(un)ethical leadership and identity: what did we learn and where do we go from here?
TRANSCRIPT
(Un)Ethical Leadership and Identity: What Did We Learnand Where Do We Go from Here?
Samuel T. Hunter
Published online: 4 April 2012
� Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2012
Abstract The purpose of this article is to highlight and
comment on the key findings emerging from the collective
efforts of the special issue on leadership, ethics, and iden-
tity. Highlights include definitional advancements, pro-
cesses comprising ethical leadership, as well as outcomes
and moderating factors. In addition, I attempt to synthesize
work across authors by identifying common themes as well
as conflicting elements in the article. I conclude with a
discussion on emerging areas in need of future research
investigation in the leadership and ethics arena.
Keywords Leadership � Ethics � Summary � Unethical
Introduction
The aim of this special issue was to solicit manuscripts
centering on leadership, ethics, and identity. The call was
successful on a number of levels, resulting in a collection
of article that range and differ in foci, styles, methods,
samples, and cultural emphasis. The aim of this article,
then, is to highlight the unique contributions of each of
these efforts, touching on what each has to say with regard
to the important topics underlying the special issue. I will
also identify common and conflicting themes emerging
from the whole of these efforts before concluding with a
more critical discussion of where gaps still exist and how
we might move forward to fill them. In direct terms I aim to
highlight, synthesize, and identify areas that warrant future
investigation. I begin, then, with highlights.
Highlights Across Contributions
To provide some level of structure in my attempt to sum-
marize and highlight findings across the diverse set of
articles comprising the special issue, I will begin by noting
the definitional issues touched on in several manuscripts,
move the discussion toward the processes involved in
ethical leadership, comment briefly on moderating influ-
ences of ethical leadership and conclude the summary
portion with a note on the outcomes of ethical leadership. I
start with definitional issues surrounding ethical leadership
and identity.
Defining Ethical and Unethical Leadership
Unal et al. (2012) provide the most direct discussion of the
challenges surrounding defining ethical leadership, although
it should be acknowledged that all manuscripts touch on the
issue to varying degrees. The most cited definition in the
leadership literature appears to have been put forth by
Brown et al. (2005) who define ethical leadership as ‘‘the
demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct through
personal actions and interpersonal relationships, and the
promotion of such conduct to followers through two-way
communication, reinforcement, and decision-making’’ (p.
117). A similar, albeit shorter, definition is offered by Unal
and co-authors who define unethical leadership as ‘‘super-
visor behaviors that violate moral standards’’. Grounded in
both of these definitions (and others) is a key point that
warrants specific note. Namely, that the definition of ethical
leadership is best characterized as a dynamic entity—a
moving target. More directly, the norms regarding what
defines ethical or unethical behavior can and do change.
Thus, what constitutes ethical leadership at one point in time
may vary by both timeframe and entity (i.e., organization or
S. T. Hunter (&)
Pennsylvania State University, 111 Moore Building,
State College, PA 16823, USA
e-mail: [email protected]
123
J Bus Ethics (2012) 107:79–87
DOI 10.1007/s10551-012-1301-y
group) under consideration. Unal and co-authors argue that
this normative grounding is necessary for the area of
research to move forward, and while I agree, I do think the
shifting nature of the definitions we are building this area of
research upon may provide their own share of interesting
challenges in the future. I will comment a bit more on this
issue later in the article.
Also noted extensively by Unal and colleagues is the
issue of construct overlap or, framed more critically, the
potential for construct proliferation. Directly, there is rea-
sonable debate around whether ethical leadership is an
incrementally unique construct or simply represents a form
of ‘‘old wine in new bottles.’’ Interestingly, Brown and
Trevino (2006) touched on similar issues in their recent
review of ethical leadership, yet the authors decided to take
an approach that differs, at least on the surface, subtly from
Unal and colleagues. That is, although Unal and colleagues
discuss unethical leadership, Brown and Trevino (2006)
and others have tended to focus on ethical leadership,
noting the distinctions and overlap among similar con-
structs such as spiritual leadership, authentic leadership,
and transformational leadership. Unal and co-authors, in
contrast, discuss the differences between unethical leader-
ship and constructs such as abusive supervision (Tepper
2000), petty tyranny (Ashforth 1997) and bullying (Hoel
et al. 2001), among others. Both approaches are well
grounded in theory and contribute substantively to the
leadership literature. The two foci, however, are notably
unique and their divergence from one another broaches the
question of whether we should focus on promoting ethical
leadership, identifying and stopping unethical leadership,
or both.
