Ethical Leadership: Moral Decision-making under Pressure

Aidan McQuade

Published by De Gruyter 2022

Ethical Leadership

Moral Decision-making under Pressure

Aidan McQuade

Volume 2 in the series De Gruyter Transformative Thinking and Practice of Leadership and Its Development

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110745849

Overview
Contents

About this book

Ethical leadership does not simply emerge from a code of conduct, a good school, or a host of good intentions. It is an individual choice, or rather a series of choices that emerges from the complex interaction of personal values with social imperatives. This book explores how and why some people become ethical leaders in morally challenging and complex social environments.

In Ethical Leadership, Aidan McQuade provides insight into the concept of human agency – the individual’s choice of a course of action in response to the options posed by that individual’s engagement with the social world. He puts forth a new model of human agency – the "cruciform of agency" – which recognises that the potential range of individual action emerges from the nature of the resonance that social options strike with personal thoughts. Every action adds to the individual’s personal biography in ways that influence subsequent choices by confirming or changing personal values and hopes, hence influencing the way the individual subsequently thinks about the world.

In explaining the potential and limits of human agency for ethical leadership, the book establishes a basis for executives, policy makers and academics to conceptualise and develop more robust and realistic approaches for the mitigation of some of the most pressing moral issues facing humanity today. These include the inter-related challenges of modern slavery and global warming, which pose such critical threats to the Earth itself.

In this book McQuade not only sets an agenda for action but empowers individual leaders to find the moral courage to better advance human rights and preserve the environment even when such action requires unpopular choices.

Explores classical philosophical questions of freedom, determinism and moral responsibility by using a social science empirical research methodology
Provides practical insights into the challenges of ethical leadership for contemporary professionals

Author information

Dr Aidan McQuade is an independent consultant on human rights and humanitarian response. He was CEO of Anti-Slavery International from 2006 to 2017, and prior to that worked extensively in development and humanitarian operations for 13 years, including 5 years leading emergency responses to the brutal civil war in Angola.

He is an experienced researcher on business and human rights, with a PhD on the subject of ethical choice-making in professional practice. He is also an acknowledged expert on slavery and forced labour, with an honorary OBE for his work on elimination of modern slavery. His work has included extensive and sustained engagement with international businesses, advising them on strategies to eliminate forced and child labour in supply chains and operations. He has also undertaken ground-breaking work that has exposed caste and gender aspects of modern slavery, and, particularly in Myanmar and Bangladesh, on slavery as a development and humanitarian issue.

He is the author of a novel, The Undiscovered Country, described by Claire Hanna, MP for South Belfast, as, "A cracker read about morality and ethics in a time of conflict . . . A really accessible way of getting into complex stuff on nation-building and justice."

Reviews

This book provides a rare glimpse in to the theory and reality of ethical leadership. Not only does it offer readers a clear outline of current thinking, it goes further and explores the implications for leaders in practice, drawing on a broad range of examples and providing a ‘code of conduct’ for those faced with ethical challenges. It should be read by all who have an interest in and a concern for, the role of leaders and leadership in our complex and conflicted world.

Dr Joanne Murphy, Queen’s University, Belfast, UK

There is an appealing authenticity to McQuade's writing that distinguishes it from other perspectives found across the ethical leadership terrain.　 A　number of very persuasive and relatable arguments are presented in this book that are bound to resonate with individuals who find themselves facing ethical questions not as the exception but on a daily basis as part of their organizational lives. A thoroughly engaging and thought-provoking read.

Dr Peter Keenan, Adam Smith Business School, University of Glasgow, UK

I believe the author has found the right balance between practical examples and theory. The powerful stories of ethical decision making included in the book could help leaders facing complex challenges.

Dr Irene Garnelo-Gomez, Henley Business School, UK

Topics

Frontmatter Publicly Available Download PDF	I
Acknowledgements Publicly Available Download PDF	IX
Foreword Publicly Available Download PDF	XI
Contents Publicly Available Download PDF	XIII
Chapter 1 Introduction Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	1
Chapter 2 The intellectual terrain of ethical leadership Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	9
Chapter 3 Philosophers: What do they know? Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	22
Chapter 4 The Cruciform of Agency Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	32
Chapter 5 Exploring some narratives of moral choice Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	45
Chapter 6 Just what the doctor ordered Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	64
Chapter 7 Becoming an ethical leader Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	80
Chapter 8 Towards a movement for ethical leadership Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	95
Chapter 9 Towards an agenda for action Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	102
Chapter 10 Final reflections Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	129
References Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	137
Further reading Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	147
About the author Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	149
About the series editor Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	151
Index Requires Authentication Unlicensed Licensed Download PDF	153

(Deutsch)

Language: English
Publisher: De Gruyter
Audience: Students and scholars of leadership, business ethics and moral philosophy, as well as practitioners (leaders and managers).
Pages
- Front matter: 13
- Main content: 159
Illustrations
- Coloured Illustrations: 17
Keywords: Ethical Leadership; Agency; Moral Responsibility; Professional Practice; Empirical Research

eBook

Published: June 6, 2022
ISBN: 9783110745849

Paperback

Published: June 6, 2022
ISBN: 9783110745740