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Leader Authenticity and Ethics: A Heideggerian Perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 November 2023

Florence Villesèche Open the ORCID record for Florence Villesèche [Opens in a new window] ,
Anders Klitmøller Open the ORCID record for Anders Klitmøller [Opens in a new window]  and
Cathrine Bjørnholt Michaelsen Open the ORCID record for Cathrine Bjørnholt Michaelsen [Opens in a new window]
Florence Villesèche
Affiliation:
Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
Anders Klitmøller
Affiliation:
Royal Danish Defence College, Denmark
Cathrine Bjørnholt Michaelsen
Affiliation:
Copenhagen Business School, Denmark
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Abstract

In the shadow of various business scandals and societal crises, scholars and practitioners have developed a growing interest in authentic leadership. This approach to leadership assumes that leaders may access and leverage their “true selves” and “core values” and that the combination of these two elements forms the basis from which they act resolutely, lead ethically, and benefit others. Drawing on Heidegger’s work, we argue that a concern for authenticity can indeed instigate a leadership ethic, albeit one that acknowledges the unfounded openness of existence and its inherent relationality. On this basis, we propose an ethics-as-practice approach in which leaders respond to the situation at hand by being “attuned to attunement,” which cultivates an openness to otherness and a responsibility to others.

Keywords

leadership ethicsauthenticityHeideggerphilosophynonfoundational ethicsresoluteness

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Type
Article
Information
Business Ethics Quarterly , Volume 34 , Issue 4 , October 2024 , pp. 662 - 681
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the Society for Business Ethics

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