Processes of Ethical Leadership
Defining ethical or unethical leadership is certainly a nec-
essary beginning, yet for a richer understanding of the
construct we must also begin to investigate the processes,
activities, and mechanisms comprising ethical leadership
(Bass and Bass 2009). This is where, as I see it, the special
issue makes its most sizable and substantive contribution to
the literature, with the majority of articles touching on the
unique and varying processes comprising ethical leadership.
Avey et al. (2012), for example, provide an interesting
meditational model of ethical leadership where ethical
behaviors impact two outcomes, employee well-being and
job satisfaction, vis-a-vis unique mediating factors. Spe-
cifically, for the outcome of psychological well-being, the
proposed mediating construct is employee voice, while the
relationship between ethical leadership and job satisfaction
is mediated by feelings of employee ownership. Tested
across more than 800 working adults, there was solid evi-
dence in support of the hypothesized relationships.
Although there are a number of interesting propositions
and findings put forth by Avey and colleagues, I would like
to comment specifically on the differing mediating factors
observed for the two outcomes investigated. As Avey and
colleagues illustrate, ethical leadership exhibits a rather
complex pattern of influences on key organizational out-
comes. More directly, depending on the outcome of inter-
est, ethical leadership may impact that outcome through
varying and diverse mechanisms. Key here, it seems, is to
acknowledge that how ethical leadership impacts organi-
zational criteria may depend largely on the outcome we are
interested in.
In an effort somewhat similar to Avey et al. (2012) and
Den Hartog and Belschak (2012) examined employee
engagement as a mediator between ethical leadership and a
unique form of organizational citizenship behavior (i.e.,
employee initiative) as well as counterproductive work
behaviors. Whereas Avey et al. (2012) present a dual
mediator model of ethical leadership, the article by Den
Hartog and Belschak (2012) offer a moderated mediation
model to illustrate the complexity characterizing ethical
leadership influences. Drawing on surface acting literature,
the authors propose that inauthentic behavior, measured via
Machiavellianism, serves as a moderator in the proposed
mediation model. In essence, the authors suggest that
behaving in an ethical manner is less effective if the leader
is seen as inauthentic. Conversely, leaders who are more
authentic have greater sway as ethical leaders.
Den Hartog and Belschak (2012) test their moderated
mediation model across two studies and find strong support
for their propositions. I encourage the reader to examine
the article for a more in-depth discussion of their hypoth-
eses and theoretical rationale. I will, however, comment on
a finding I see as particularly noteworthy to this broader
discussion. First, as noted in the paragraph above, the
authors proposed and found that behaving ethically influ-
enced employee engagement that, in turn, influenced the
aforementioned outcomes. The process (i.e., meditational)
model is especially interesting in that behaving ethically
may serve as a motivating influence to subordinates. Much
like constructs of charisma or the inspirational motivation
facet of transformational leadership (Bass and Steidlmeier
1999), ethical leaders are likely to be admired and
respected by followers. This, as evidenced by the findings
across both samples, gives them the capacity to inspire
greater levels of engagement in their work. Akin to the
‘‘moral manager’’ label put forth by Trevino et al. (2000),
this perspective is somewhat unique from the more direct
ethical role-modeling approach, where an ethical leader
provides indications as to which behaviors are appropriate
or inappropriate in a given organization. The framework
offered by Den Hartog and Belshack, in contrast, illustrates
the more wide-spread influences ethical leadership might
80 S. T. Hunter
123
have on followers. That is, ethical leaders do more than
show followers what is right or wrong—if they behave
authentically, they are also able to have greater influence
over subordinates because they are operating ethically.
Turning now to the third manuscript to center on the
processes comprising ethical leadership, Thiel et al. (2012)
break from the pattern established by the two manuscripts
discussed above and provide some guidance on the ante-
cedents driving ethical decision-making. That is, whereas
Avey et al. (2012) and Den Hartog and Belschack (2012)
describe the mediating factors shaping how ethical lead-
ership impacts organizational outcomes, Thiel et al. (2012)
outline the processes that shape whether ethical, or
unethical, leadership occurs. Utilizing a sensemaking
perspective as a theoretical framework, Thiel and co-
authors provide a cognitively centered ethical decision-
making model. The focus of the article, moreover, is to
provide a number of trainable strategies that may be uti-
lized by leaders as a means to improve ethical decision-
making.
