relationships between business leaders
and different stakeholders (followers), based
on a sense of justice, a sense of recognition, a
sense of care, and a sense of accountability for
a wide range of economic, ecological, social,
political, and human responsibilities.”

12. Components of Responsible Leadership
 behaving in an appropriate manner
 rarely referred to as a component
of responsible leadership or the
business world in general

13. Virtuousness
a responsible leader focuses on doing what is right or good

14. Virtuousness ≠ Ethics
ethics is essentially the avoidance of negative consequences, not
necessarily the pursuit of good

15. Virtuousness = Ultimate Goodness
virtuousness is the embodiment of goodness in character and behavior
for the sole purpose of doing good

16. 3 Core Assumptions of
Virtuous (Responsible) Leadership
eudaemonic assumption
inherent value assumption
amplification assumption

17. Eudaemonic Assumption
virtuousness is inborn; an evolutionary component of the human condition that
promotes healthy social engagement and welfare to support the continuance of
the species

18. Inherent Value Assumption
virtuousness is not a tool to acquire some specific outcome, but rather the
embodiment of selflessness purely for the good of civilization

19. Amplification Assumption
virtuousness is present in and valuable to all people; therefore, it is highly
influential in that virtuous acts inspire others to act in spirit and creates a chain of
“good” actions

20. Virtuous Leader = A Fixed Point
the inherent ability and desire to do good is unchanging for all agents and
can guide decision making toward moral and stable goals in difficult times

21. Virtuousness = Healthy Consequences
For Individuals
honesty
giving behavior
love
forgiveness
hope
transcendent meaning
gratitude
caring
empathy
commitment
satisfaction
motivation
positive emotions
effort
physical health
psychological health

22. Virtuousness = Healthy Consequences
For Organizations
compassion
integrity
forgiveness
trust
optimism
kindness
courage
relationship healing
increased profitability
increased productivity
increased quality
increased customer retention
decreased employee turnover
increased resilience
collaboration

23. Responsible Leadership…
 responsibility
 accountability
 dependability
 authority
 empowerment
 virtuousness  humanity’s greatest attributes
- addresses: what is the most responsible approach to leadership?
- often overlooked as a key component of responsible leadership