Moral Leadership: The Theory and Practice of Power, Judgment and Policy

by Warren Bennis (Foreword), Deborah L. Rhode (Editor)

Moral Leadership brings together in one comprehensive volume essays from leading scholars in law, leadership, psychology, political science, and ethics to provide practical, theoretical policy guidance. The authors explore key questions about moral leadership such as: Throughout the book, the contributors identify what people know, and only think they know, about the role of ethics in key decision-making positions. The essays focus on issues such as the definition and importance of moral leadership and the factors that influence its exercise, along with practical strategies for promoting ethical behavior. Moral Leadership addresses the dynamics of moral leadership, with particular emphasis on major obstacles that stand in its way: impaired judgment, self-interest, and power. Finally, the book explores moral leadership in a variety of contexts?business and the professions, nonprofit organizations, and the international arena.

Genres: Leadership

400 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 2006

About the author

Warren Gamaliel Bennis is an American scholar, organizational consultant and author, widely regarded as a pioneer of the contemporary field of Leadership Studies. Bennis is University Professor and Distinguished Professor of Business Administration and Founding Chairman of The Leadership Institute at the University of Southern California.

“His work at MIT in the 1960s on group behavior foreshadowed -- and helped bring about -- today's headlong plunge into less hierarchical, more democratic and adaptive institutions, private and public,” management expert Tom Peters wrote in 1993 in the foreword to Bennis’ An Invented Life: Reflections on Leadership and Change.

Management expert James O’Toole, in a 2005 issue of Compass, published by Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government, claimed that Bennis developed “an interest in a then-nonexistent field that he would ultimately make his own -- leadership -- with the publication of his ‘Revisionist Theory of Leadership’ in Harvard Business Review in 1961.” O’Toole observed that Bennis challenged the prevailing wisdom by showing that humanistic, democratic-style leaders better suited to dealing with the complexity and change that characterize the leadership environment.

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

ILL from the library
philosophy talk

Looking in Worldcat would lead one to believe that there are no other books on moral leadership. Looking on Amazon yields a few titles. I will look at Meeting the Ethical Challenges of Leadership: Casting Light or ShadowMeeting the Ethical Challenges of Leadership: Casting Light or Shadow

TOC from Worldcat:
Where is the leadership in moral leadership? / D.L. Rhode
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Ethical judgment: Making sense of moral meltdowns / D. Luban;
Three practical challenges of moral leadership / J. Margolis, A. Molinsky;
Ethical judgment and moral leadership, three barriers / D. Messick; Morals for public officials / R. Hardin
--
Psychology of power: Psychology of power, to the person? to the situation? to the system? / P.G. Zimbardo;
Taming power / D.G. Winter;
Power and moral leadership / D. Keltner, C.A. Langner, M.L. Allison
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Self-sacrifice and self-interest: Orchestrating prosocial motives / C.D. Batson;
Self-sacrifice and self-interest, do ethical values shape behavior in organizational settings? / T.R. Tyler
--
serving the public through the public sector, accountability of nonprofit organizations: Strategic philanthropy and its malcontents / P. Brest; Ethics and philanthropy / B. Sievers
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Moral leadership, perspectives and implications: Exercising moral courage, a developmental agenda / L.A. Hill --
Perspectives on global moral leadership / K.O. Hanson.

[Eli · Rating 2 out of 5]

Wasn't a fan. It seemed more like a loose collection of essays than actual moral theory. The only reason I didn't give it 1 star is because there were some interesting examples and points made throughout, but it just misses shy of that 3rd star due to the writing being too fanciful for my taste. In my opinion, professional moral theory should be just that - professional.