The sensemaking approach to ethical leadership taken
by the authors is a unique and interesting tact to take in
understanding why leaders do or do not behave ethically.
Differing from the other manuscripts in the special issue,
the sensemaking framework expressly acknowledges the
ill-defined nature of ethical dilemmas faced by leaders.
Moreover, the approach breaks away from rational deci-
sion-making approaches that often apply post hoc ration-
alist explanations for why decisions were made. The
sensemaking framework, instead, concedes that leaders
often apply intuitive judgments when attempting to make
moral decisions. Also somewhat unique to the sensemaking
approach is the proposition that ethical decision-making is
contingent upon the leader’s mental model as well as their
understanding of the situation. More directly, leaders that
do not recognize an ethical dilemma are unlikely to address
the issue appropriately. This acknowledgement is inter-
esting from a process perspective in that it provides prac-
titioners with a reasonable starting point for developing
trainable skill-sets and strategies to improve ethical deci-
sion-making.
Finally, the work of Koning and Waistell (2012)
examine a number of process-oriented constructs—most
notably the issues of identity and time. Utilizing a case-
study approach, the authors examined one Chinese busi-
nessman operating in Indonesia as he makes a transition
from keeping religion and business-decisions wholly sep-
arate in his life, to integrating the two by using religion to
guide business practice. In this transition, the authors
propose that the leader has become more ethically minded,
drawing on religion as a moral code to drive ethical deci-
sion-making in his organization. The article by Koning and
Waistell is noteworthy for a number of reasons, but perhaps
most critical to the discussion here in that it describes in
great detail the aforementioned transition taken by a
business leader. The case-study approach, albeit one that
was integrated with a number of other interviews with
additional businessmen, permits rich discussion and
description, supplementing the more quantitatively driven
articles in the special issue.
Outcomes of Ethical Leadership
Turning now to the outcomes investigated, the immediate
observation is that they vary substantially across manu-
scripts. Thiel et al. (2012) for example, frame ethical
decision-making itself, as the primary outcome of interest
in their article. Contrast this with the study of Avey et al.
(2012) who examined more traditional organizational
constructs such as psychological well-being and job satis-
faction, while Den Hartog and Belshack (2012) examined
employee initiative and counterproductive work behavior.
At a broad level, the efforts of the special issue suggest
that behaving ethically benefits a wide range of organiza-
tional outcomes. That is, the sole outcome of ethical
leadership is not, simply, ethical actions or role-modeling
on the part of a leader and follower. Rather, leaders who
operate in an ethical manner produce more satisfied and
happy employees who are less likely to behave in coun-
terproductive ways. The pattern of findings in these articles
is consistent with the review by Brown and Mitchell (2010)
who note that ethical leadership is related to employee
commitment, willingness to report problems, willingness to
put in extra hours and positive perceptions of work climate.
At more macro levels of analysis, ethical leadership has
also been associated with perceptions of task significance
and follower effort as well as top management team
effectiveness (De Hoogh and Den Hartog 2008). On the
whole, such findings underscore the central theme that
ethical leadership produces a wide range of complex ben-
efits to organizations.
Moderating Factors
Having touched on the definitions of ethical leadership, the
processes comprising it, as well as the outcomes of ethical
leader behavior, I will comment briefly on the moderating
factors shaping the conditions under which ethical leader-
ship will be more or less effective in impacting key orga-
nizational outcomes. The article that addressed this point
most directly was Den Hartog and Belschak (2012) who
examined inauthentic behavior, quantified as Machiavel-
lianism, as a moderator in their proposed model. This
finding was one of the more interesting in the special issue
in that it reveals the subtle nature of behaving ethically. It
(Un)Ethical Leadership and Identity 81
123
is not enough, it seems, to simply engage in displays of
ethical or moral behavior. Instead, a leader must do so in a
way that is perceived as genuine or part of their core
identity. The authors were able to demonstrate that sub-
ordinates can pick up on these subtle differences and that it
impacts how engaged employees are in their work.
Emergent Themes
Stepping back a bit and considering the aggregate of the
special issue, it is apparent that several common themes tie
the contributions together. While engaging in this attempt at
synthesis, however, it became clear that each article takes a
somewhat unique approach to the study and conceptuali-
zation of ethical and unethical leadership. These unique
approaches were sometimes complementary, adding and
extending to the other articles in the special issue. Other
times, the articles seemingly conflicted with one another on
a number of conceptual levels. I will begin, then, by con-
sidering three common themes across articles before
acknowledging the conflicts and diverging viewpoints.
