Prosocial Leadership: Understanding

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within Leaders and their Organizational
Settings 1st Edition Timothy Ewest
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UNDERSTANDING THE DEVELOPMENT OF
PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOR WITHIN LEADERS AND
THEIR ORGANIZATIONAL SETTINGS

PROSOCIAL
LEADERSHIP
TIMOTHY EWEST
Prosocial Leadership
 Timothy Ewest

Prosocial Leadership
Understanding the Development
of Prosocial Behavior within Leaders and their
Organizational Settings
Timothy Ewest
Houston Baptist University
Houston, USA

ISBN 978-1-137-57741-2 ISBN 978-1-137-57808-2 (eBook)

DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-57808-2

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017946737

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 On September 26th, 2014 thousands of protestors flooded the streets of Hong
Kong. Young, old, rich and poor, people from every station of life joined
together in protest. They collectivity demanded the right of free universal
suffrage, the freedom to determine their own future. The Umbrella Movement,
or Yellow Umbrella Movement, involved thousands of courageous individuals
who had full knowledge that there would be no change, no reward, and they
protested in fear of their own lives. This book is dedicated to prosocial leaders
like these individuals who act on behalf of others, to bring about a common
good, doing so with no certainty of reward and in fear of punishment. It is
hoped that this book can help bolster your ranks.
 FOREWORD

A few years ago my family and I went on our yearly vacation to the
Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness in Northern Minnesota. As I
was accustomed to doing, I brought along a history book. On this trip I
brought along Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World, written
by Mark Kurlansky (2011). The book was a historical biography about cod,
a species of fish found in both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans (Gadus
morhua and Gadus macrocephalus). As depicted in the book, cod was a
motivating or sustaining force behind many Viking, European and Basque
expeditionary voyages. Kurlansky also argued that cod was the motivation
behind numerous economic, political, cultural and military decisions
throughout many eras of world history.
During a few rainy days, the book provided a pleasant distraction that
carried my mind far away from the work and list of responsibilities that
normally occupied my day-to-day rhythms. However, driving back home, I
realized that the book might metaphorically be a representation of my own
motivations in my research on ethics, prosocial behavior and leadership. For
years and years, I have listened to the experts and read everything I could
get my hands on concerning leadership, specifically ethical leadership. Yet,
each time I heard a leadership theory with accompanying ethical behavioral
expectations that described individual leaders, I would always think, “Some-
thing must be behind these leaders, motivating them as individuals, devel-
oping and directing their leadership behavior.” I would ask what was their
“why,” and “how” did they develop into leaders of character?

vii
viii FOREWORD

Yet, most of the answers I would hear in ethical leadership theories were
not concerned with the “why” (why do leaders behave ethically) or the
“how” (how do leaders develop ethically), but with the “what” (what is
ethical leadership and what is the effect of ethical leadership), and/or the
“when” (when is it needed?). In my own pursuit of answering the “why”
and “how” questions, I now believe one of the best ways to understand the
motivations and identify the actions associated with others-directed or
ethical behavior in leaders is through the employment of prosocial behav-
ioral values.
And, like the ire or suspicion raised in mentioning to someone that cod
was the motivator behind many important historical world events, so too ire
and suspicion may be raised for many leadership scholars in suggesting that
prosocial values are a good way to identify and develop others-directed or
ethical leaders. But this is exactly what this book supports and suggests.
Prosocial values are in fact a good way to develop and detect ethical leaders,
and, I assure you, they are the reason many ethical leaders are taking the
voyage of leadership to harvest a personal bounty of being others-directed
leaders.
On my drive home these thoughts carried me to another realization. For
most of my life I have been asking these two questions—“What is a person’s
motivation and how do individuals improve themselves?”—regardless of the
ire or suspicion these questions have raised. And these questions may even
be the motivation for many of my career and personal choices as a pastor,
consultant, professor, committed father, devoted husband, friend and
author. But they are most certainly the motivation behind writing this book.
I do hope that you, the reader, come with the same questions and
curiosity I have in researching and writing this book. But if you do come
without the same questions regarding the motivation or development of
individuals, specifically leaders, I trust this book will accent, shift or chal-
lenge your personal thinking and professional conversations, or possibly
embolden your own pursuit in research regarding the motivation and
development of ethical leaders.
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

As with my colleagues, I too have read countless books and had my mind
warmed by the labors and art of many great thinkers. This book endeavors
to support and add to the duty and passion demonstrated by their scholar-
ship. Yet, every time I begin to read books from one of these great thinkers,
I have become accustomed to read the acknowledgements section. I am
curious whom these great women and men of thought esteem, who holds
them up, who gives them pause, whom they are devoted to, and who gives
them personal meaning and inspiration. In my many, many years of reading,
I most often see the names of the author’s family members and spouse.
Here I follow that wisdom and thank my wife, Joanna, and my children,
Haliee, Carissa and Nathan, all of whom have given my life a deep sense of
purpose, and, for them, I would be willing to sacrifice myself, my whole self.
Yet, I am also a devoted follower of Christ, and, at the risk of appearing as
a foolish myth-believing plebian, I offer this work to him, he who suffered so
much on my behalf, giving his whole self.

ix
 CONTENTS

1 The Need for Prosocial Leaders 1

2 The Challenges Within Ethical Leadership Theories 23

3 What Is Prosocial Behavior’s Connection to Leadership? 43

4 Perspectives on Leadership Development 63

5 The Prosocial Leadership Development Process 81

6 Stage One: Antecedent Awareness and Empathic Concern 97

7 Stage Two: Community and Group Commitment 117

8 Stage Three: Courage and Action 135

9 Stage Four: Reflection and Growth 149

10 Prosocial Leadership Development in Organizational Life 161

xi
xii CONTENTS

Appendix 1: Design and Methodology for

Chaps. 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9 185

Appendix 2: Design Methodology for Chap. 10 189

Appendix 3: Limitations of Research in this Project 195

References 197

Index 217
 LIST OF FIGURES

Fig. 1.1 Comprehensive responsibility model 8

Fig. 3.1 Schwartz’ human values 49
Fig. 3.2 Comparison of altruism to egoism 52
Fig. 6.1 Relationships of steps in stage one 100
Fig. 7.1 Relationships of steps in stage two 120
Fig. 8.1 Relationships of steps in stage three 138
Fig. 9.1 Relationships of steps in stage four 151
Fig. 10.1 Comprehensive responsibility model 163

