Literature Review: The Evolution of Ethical Leadership

Abstract

Regardless of whether the number of ethical failures of institutions is effectively rising or growing transparency levels are uncovering more of them, we are in the midst of a ‘leadership crisis’, despite having had an ‘obsession’ with leadership for decades, as Wray-Bliss (2013) states. Leadership’s legitimacy is questioned and trust in corporate governance ‘extremely’ low (Mihelic, Lipicnik, & Tekavcic, 2010). Leaders who act ethically seem to be a logical answer, leading to a growing focus on ‘ethical leadership’ (Northouse, 2013; Wray-Bliss, 2013; Yukl, 2013; Eisenbeiß, 2012; Kacmar, Bachrach, Harris, & Zivnuska, 2011; Mihelic et al., 2010; Brown & Treviño, 2006).