Common Themes
Complexity
The first emergent theme is one of complexity. From defi-
nitional issues raised by Unal et al. (2012) to the role of
religion in ethical leadership (Koning and Waistell 2012) it
is clear that ethical and unethical leadership are complex
phenomena. The point is underscored by Den Hartog and
Belschak (2012) and Avey et al. (2012) who took a seem-
ingly similar approach to understanding ethical leadership
by developing and testing process (i.e., meditational) models
within applied settings. Despite the similar approaches,
unique mediators and outcomes were examined with strong
empirical support being observed for models in each study,
respectively. Finally, Thiel et al. (2012) note the complex
cognitive and contextual factors driving ethical decision-
making. On the whole, then, each article acknowledges in
its own unique way that what is ethical leadership and how
it impacts organizational outcomes is hardly a simple
phenomenon.
Importance of Ethical Leadership
Despite high levels of complexity, each article in the special
issue highlighted the fundamental importance of the
research area. Den Hartog and Belschack (2012), for
example, demonstrated that ethical leadership can result in
greater employee initiative as well as reduced counterpro-
ductive work behaviors. In a distinctly different fashion
Koning and Waistell (2012) demonstrated just how strongly
a focus on religion and morality can impact decision-
making in business settings. Underlying all of the articles is
the argument that leaders who operate unethically can sig-
nificantly and substantively harm their organizations. More
positively framed, those leaders who operate ethically have
the potential to shape attitudes and behaviors in beneficial
ways. The study of ethical leadership, it seems, is a valuable
endeavor worthy of growing research attention.
Criticality of Process
The final emergent theme across articles is the importance
of process in understanding ethical leadership. I was
impressed with the commitment to rich conceptual devel-
opment in each article aimed at not only identifying
important outcomes of ethical leadership, but also the fac-
tors driving the occurrence of it (e.g., Thiel et al. 2012) as
well as the activities comprising it. Based on the findings of
this special issue, ethical leadership impacts organizational
outcomes by making employees more engaged, permitting
them greater expression of voice, and increasing psycho-
logical ownership (Avey et al. 2012; Den Hartog and
Belschack 2012). Choices on ethical decisions, moreover,
seem to be driven by an understanding of the context filtered
through a leader’s mental model (Thiel et al. 2012). Finally,
the shift from unethical to ethical leader can result from a
key relationship or event occurring in their lives (Koning
and Waistell 2012). The clearly emergent theme is that we
have moved beyond simply suggesting ethical leadership is
a positive phenomenon for organizations. As the articles
demonstrate quite well, we have begun to understand how
and why this occurs.
Conflicting Themes
In addition to the more common themes emerging from the
collection of articles, there are a number of noteworthy
conflicts as well. I will discuss three of these apparent
conflicts: 1) ethical versus unethical leadership, 2) stable
versus dynamic definitions, and 3) rational versus intuitive
decision-making.
Ethical Versus Unethical Leadership
Mentioned briefly earlier in the article, Unal et al. (2012)
chose to focus on the normative foundations of unethical
leadership. This framing stands in contrast to the focus on
ethical leadership more commonly found in the literature
(e.g., Brown and Trevino 2006; Trevino et al. 2000; Sha-
ubroeck et al. in press). Interestingly, the articles in this
special issue tended to emphasize ethical rather than
unethical leadership—with the exception, of course, of the
82 S. T. Hunter
123
study by Unal and co-authors. There is some evidence that
the antecedents of ethical leadership are not merely the
absence or polar opposites of those that drive unethical
leadership. Instead, there may be a unique set of antecedents
for each framing. For example, Tepper et al. (2006) utilized
social exchange theory to explain why leaders’ increased
feelings of powerlessness led to more aggressive behavior
directed at subordinates. There is no current research evi-
dence, however, to suggest that higher levels of power-
lessness would result in greater ethical leadership.
Similarly, although there has been relatively little work
done on the antecedents of ethical leadership (see Brown
and Mitchell 2010 for a discussion) there is some indication,
for example, that personality traits such as agreeableness
and conscientiousness are predictive of ethical behavior
(Walumba and Shaubroeck 2009). It seems that other per-
sonality traits, in contrast, would be more predictive of
unethical leadership. In one of the few cases examining both
frameworks simultaneously, Detert et al. (2007) found that
abusive supervision—but not ethical leadership—was
related to counterproductive work behavior.