xiii
 LIST OF TABLES

Table 1.1 The ten principles of the UN Global Compact 9

Table 1.2 Six principles of PRME 10
Table 2.1 Categories of ethical concepts 28
Table 2.2 Comparative levels of discussion concerning ethical leadership 36
Table 3.1 Rokeach human values 47
Table 3.2 Schwartz’ ten instrumental values 48
Table 3.3 Ethical leadership theories’ connection to prosocial values 56
Table 4.1 Methods of leadership development 67
Table 4.2 Leadership development processes’ prosocial elements 72
Table 4.3 Ethical decision-making models and proposed abilities 74
Table 5.1 Prosocial leadership development process 85
Table 5.2 Number identified who completed each stage 86
Table 5.3 Literature agreement 91
Table 6.1 Components of stage one 99
Table 6.2 Step one: self-awareness/antecedents 101
Table 6.3 Emotional responsiveness 104
Table 6.4 Empathic concern 106
Table 6.5 Intrapersonal goals 108
Table 6.6 Projected representative 109
Table 6.7 Integration 111
Table 7.1 Components of stage two 119
Table 7.2 Step five group community commitment 121
Table 7.3 Step six: diversity/challenge 123
Table 7.4 Interpersonal goals 126
Table 7.5 Altruism (empathy) 127
Table 7.6 Projected representative 129
Table 7.7 Integration 130
xv
xvi LIST OF TABLES

Table 8.1 Components of stage three 137

Table 8.2 Step nine: moral courage 139
Table 8.3 Step ten: lived experiences 142
Table 8.4 Step eleven: goal coalescence 143
Table 8.5 Projected representative 145
Table 8.6 Integration 145
Table 9.1 Components of stage four 151
Table 9.2 Step twelve: self-reflective 152
Table 9.3 Step thirteen: commitment to future goals 154
Table 9.4 Step fourteen: progressive nature of growth 156
Table 9.5 Projected representative 157
Table 9.6 Integration 158
Table 10.1 Number identified as completing each stage 164
Table 10.2 Prosocial leadership development process—five-stage model 165
Table 10.3 Prosocial leaders’ step adherence 166
Table 10.4 Stage one organizational leaders 167
Table 10.5 Stage two organizational leaders 168
Table 10.6 Stage three organizational leaders 169
Table 10.7 Components of stage five 170
Table 10.8 Step fifteen: envisioning 171
Table 10.9 Step sixteen: coaching 173
Table 10.10 Behavioral components of models of TL that pertain to
envisioning and coaching 175
Table A.1 Descriptive statistics of the sample used 186
Table A.2 Descriptive statistics of the sample used 190
 CHAPTER 1

The Need for Prosocial Leaders

INTRODUCTION
Who will take responsibility for communities that are being challenged, and
even overwhelmed, by environmental, civil, social and economic problems
that have resulted in community and ecosystem failure (Palazzo and Scherer
2006)? Today the challenges within many communities have become even
more profound given the interconnectedness of local communities to global
communities. This interconnectedness of communities has created condi-
tions where negative social or environmental impacts are directly or indi-
rectly felt, or at minimum acknowledged by communities around the world,
and where the ability to regulate, control or mitigate these impacts many
times exists outside the community.
The interconnectedness of global communities, which has been shaped
by global market forces, is supported and expedited by technology, exten-
sive global supply chains, the omnipresence of communications and acces-
sible global transportation—all of which now unify and connect the world.
The result is that, when one market fails, workers suffer inhumane treatment
or there is a severe environmental impact whose negative effects may be felt
directly or indirectly all over the world. There are numerous examples
highlighting the interconnectedness of communities by global market
forces, such as the global financial crisis of 2008, which sent market shocks
around the world, or British Petroleum’s Deep Water Horizon oil spill of
2010, which spilled over 3.19 million barrels of oil in the Gulf of Mexico,
resulting in a global loss of confidence in markets and a loss of trust in

© The Author(s) 2018 1

T. Ewest, Prosocial Leadership, DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-57808-2_1
2 1 THE NEED FOR PROSOCIAL LEADERS

corporations. The multiplicity of examples illustrating the reality of the

systemic connection of communities to global market forces is so replete
that arguments to the contrary are baseless.
But not only does the interconnection of global market forces create
systemic impact but the present and increasing growth of global economies
has resulted in environmental and social impacts on an unprecedented and
ever-increasing scale. Environmental challenges alone are becoming insur-
mountable, even with collective efforts from global communities. While
many can hope that technology and innovation will help curb the use of
natural resources, innovation can come at a social cost. Innovation often
does not seek the common good equitably, favoring developed countries
and having negative impacts on people living in close and undeveloped
communities (Brown 2010; Ewest 2015; Naldi et al. 2007).
Moreover, Diamond (2005) suggests a sobering reality behind innova-
tions applied through technologies, insofar as they may actually be the cause
of existing problems, by asserting the following,

Most of all, advances in technology just increase our ability to do things,

which may be either for the better or for worse. All our current problems are
unintended negative consequences of our existing technology. The rapid
advances in technology during the 20th century have been creating difficult
new problems faster than they have been solving old problems, that’s why
we’re in the saturation we now find ourselves. (p. 32)

