Is there room for ethical leadership in today's business environment?

Abstract: I discuss the need for ethical leadership in society, and evidence of the prevalence of unethical behavior, which I argue is related to the pervasiveness of a logic of narrow economic self-interest seeking. I present evidence of countervailing trends that create space for ethical leadership in the business environment, including increases in stakeholder activism, market incentives associated with socially responsible behavior, ethical investment, and efforts to ensure shareholder alignment with a corporation’s ethical stance. I further argue that employees and managers perceive greater meaning in their work, perform better and are more committed to their organizations when their organizations act ethically. Thus, ethical leadership provides benefits for society, firms, managers and employees and there is increasing room for ethical leadership in today’s business environment