The question that emerges, then, is which framing
warrants the collective focus of leadership scholars? That
is, if one chooses to study ethicality and leadership, which
characterization should be chosen as a theoretical frame-
work? The little evidence that exists suggests that both are
important, given their unique relationships with organiza-
tional outcomes. Although admittedly speculative, given
the present state of the literature I presently see greater
value in a focus on unethical behavior given the potential
for harmful outcomes that may occur as a result. There is
an old Russian proverb that says a spoonful of tar can ruin a
barrel of honey, but that a spoonful of honey has little
impact on a barrel of tar. Leaning on such an analogy, it
would seem that the potential for harm might outweigh the
potential for good emerging from ethical leadership. Thus,
while I see value in a more positivist-framed approach to
ethical leadership, I see perhaps greater research utility in
the darker framing of unethical leadership.
Stable Versus Dynamic Definition
In the case-study analysis of the Chinese businessman
conducted by Koning and Waistell (2012) the authors
suggested that an emergent focus on religion was respon-
sible for a change in how the leader operated his business.
That is, religion served as a newfound moral compass. I
would like to extend this argument beyond what the authors
explicitly noted—alleviating them from any speculation I
personally offer—and suggest that a reliance on religion for
framing ethical leadership stands in contrast to the more
normative (i.e., dynamic) approach to ethical leadership.
Although religious and spiritual interpretation will vary,
there would appear to be some level of consistency or
standard by which moral behavior is measured. The primary
texts (e.g., Christian Bible, Quran) have remained largely
the same—or at least similar—for thousands of years. Thus,
to be direct, ethicality bound by religion would appear more
stable than a strictly normative definition of ethical lead-
ership such as those offered by Unal and co-authors as well
as Brown and Mitchell (2010). A normative approach
concedes that morality and ethicality are dictated by what
the collective currently believes to be appropriate. Such a
framing is, by definition, shifting in nature.
The conflict alluded to then, lies is whether both framings
can co-exist or whether they are fundamentally opposed and
a choice must be made about which is most appropriate as a
basis for scholarly investigation. Perhaps more directly, we
might ask ourselves if there is room for hard-and-fast rules of
morality within a more normative framework? Such a debate
has been made by a number of scholars (see Ciulla 1995) and
can also be illustrated by such jarring yet revealing questions
as: Is murder ever acceptable? To some, this question will
elicit normative or shifting responses (e.g., ‘‘in some cir-
cumstances, yes’’). In others the answer will quite readily be
more stable responses (e.g., ‘‘killing is never acceptable’’). It
is beyond the scope of the discussion here to resolve such a
philosophically oriented debate but I will concede that I see
the greatest utility in the normative approach taken by the
vast majority of ethical leadership scholars and acknowl-
edge that even within religious contexts. This suggestion is
based on the evidence that norms do shift (Ricoeur 1974)—
perhaps less so and with less variability in some contexts
(e.g., religion, spirituality). Moreover Koning and Waistell
(2012) illustrate that shifting from one religion to the next
represents a form of religious reinterpretation. Thus, the
bulk of research evidence suggests that it will be beneficial
for leaders to have a strong moral compass, but ‘‘true north’’
will shift from time to time.
Rational Versus Intuitive Ethical Decision-Making
The third and final conflict emerging across the collection
of articles is the focus on unconscious processes versus
rational decision-making. The cognitive perspective taken
by Thiel and colleagues suggest that ethical decision-
making is not a wholly rational process (Sonenshein 2007).
Rather, intuition and non-conscious processes impact
choices made during ethical dilemmas. Such a framework
stands, at least on the surface, in contrast to more norma-
tive and rational approaches to ethical leadership. Den
Hartog and Belschack (2012), for example, discuss role-
modeling behavior as a critical aspect of ethical leadership.
Leaders are theorized to express their beliefs and values to
subordinates, serving as models for appropriate behavior.
Similar theoretical frameworks have been used by scholars
(Un)Ethical Leadership and Identity 83
123
such as Shaubroeck et al. (in press), who directly investi-
gated the impact of leader role-modeling across multiple
levels of analysis. Implicit in this approach is that leaders
are aware of their beliefs and values and choose to express
them when the situation requires it. That is, leaders ratio-
nally choose to behave ethically as a tool of leadership.