Yet, even if innovation applied to technology can resolve some of the

most egregious environmental issues, the Living Planet Report of 2014
suggests that innovation’s dividends may simply be too late, “Humanity’s
demand on the planet is more than 50 percent larger than what nature is
able to renew, jeopardizing the well-being of humans as well as populations
of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians and fish. Research would suggest
that ‘we are consuming our planet’s resources at an unsustainable rate’”
(Monfreda et al. 2004, p. 231).
Social and civil unrest appear to be growing as well, creating both local
and global problems. Consider the International Forum for Human Devel-
opment report which states, “In spite of the complexity and scope of the
subject of inequality, and in spite of the difficulties in measuring or simply
assessing its dimensions, the forum was able to state with a reasonable
degree of certainty that the overall level of inequality in the world had
risen since the beginning of the 1980s” (2006, para 3). More recent data
 INTRODUCTION 3

proposes that many in the world are experiencing improved human rights,
while there is an increasing and disproportionate number of humans who
are at extreme risk—the world is becoming deeply divided between those
who are at risk, and those for whom there is no risk (Smith 2014). These
deep divisions within society have created multiple social problems, includ-
ing increased human trafficking and a global slave and sex trade (Barner
et al. 2014). Even global efforts to address this issue, such as the Millennium
Development Goals sponsored by the United Nations (UN), are still
emerging and regarded by others as ineffective (Gaiha 2003). While some
individuals may have hopes of bringing justice to these realities and closing
the gap for those who do not have, the present conditions appear to be fixed
in time.
Add to these realities the perspective of Anita Allen as found in her book
The New Ethics: A Tour of the 21st-Century Moral Landscape. Allen under-
stands that the current ethical landscape in America is challenged by ethical
failure, despite Americans having available multiple moral resources. The
fact, she continues, is that most people have an array of novel options to
design their daily living, but their insular complacency towards the nation
and communities creates natural opposition to these aspirations of justice
and citizenship on behalf of the common good (2004, p. xiii). The shared
belief in a public common good has acted as a foundation for personal and
community ethical behavior (Putnam 1995), but is now in jeopardy within
the United States and increasingly throughout the World. Thus, even as
solutions are available, the greater question may remain the same, “Who will
take individual responsibility and lead global community change?”
To be sure, prosocial leaders can take responsibility to lead others and
direct change in their communities, whether local or global. And, while
prosocial behaviors can be found as a component of multiple leadership
theories, specific attention to the motivations, development and identifica-
tion of prosocial leaders has largely been unexplored. This book endeavors
to explore leadership behaviors, corresponding motivations and the devel-
opmental process of leadership that contain empathy and altruism, the two
qualities identifying prosocial leadership (Batson 2010). Prosocial leaders
are motivated by and respond to the interpersonal value of empathy, and,
without regard to punishment or reward, act to bring about the welfare of
followers and those they are committed to serve. Yet, prosocial leadership
theory and the corresponding prosocial leadership development process
should not be understood as a challenge or correction to other leadership
theories, specifically ethical leadership theories; instead it is presented as an
alternative means to distinguish, identify and note the development of
4 1 THE NEED FOR PROSOCIAL LEADERS

authentic others-directed leaders. More importantly, this book goes beyond

the consideration of connecting ethical leadership and prosocial behaviors
that act as motivators to leadership behavior, for it also describes the
antecedents that lead to the formation of prosocial leadership within indi-
vidual leaders and describes a prosocial leadership development model.
The book is a result of quantitative and qualitative research conducted
over a nine-year period on two groups of individuals in the early stages of
pursuing their personal leadership development (nascent leaders). This
book also contains research on a third group of mature others-directed
prosocial leaders who were active as leaders in social enterprises conducted
over a three-year period. The first research project was on a group of nascent
leaders, students (n ¼ 163) in a leadership development program, who
participated in a quantitative analysis to determine if an established leader-
ship theory’s behaviors, termed transformational leadership (TL), had a
theoretical correlation with prosocial values. This research was published
in 2015 (Ewest). This book contains a follow-up exploratory qualitative
study using grounded theory methodology with a second group of nascent
leaders, students (N ¼ 450/n ¼ 153). This book also contains a second
study on a group third of practitioners (N ¼ 27/n ¼ 12) used to test if the
prosocial leadership model presented in this book applies to existing leaders
within the context of the organization. The methods and findings of both of
these research projects will be presented, while referencing numerous lead-
ership research studies.
This book also contributes to existing research considering prosocial
behaviors’ impacts on followers (Lord and Brown 2004), prosocial leader-
ship and follower development (Day et al. 2008) and altruism as an essential
component of leadership (Fry 2003). The hope is that the research in this
book supports or, if necessary, redirects the evolving ethical leadership
conversations towards considering both intrinsic and human qualities that
pertain to others-directed behavior, specifically empathy and altruism as
defined by prosocial behavioral psychology. Finally, this book endeavors
to redirect or, at minimum, broaden the conversation away from static
leadership models that ignore antecedents, development processes and the
presumption that individuals can be leaders through simple adherence to
leadership principles as demonstrated by their behaviors, towards an under-
standing of leadership as an emerging process (Algera and Lips-Wiersma
2012).
 INTRODUCTION 5

The world needs to understand how to develop leaders whose allegiance

is to a world overcome with significant social and environmental needs, and
who offer their allegiance as global citizens.

Specific to This Book

• The first section of this book, containing Chaps. 2, 3 and 4, sets the
context and establishes the theoretical anchor for prosocial leadership
theory and the prosocial leader developmental process, by considering
the challenges with ethical leadership theories, how prosocial behav-
ioral values and leadership theories are connected and, finally, by
surveying the present status of leadership development methods and
processes. This section of the book also intends to show how existing
leadership theories are positioned within classical philosophical ethical
theory, and then proposes that prosocial theory offers an alternative
ethical theoretical position.
• The second section of this book, containing Chaps. 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9,
presents the prosocial leadership development process. Chapter 5 pro-
vides a general outline of the prosocial leadership development pro-
cess, and Chaps. 6, 7, 8 and 9, depict each stage and the specific steps
in each stage as both the stages and steps emerged in the prosocial
leadership development process.
• The final section of the book, Chap. 10, considers how the prosocial
leadership development model applies to existing leaders within the
context of the organization.

This first chapter sets the context for this book and the development of
prosocial leadership theory and the prosocial leadership development pro-
cess by highlighting the need for individuals to become leaders who move
beyond citizenship and act as stewards to take responsibility for the world’s
environmental and social issues. This chapter then advances a stewardship
model theoretically constructed by Hernandez (2008) and supported by
numerous corporate social responsibility initiatives, all of which share the
importance of leadership that unfolds into organizational leadership. The
chapter resolves by arguing for the importance of raising up internally
motivated, and personally devoted, prosocial leaders as the initial and
catalytic element to foster global stewardship.
6 1 THE NEED FOR PROSOCIAL LEADERS

NEED FOR GLOBAL CITIZENS?

One means that has been proposed to address the world’s growing envi-
ronmental and social problems is to re-envision and broaden the under-
standing of what it means to be a citizen. The proposition begins with the
understanding that allegiance to a community causes awareness of a
community’s interdependence, and awareness of interconnectedness
becomes the epitome of citizenship. But in today’s increasingly globalized
world, the definition of citizen must be extended beyond local community
and national boundaries. Recognizing these new realities, Barber (2002)
called for a redefinition of citizen to “The person who acknowledges and
recognizes his or her interdependence in a neighborhood, a town, a state, in
a nation, and today, in the world” (p. 27). Thus, global citizens acknowl-
edge or recognize the existing interdependence within the global commu-
nity and offer their allegiance to this global community.

FROM GLOBAL CITIZENS TO STEWARDS

But, if citizenship is defined simply as a person who “acknowledges and
recognizes interdependence to a broader global community” (Barber 2007,
p. 27), awareness of interdependence does not necessitate that the person
will also take responsibility, nor does it suggest that one should move
beyond personal or individual responsibility and towards organizational
and ultimately community and global responsibility. For this reason the
definition of citizenship for some has moved to include social responsibility
(Elliott et al. 2016). Today’s leaders must have more than allegiance; they
must endeavor to take responsibility to protect and nurture the global
community, and they must also act as leaders who mobilize others to take
responsibility, influencing others in organizations to be effective in getting
results.
The concept stewardship may be better suited to describe a person who is
aware of his or her global independence and who takes responsibility
individually and organizationally. The term stewardship was popularized
in business literature by Block (1993) in his book of the same title. Block
defined stewardship as the action of selflessly taking responsibility for oneself
as well as the governance of institutions to ensure the welfare of others.
Academic research by Hernandez (2008) also uses the term with a similar
definition:
 FROM GLOBAL CITIZENS TO STEWARDS 7

Stewardship is defined here as the attitudes and behaviors that place the long-
term best interests of a group ahead of personal goals that serve an individual’s
self-interests. It exists to the extent that organizational actors take responsi-
bility for the effects of organizational action on stakeholder welfare. The issue
of balance is a key part of taking personal responsibility. (p. 122)

The concept of stewardship incorporates both the taking of personal

responsibility in relationships (leadership) and also organizational responsi-
bility (leading others), that being the organization and its relationship to the
global community (corporate social responsibility and organizational lead-
ership). Since stewardship definitionally considers looking out for both the
long-term best interests of the group and also individual interconnected-
ness, placing the interests of others above personal interests, there are
resonances with shareholder theory. Edward Freeman (2010), arguably
one of the first to codify this field, defines stakeholder theory in the follow-
ing way, “The basic idea is that businesses, and the executives who manage
them, actually do and should create value for customers, suppliers,
employees, communities, and financiers (or shareholders)” (p. 5).
The catalyst in developing stewards is raising up leaders who have as core
convictions the prosocial value of empathy, which results in altruistic action.
“Therefore, generally speaking, stewardship as a concept is the result of
others-directed leadership, or prosocial leadership, and corporate governance
that involves responsibility to stakeholders as well as for the organizations’
social and environmental impacts” (Ewest 2017, p. 3). Specifically, steward-
ship involves responsibility and deepening relationships with oneself in order
to serve others (personal leadership), fellow employees (leading others) and
broader stakeholders and organizational impacts (organizational leadership),
and when responsibility is taken for all three, an organization and its leaders
are considered good global stewards. See Fig. 1.1 (Ewest 2015).
And, while this book focuses primarily on personal leadership, and
secondarily on organizational leadership, numerous leadership, educational
and international initiatives consider these two vital elements as conjoined,
tacitly suggesting that individual and organizational responsibility (global
stewardship) are both necessary means to address the world’s social and
environmental issues.
8 1 THE NEED FOR PROSOCIAL LEADERS

Individual Responsibility
Prosocial leadership seeks its
own goals while serving the
goals of others, but the leader
will sacrifice their own goals to
ensure others will achieve their
goals.
Relationships with self and
employees.
Organizational Responsibility
Corporate social responsibility
is leadership that seeks the best
for the financial goals of
organizations, without
compromising the goals of
stakeholders concerns for
society and the environment.
Relationships extend to
shareholder outside the
company.
Stewardship
Being responsible for leading
themselves, fellow employees,
and the organization to
financial, social, environmental
sustainability, even at a cost.
Making the leaders and the
organization good global
stewards

Fig. 1.1 Comprehensive responsibility model (Ewest, © Greenleaf Publishing)

INITIATIVES TO RAISE UP GLOBAL STEWARDS

In 2000 the UN recognized and responded to the need for globally respon-
sible leaders by initiating a comprehensive program for responsible organi-
zational leadership called the United Nations Global Compact (www.
unglobalcompact.org). The United Nations Global Impact Initiative
brought together UN agencies with business leaders, workers and govern-
ments to determine ways to improve, advance and develop five areas of
human rights, labor, the environment and anti-corruption by adhering to
ten universal principles. The Global Compact includes over 4100 compa-
nies that are representative of 100 countries, comprising the largest volun-
tary global stewardship group in the world. The participating organizations
agree to adhere to five commitments detailed in Table 1.1. For these
principles to be actualized and effective, leaders are required to take respon-
sibility for the implementation of the principles within their organizations.
A second initiative, The Globally Responsible Leadership Initiative,
began in 2004 from a group of 35 individuals representing 21 different
companies or business schools, who recognized the importance of global
leadership to address the world’s mounting problems. This initiative is also
comprised of formal partnerships with 70 organizations consisting of com-
panies, learning institutions and global organizations all committed to
 INITIATIVES TO RAISE UP GLOBAL STEWARDS 9