Careful inspection of these two approaches to under-
standing ethical leader outcomes reveals that this conflict
may be more superficial than might appear upon initial
inspection. The sensemaking approach taken by Thiel and
colleagues is useful in understanding how value and ethical
decisions are made. That is, a cognitive approach provides
guidance as to whether a leader is aware of an ethical
dilemma and whether it violates their internal value sys-
tem. By understanding when, and under what conditions,
leaders are able to make rational choices we can develop
more accurate models for ethical and unethical leadership.
Put another way, a sensemaking approach serves as a
useful antecedent to the more rational approaches taken by
Den Hartog and Belschack (2012), Avey et al. (2012) and
others. Thus, it would seem that an integration of intuitive
and rational perspective would provide a more complete
picture of why ethical decisions are made and the impact
they have on subordinates.
Future Areas in Need of Investigation
Having discussed the unique contributions, common
themes and conflicting perspectives, I turn now to a dis-
cussion of where future research appears warranted. It
should be noted that the list is not, by necessity, all-
inclusive and instead represents a truncated discussion of
key areas of future research.
Time
Longitudinal investigation is an often-cited area in need of
greater investigation (Bluedorn and Jaussi 2008) and such a
recommendation rings particularly true with regard to
ethical and unethical leadership (Brown and Mitchell
2010). For example, Mitchell and Palmer (2010) propose
that ethical behavior, sustained over time, can increase a
leader’s confidence to engage in ethical behavior in the
future. Similarly, although there is some evidence to sug-
gest that individual differences are related to ethical lead-
ership (e.g., Walumba and Shaubroeck 2009) investigation
of the early life developmental experiences shaping a lea-
der’s mental models would appear warranted (Ligon et al.
2008). On the whole, more needs to be learned about how
long the impact of ethical and unethical behavior lasts as
well as the nature of the development process shaping
ethical leader emergence.
Identity
The collective articles in the special issue excelled in a
number of ways, particularly with regard to describing the
complex processes comprising ethical and unethical lead-
ership. With the exception of Koning and Waistell (2012)
the issue of leader identity was largely omitted by the
collective authors. This is not to suggest that the issue of
identity was not discussed in any fashion by the collective
authors, yet identity was a minimal focus of the articles.
Let me be clear that this is not a criticism levied against the
scholars but rather an observation that the role of identity in
shaping ethical decision-making is an area in need of fur-
ther investigation.
Recovery from Ethical Violations
One of the more interesting areas emerging in the leader
error and ethical violation literature is recovery from such
instances (e.g., Kim et al. 2004, 2006). We must bear in
mind that the impact of ethical violations does not end at
their occurrence—there are subsequent and rippling
repercussions for such violations. More to the point, there
is growing evidence to suggest that some leaders are able to
recover from violations while others fall further from grace
(Finkelstein 2003).
Scholars have begun to outline the various approaches
leaders can take to attempt to recovery from ethical viola-
tions. Kim et al. (2004), for example, found some support
for apologies from leaders but only under specific condi-
tions of evidence for their violations. Tsai et al. (2010) also
found evidence in support of apology when errors were
integrity based. There is some conflicting evidence, how-
ever, suggesting that apologies may not always be effective
and may actually hamper perceptions of leader competence
(Cushenbery 2010). On the whole, this collection of studies,
and others like it (e.g., Tyler et al. 2006; Weiner et al. 1987)
suggest that there is room for greater understanding how
and why leaders are able to recover from ethical violations
is an increasingly critical and fruitful area of research.
Subordinate Individual Differences and Experience
It seems reasonable to suggest that how subordinates view
a leader’s ethical or unethical behavior may depend on a
number of individual differences. For example, subordi-
nates with strict moral standards may be highly upset by
ethical violations on the part of leaders while those with
more flexible ethical outlooks might view violations more
leniently. Similarly, it is important to bear in mind the
relationship history between leader and follower when
considering how an employee may react to a leader vio-
lation of ethical standards. More leeway may be given, for
84 S. T. Hunter
123
example, to a leader who has a positive, long-term rela-
tionship with a follower.