Table 1.1 The ten principles of the UN Global Compact

Human rights
Principle 1: Businesses should support and respect the protection of internationally
proclaimed human rights; and
Principle 2: Make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses
Labor
Principle 3: Businesses should uphold the freedom of association and the effective recogni-
tion of the right to collective bargaining;
Principle 4: The elimination of all forms of forced and compulsory labor;
Principle 5: The effective abolition of child labor; and
Principle 6: The elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation
Environment
Principle 7: Businesses should support a precautionary approach to environmental chal-
lenges;
Principle 8: Undertake initiatives to promote greater environmental responsibility; and
Principle 9: Encourage the development and diffusion of environmentally friendly
technologies
Anti-corruption
Principle 10: Businesses should work against corruption in all its forms, including extortion
and bribery

developing globally responsible leaders. The Globally Responsible Leader-

ship Initiative asks those who desire to be globally responsible leaders to
focus their positive leadership impacts on three areas: individual, organiza-
tional and systemic. The initiative encourages individual members to
develop new skills and knowledge to address the world’s environmental
and social issues, and at the organizational level those who participate are
encouraged to be exemplars for other organizations that want to address
global issues (http://www.grli.org/about/).
Conscious Capitalism, founded in 2005, represents a third initiative to
foster global stewards, which again focuses on responsible leadership at both
the individual and organizational levels. The four principles of conscious
capitalism include: (1) Higher purpose, which involves finding purpose
beyond profit; (2) conscious leadership, which focuses on the other and
tries to foster transformation in others; (3) stakeholder orientation, which
sees the interconnectedness of businesses and their environment; and
(4) conscious culture, which builds trust and care within the company,
and between the company and its stakeholders (Mackey and Sisodia
2014). These principles also notably include developing individual respon-
sibility through others-directed leadership development and understanding
10 1 THE NEED FOR PROSOCIAL LEADERS

Table 1.2 Six principles of PRME

Principle 1 | Purpose: We will develop the capabilities of students to be future generators of

sustainable value for business and society at large and to work for an inclusive and sustainable
global economy
Principle 2 | Values: We will incorporate into our academic activities and curricula the values
of global social responsibility as portrayed in international initiatives such as the United
Nations Global Compact
Principle 3 | Method: We will create educational frameworks, materials, processes and
environments that enable effective learning experiences for responsible leadership
Principle 4 | Research: We will engage in conceptual and empirical research that advances our
understanding about the role, dynamics, and impact of corporations in the creation of
sustainable social, environmental and economic value
Principle 5 | Partnership: We will interact with managers of business corporations to extend
our knowledge of their challenges in meeting social and environmental responsibilities and to
explore jointly effective approaches to meeting these challenges
Principle 6 | Dialogue: We will facilitate and support dialog and debate among educators,
students, business, government, consumers, media, civil society organizations and other
interested groups and stakeholders on critical issues related to global social responsibility and
sustainability

the importance of the organization and its final connection to communities,

resonating with the definition of stewardship, even though it does not use
the term.
A final example comes from an initiative launched in 2007 by an inter-
national task force consisting of 60 deans, university presidents and other
officials of leading business schools, who sought to align business educators
with the UN Initiatives, including the Global Compact, titled Principles of
Responsible Management Education (PRME). With over 500 leading busi-
ness schools participating in more than 80 countries that have agreed to
practice the six principles, PRME seeks to inspire, champion and follow six
principles committed to globally responsible management. See Table 1.2.
The growing awareness and interest in identifying and developing leaders
who take responsibility for global environmental and societal issues is diffi-
cult to ignore. Academic scholarship also echoes awareness of the need to
equip existing leaders to address global social and environmental issues
(Astin and Antonio 2004; Deardorff et al. 2005; DeSoto 2000; Grant
2012; Macfarlane 2005). One such global example is represented by the
most extensive leadership research initiative to date, The Global Leadership
& Organizational Behavior Effectiveness (GLOBE) project. By measuring
for what the study identifies as Humane-Oriented Leadership, which is
 THE IMPORTANCE OF LEADERSHIP 11

leadership that is supportive and considerate, demonstrating compassion

and generosity (House et al. 2004), this project is also an attestation to the
presence and importance of others-directed global leadership. Yet, these
initiatives are concerned with a prescriptive analysis of normative leadership
behavior, not with leadership development.
Numerous scholars suggest that there is a need to look beyond existing
leadership theories and redirect attention to leadership development as a
means to raise up global leaders, suggesting that leadership training and
development is central to addressing global issues (Astin and Antonio 2004;
Gibson and Pason 2003; Malone 1994; Wheeler and Edlebeck 2006). This
discussion is addressed in Chap. 4. Nevertheless, these various initiatives
should appropriately lead to the conclusion that responsible individual
leadership should have domesticity with and be conjoined to responsible
organizational governance.

THE IMPORTANCE OF LEADERSHIP

The central importance of leadership has been demonstrated as vital to
successful environmental sustainability efforts within organizations. A
2007 survey conducted by the American Management Association endeav-
ored to understand what created successful sustainability efforts within
organizations. One of the significant findings of this research was that
those organizations that successfully practiced sustainability had leaders
who visibly supported their organizations’ sustainability practices and did
so because of deeply embedded personal core values of caring for others and
the planet (Russell and Lipsky 2008). And what is of note is that today the
trend in industry is for top leadership to move towards sustainability prac-
tices and not away from those personal commitments (Bonini and Bové
2014). The indication from the research is that for global stewardship to
take place, it requires a personal commitment by organizational leaders
(Ferdig 2007; Lawrence and Beamish 2012). While this book takes a
primary focus on others-directed leadership, the final chapter of the book
does apply grounded theory methodology to consider how prosocial lead-
ership is expressed at both the individual and organizational levels, using the
prosocial leadership development model for guidance, as presented in sum-
mation in Chap. 5 and fully delineated in Chaps. 6, 7, 8 and 9. As alluded to
earlier, but here specifically defined,
12 1 THE NEED FOR PROSOCIAL LEADERS

Prosocial Leaders are motivated by and respond to empathy, and without

regard to punishment, or reward, act to bring about the welfare of followers
and those they are committed to serve.

The prosocial leader may be an exemplar within other existing and

established leadership theories such as servant leadership (SL), TL, ethical
leadership (EL), authentic leadership (AL) or spiritual leadership (Ewest
2017), since each of these leadership theories contains the importance of
others-directed leader behavior, which is discussed in more detail in
Chap. 3. Yet, while these established leadership theories prescribe and
identify behaviors or traits, some of which may be prosocial, they also
contain behaviors or traits that are not specific to prosocial behavior (e.g.,
challenging processes). Therefore, if the world is truly in need of prosocial
leaders or others-directed leaders to take responsibility for the world’s
problems, then being able to specifically identify prosocial behaviors in
leaders and correspondingly trace how leaders develop into prosocial leaders
who will act with prosocial motivation becomes vital. If the global environ-
mental and social crisis is to be addressed, then focusing on leadership
theories that emphasize or isolate prosocial leadership behaviors and devel-
opment is paramount. Anecdotally, the importance and existence of
prosocial leaders’ impacts upon society are not hard to find.
Notable leaders include Nobel Laureate Mahmud Yunas, whose innova-
tive and compassionate leadership to the marginalized (woman in particu-
lar) brought millions out of poverty through microfinance; Martin Luther
King, Jr., whose self-sacrificing leadership ushered in a new era for civil
rights; Captain Ernest Shackleton, the Antarctic explorer whose ship was
crushed by sea ice and who, stranded with his men, faced the planet’s most
brutal conditions but refused to let any of his crew perish; Paul
Rusesabagina, who refused to take advantage of his privilege during the
ethnic cleansing in Rwanda and sheltered hundreds from genocide; and the
unnamed single mother who sacrifices her own personal interests to care for
her children’s basic daily needs. These leaders are motivated internally to
serve others, being personally devoted to bringing positive change to their
families, local and global communities.
The tasks for researchers are to better identify what specifically prosocial
leadership is and, more importantly, to determine how individuals develop
as prosocial leaders, which is taking the first important step in raising up
leaders for the global community. The starting place for understanding
prosocial leaders is to recognize the individual’s internal motivational state.
 ORIGINS OF PROSOCIAL LEADERSHIP RESEARCH 13

ORIGINS OF PROSOCIAL LEADERSHIP RESEARCH

The origins of prosocial leadership research contained in this book began
with a desire to resolve personal angst concerning the reality of what I
regard as “utility leadership.” Utility leadership occurs when leaders do
the right ethical behavior, that is, they follow the right rules to get results
or benefits that are considered effective, but doing the right thing is external
to the leader, and the ultimate benefit to others is not an internal motivating
force. Instead, they are externally motivated to do the right thing and, like
pseudo-transformational leaders, are divorced from personal concern for
others and largely vacant of empathy or compassion (Christie et al. 2011).
But, unlike pseudo-transformational leaders, these leaders can be respectful
of others, encourage independent thought and be of service to their fol-
lowers, but they do so with the end goal of being ethical and so enhancing
of their own egos, wanting to be labeled “good leaders.” Their self-interest
and personal power (which is discussed more in Chap. 2) are due to the
simple belief that right behavior alone is an end in itself, that no personal
transformation or personal commitment is needed; they just need to follow
the rules. Utility leaders are motivated by a self-serving need to feel good
about themselves and be labeled as good leaders, and by a belief that they
are acting ethically and doing the right thing. They see those they care for as
a means to exemplify their self-perceived ethical actions. So, while pseudo-
transformational leaders knowingly deceive followers to attain to their own
personal self-serving goals, so do utility leaders, but they believe they are
acting ethically.
Yet, there is a note of caution in regarding self-serving actions as
unethical simply because an individual’s actions are self-serving. All humans
have a proclivity, a deep need, to self-actualize, and correspondingly when
they identify themselves as leaders (or in any other role), they desire to reach
their full potential or flourish (Rogers 1959). Rogers describes humans’
self-actualizing tendency, both generally and specifically, as the “inherent
tendency of all organisms to develop their capacities in ways which serve to
maintain or enhance themselves as organisms. Humans seek to behave in
those ways which maintain and enhance themselves” (1959, p. 196). But
what is particularly crucial to understand is that individuals do not develop
themselves and correspondingly how they identify themselves in isolation
from others. In fact, individuals who perceive themselves as becoming more
genuine, or living into their true identity, have done so based on interac-
tions and reflections with other humans or, for some individuals, God.
14 1 THE NEED FOR PROSOCIAL LEADERS

Therefore, humans’ self-actualizing tendency is dependent on relation-

ships with others. Kierkegaard (2013) suggests that humans have the need
for self-actualization, as does Rogers (1959), wherein self-actualization,
becoming the true self, is fostered by self-awareness, which develops within
relationships with others and thus allows the finite person to develop and
grow into congruency with his or her infinite soul. Thus, self-interest that
seeks to care for and enhance oneself in reference to and dependence on
others (and, for some, God) is part of the human development growth and
actualization paradox.
Yet, while all humans endeavor to flourish, utility and pseudo-
transformational leaders do so by using individuals (followers) to enhance
themselves, but prosocial leaders are focused on transcending their own
personal needs and on helping the other; they disregard self-based needs to
serve the other and, in their service to the other, enhance themselves, too
(see Chaps. 2 and 3). On a personal level, leaders who take responsibility for
others, who serve others with their actions, are simultaneously helping
themselves become more humane. Although, as we will discuss in
Chap. 3, their personal growth is not their objective, as if it were a reward,
it is the by-product of their genuine others-directed choices. These leaders
choose a different approach or way to exist than other leaders. These others-
directed leaders understand that their personal development or enhance-
ment is interdependent on their relationship with and in service to others.
However, most leadership theories that encourage ethical behavior take the
perspective of normative ethical action or the virtue category, which is
discussed more in Chap. 2.
Yet, most leadership theories that include ethics as a component demand
normative ethical behavior, which is action-oriented, having ethical behav-
iors as the leader’s ultimate goals (utility leadership), and depend heavily on
the use of reason as the primary means to determine what is morally
required. The leader’s ethical actions, then, give little consideration to
interpersonal and intrapersonal dimensions as motivators; prioritizing rea-
son creates a focus on intrapersonal considerations. This presents a signifi-
cant problem in that adherence to a set of rules is based on the individual’s
rational understanding of those rules, but does not necessitate the individual
examination of the individual’s motivation and correspondingly does not
necessitate personal devotion, since the focus is on external adherence, not
on interpersonal development.
Moreover, there is a growing body of research that shows a weak or
moderate association between moral reasoning and moral action or behavior
 THE FORESIGHT OF KIERKEGAARD 15

(Blasi 1983; Bergman 2004; Hoffman 2000; Walker 2004). Multiple moti-
vations for ethical behavior include emotions (Eisenberg 1986; Hoffman
2000), intuitions (Haidt 2001) and religion (Weaver and Agle 2002; Vitell
2009). Motivation is a key determinant to differentiate whether ethical
behavior is authentically directed towards the other, since motivators repre-
sent personal goals or end-states (Schwartz 1994), or alternatively if the
leader’s action is simply a means to enhance the self and his or her agenda,
thus increasing personal power or self-esteem.