In addition, it is important to acknowledge that leader-
ship is not merely a top-down phenomenon. As work on
leader member exchange has demonstrated (e.g., Danse-
reau et al. 1975; Graen and Uhl-Bien 1995; Gerstner and
Day 1997), subordinates also have the potential to influ-
ence leaders just as leaders have the capacity to shape
subordinate behavior and cognition. Thus, subordinates
who behave in an ethical manner may subtly or not so
subtly shape a leader’s predilection to ethical violation.
Moreover, subordinates who implicitly comply with ethical
violations on the part of the leader may indicate, on some
level, that they support the leader resulting in a greater
propensity for ethical violation (Padilla et al. 2007). On the
whole, the above suggests that research effort would be
well spent on investigating the role of the subordinate in
ethical and unethical leadership.
Leader Characteristics
Hunter et al. (2011) provided a multilevel review of the
antecedents driving poor leader decision-making. At the
individual level, we proposed that drivers of leader errors
included a number of individual differences. For example,
leaders with a high need for closure were more likely to
rush decision-making and fail to adequately assess all
viable options. High degrees of efficacy, moreover, may
result in overconfidence on the part of the leader and result
in poor decisions. Along similar lines, Walumba and
Shaubroeck (2009) found that agreeableness and consci-
entiousness were related to ethical decisions. Although
other examples exist, the above should suffice to indicate
that choices on behaving ethically may differ depending on
a collection of leader characteristics. Work here is limited,
however, particularly with regard to specific investigation
of ethical decision-making (Brown and Mitchell 2010) and
more effort is needed.
Normative Shifts
A common thread throughout the article has been the dynamic
nature of what constitutes ethical behavior (see Unal et al.
2012). As argued, the normative grounding appears warranted
and, indeed, necessary to understand both the antecedents and
mechanisms of ethical and unethical leader behavior. What
remains largely unstudied, however, is what shapes these
normative shifts. That is, if a leader behavior is viewed as
unethical at one point in time and ethical at another—what
causes this shift? Brown and Mitchell (2010) discuss the
universality of ethicality, noting the cultural differences in
how we view leadership and lament the lack of research on
how cultures shape ethical views.
Ethicality of Peer Leaders
An additional area of leadership that has been largely
ignored is the impact of other leaders (i.e., peer leaders) on
leader and subordinate behavior (Hunter et al. 2007). For
example, it is unclear how subordinates would respond to
an ethical violation by one leader if other leaders were also
behaving ethically. Conversely, responses to ethical vio-
lations may differ if other organizational leaders operate in
an ethically sound manner. Moreover, in addition to sub-
ordinate reactions, it is unknown how an ethically sound
leader might be influenced by unethical leader peers (or
vice versa). As organizations continue to flatten and peers
become more common in leadership circles, such influ-
ences would appear an important area of investigation.
Other Stakeholders (Customers, Clients, Suppliers)
Similar to the influence by peer leaders, more work is
needed in investigating how stakeholders shape ethical
behavior (Brown and Mitchell 2010). The outsourcing of
labor by many organizations suggests that relationships
with suppliers and partners are growing in complexity,
need, and degree of interconnectedness. Toleration for
ethical violations by leaders in a partner organization, for
example, may be higher if business relationships are tightly
bound. Suppliers and partners, however, are not the only
external influence in need of greater investigation. Cus-
tomers and clients can have a significant influence on the
acceptability and tolerance for ethical behavior as well.
Conclusion
As I noted in the introduction, the special issue was suc-
cessful on a number of levels. The articles were impressive
in the range of topics discussed and the approaches taken.
On the whole, the articles contribute to the literature on
ethical and unethical leadership in substantive and im-
pactful ways. In particular, the articles addressed key issues
of definition (Unal et al. 2012) as well as the processes
comprising how ethical behavior impact important orga-
nizational outcomes (Den Hartog and Belschack 2012;
Avey et al. 2012). Thiel and co-authors provided unique
insight into the cognitive factors driving ethical decision-
making, offering a number of trainable strategies that aid in
developing ethical leaders. Finally, Koning and Waistell
(2012) provide an interesting perspective on how business
leaders may shift their identities in ethicality. The collec-
tion of articles underscores the complexity surrounding
ethical and unethical leadership, as well as the importance
of understanding the phenomena. I concluded the discus-
sion by touching on a number of areas that warrant future
(Un)Ethical Leadership and Identity 85
123
investigation, including issues of time, leader characteris-
tics, and drivers of normative shifts in perceptions of eth-
ical behavior. I hope that the effort was worthwhile and
motivates others to continue the important work in this
critical research arena.
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