THE FORESIGHT OF KIERKEGAARD

Kierkegaard’s (2013) writings in Fear and Trembling capture these subtle
distinctions, arguing that a simple ethical life, which is one where a person
adheres to normative ethical principles of action as an ultimate goal, is not
the highest ethical purpose or best approach or mode of existence for
humans. Humanity’s moral or most genuine existence is best defined as
being designed to commit to morality for the person’s own sake. The
highest or most authentic mode of existence for humans, Kierkegaard
believes, is one “which has its teleology [purpose] within itself” (Kierke-
gaard, p. 23). This highest ethical purpose or mode of existence Kierkegaard
refers to as the beautiful, religious or noble agent (person) wherein individ-
uals understand that they have an internal devotional purpose to do the
right thing, and the end goal of ethical or others-directed action is given
meaning within themselves. This is not to suggest that Kierkegaard believed
individuals determine their own good, but rather the moral law is some-
thing that is a deeply internalized part of their design and is understood as an
intrapersonal and interpersonal component of self. For Kierkegaard, the
truth or moral good is more than a static ideal or normative rule, but instead
it is connected to the subject, a person, that emerges in relationships with
others; thus the individuals who treat others ethically as an expression of
their inner selves also begin to embrace a better version of themselves.
Storsletten and Jakobsen (2015) expand the above description of
Kierkegaard’s (2013) philosophy, specifically delineating Kierkegaard’s
proposed three approaches humans take to living, or modes of human
existence, found in Fear and Trembling, as a means to capture how ethical
leadership theory can include the commitment of personal values or per-
sonal devotion. Kierkegaard understands human existence within one of
three modes: aesthetic, ethical and religious or beautiful.
16 1 THE NEED FOR PROSOCIAL LEADERS

For Kierkegaard, the mode of existence one chooses corresponds to

whether one lives within one’s true purpose, thus having an authentic or
fully human existence. The person who chooses aesthetic existence is not in
control of his or her life, because such persons live in the moment and make
decisions based on what appeals to them, what their appetites are at the
present moment. They can do this because they avoid commitments and
thus can be governed by impulse. People who choose the ethical life decide
to take their place in social institutions and accept their obligations,
accepting the determination of moral standards and obligations, and using
reason to determine if there are ethical values right for themselves and
others. This mode of existence, the ethical life, is best representative of
most ethical leadership theories, and also representative of what I refer to
earlier in this chapter as utility leadership. The third mode, the religious
mode, may not be easily differentiated at times from the ethical since the
actions may look the same, but the person who chooses the religious mode
is motivated by something inside that is spiritual, a relationship to the
absolute, God, or, for some, a commitment to their higher self.
Thus, for those who choose the religious or beautiful mode of existence,
ethical truth is always found, given personal meaning and understood best
in a subject-to-subject relationship, and not in adherence to ethical princi-
ples of action. The indication from Kierkegaard is that the religious or
beautiful, which Storsletten and Jakobsen (2015) suggest as important, is
what leadership development should also have as the highest orientation.
Leadership studies and development theories should be focused on identi-
fying and explaining the leader’s internal and personal motivation, which
will be discussed in Chap. 4.

PROSOCIAL BEHAVIORS IN LEADERS

Prosocial behavioral research considers what are internal causes and personal
motivation for others-directed behavior in humans, including socialization,
developmental conditions, cultural environments, evolutionary biology,
personality, motivations, intrinsic values and goals. For prosocial behavioral
researchers, human values are internal motivators regulating and directing
the actions of the individual as internal regulatory goals and also acting to
form the individual’s personal identity. The individual’s personal identity
represents an ultimate goal, and intrinsic personal values become central to
regulating and directing behavior to arrive at personal identity. A person’s
identity can either be self-transcending or self-enhancing; this is explored in
 PROSOCIAL BEHAVIORS IN LEADERS 17

Chap. 3 (Latham and Locke 1991; Schwartz 1994; Zimmerman and

Kitsantas 1997). Thus, if prosocial behavioral research—specifically research
pertaining to motivations, intrinsic values and goals—can be allied with
leadership studies, it could provide a means to determine genuine others-
directed leadership.
Most existing ethical leadership theories simply do not have the theoret-
ical means to capture authentic others-directed leadership behavior, since
they ignore personal motivations and correspondingly the antecedents of
ethical behavior. Again, leadership thought is typically aimed at developing
good practices, or right thinking, paying little attention to antecedents and
almost ignoring altogether the understanding of leadership development as
a process (Hannah et al. 2011). Few, if any, leadership theories have
addressed “antecedents within leadership that give rise to ethical behavior”
(p. 555). If prosocial leadership concerns itself with antecedents, it also
becomes indicative of developmental behavior.
Moreover, it has often been touted that one notable commonality
among leadership theories is that they inculcate the importance of ethical
behavior (Aronson 2001; Ciulla 2001, 2003; Johnson 2011; Kanungo
2001; Trevino et al. 2003); yet, for prosocial behavioral researchers, ethical
behavior is anchored within a specific set of human values and ultimately
argued to be the motivational anchor behind all behaviors (Rokeach 1973;
Schwartz 1994). Prosocial leadership then is identified by the human values
of empathy and altruism. These values are recognized as motivators and
goals to any prosocial action (Beirhoff et al. 1991; Hastings et al. 2000;
Omoto and Snyder 1995; Penner and Finkelstein 1998).
Within this theoretical framing, prosocial leadership can be found within
behaviors of numerous leadership theories, since a leader acts as a prosocial
leader when he or she acts for the good of others, without regard to personal
reward or punishment and even if it must be at personal cost. One of the first
leadership scholars, Burns (1978) conceptualized leadership as being cen-
tered on, or directed to, public interest. Since the time of Burns, numerous
scholars have included others-directed behavior as an aspect of leadership
theory (Avolio and Locke 2002; Fry 2013; Grant 2007, 2012; Greenleaf
2002; Hannah et al. 2011; Paarlberg and Lavigna 2010; Sosik et al. 2009).
Prosocial behavioral research and its theoretical connection to leadership
theory is discussed more in Chap. 3.
18 1 THE NEED FOR PROSOCIAL LEADERS

SUMMARY
For some, it may not matter what the motivation is behind the leader’s
actions, as long as he or she addresses human need(s). And the culture of
leadership development scholarship and training supports this tone and
ethos. For many, what will fix the problem is getting large numbers of
people doing the right thing, motivation be damned. But, if we want to
know when to expect help for a world desperately in need of responsible
leadership, what type of people we can expect will be responsible for others-
directed help and, most importantly, how to foster and develop these
prosocial leaders, then the rest of the book is a conversation to join.
Prosocial leaders move beyond utility leaders, who act in ways that simply
follow rational ethical norms or rules, and avoid pseudo-transformational
leadership because their action is motivated by and begins with the internal
personal values of empathy, which culminates in altruistic acts. Prosocial
leaders have a personal and subjective relationship with the truth, to which
they are personally devoted.
This book intends to contribute to the expanding body of literature
considering leaders’ prosocial behavioral impacts on followers (De Cremer
et al. 2009; Ewest 2015; Grant 2012; Hopkins 2000; Nakamura and
Watanabe-Muraoka 2006; Ridenour 2007). But, more importantly, it
offers an alternative and complementary way to identify and understand
the development of prosocial behaviors within leaders. The hope is that the
research in the book will broaden and redirect the conversation regarding
ethical leadership to include intrinsic motivation and personal moral devel-
opment. Ultimately, if this research can join in supporting theories, initia-
tives and movements that hold as primary leaders take responsibility to build
a better world through service to local and global communities, the book
will have served its purpose.

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 CHAPTER 2

The Challenges Within Ethical Leadership

Theories

INTRODUCTION
Leadership research has advanced greatly in the last 30 years, although not
in the same direction (Yukl 1989). Burns (1978) suggested that leadership
may be the most observed but ironically least understood phenomenon on
earth (p. 2). For example, leadership has well over 50 definitions (Fleishman
et al. 1992; Northouse 2015). The multiplicity of leadership theories ranges
from trait-based to stylistic to situational, all of which are representative of
various perspectives on leadership (Northouse 2015). These apparent great
divergences in leadership theory suggest for some a quagmire, turning all
espoused leadership theories into nothing more than clever sophistry (Grint
2010).
Alternatively, the vast divergences may possibly express the multi-
dimensionality of leadership as a phenomenon and thus collectively suggest
that a new, diverse and vast connected territory is being discovered. One
example is the work of Hernandez et al. (2011), who have found confluences
within various leadership theories, showing how leadership theories correspond
and are interrelated and complementary in numerous aspects. As mentioned
previously, one often suggested commonality among leadership theories is the
inculcation of ethical behavior (Aronson 2001; Ciulla 2001; Johnson 2011;
Kanungo 2001), and, while this may generally be true, how closely leadership is
intrinsically connected with ethics is still being understood, challenged and
debated.

© The Author(s) 2018 23

T. Ewest, Prosocial Leadership, DOI 10.1057/978-1-137-57808-2_2
24 2 THE CHALLENGES WITHIN ETHICAL LEADERSHIP THEORIES

This chapter considers the history of research regarding leadership ethics,

specifically how classical philosophical ethical theories articulate with
established leadership theories. The chapter also explains how ethical lead-
ership theories predominantly use normative ethical action theory and then
resolves by suggesting how prosocial behavioral theory offers a new para-
digm when considering ethical or others-directed leadership. Prosocial
behavioral theory, as opposed to ethical theories, would be better suited
to the identification of authentic others-directed behavior and ultimately to
understanding how prosocial leaders are developed.

LEADERSHIP AND ETHICS: AN UNFOLDING HISTORY

The definition of leadership has changed since its inception as a unique field
of research. Ciulla (2014) notes eight epochs of iteration regarding the
definition(s) of leadership. For example, initially in the 1920s leadership was
defined as the ability of individuals to impress their will on followers,
compared with the 1990s where leadership referred largely to the leader/
follower relationship, which was concerned with the mutual purposes of
both. One widely accepted definition of leadership is from Northouse
(2015), who states, “Leadership is a process whereby an individual influ-
ences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal” (p. 5). However, a
person can have many recognized traits or behaviors displaying leadership
qualities, and even be considered a leader by many, yet be unethical.
Anecdotally, history provides examples of leaders who fulfilled the defi-
nition of leadership but struggled with their personal moral lives. For
example, Martin Luther King, Jr., was reported by reputable sources to be
involved in extra-marital affairs (Fairclough 1995) and Woodrow Wilson
held racist beliefs while president of the United States (Yellin 2013). Yet, to
their credit, Woodrow Wilson and Martin Luther King, Jr., were also
responsible for leading positive social change. The issue is further compli-
cated by the existence of other leaders who fit the accepted definition
provided by Northouse (2015) but for whom history would be
hard-pressed to find any acts of moral goodness. Adolf Hitler, Benito
Mussolini, Pol Pot and Jim Jones are all examples of people who were
considered leaders but who also carried out horrific acts against humanity.
Ciulla (2005) calls this “the Hitler problem.” Unethical leaders are
still considered to be leaders, and regrettably a few individuals have even
considered their actions as leaders to be justifiable. Only recently has
academic research involving leadership ethics provided some context for
 LEADERSHIP AND ETHICS: AN UNFOLDING HISTORY 25

understanding the connection between successful leaders who influenced a

group to achieve a common goal and their apparent ethical lapses.
Ciulla (2005) notes that as late as 1991 it was difficult to determine what
counted as leadership ethics and produced an edited volume, Ethics, The
Heart of Leadership (2013), which resulted in “starting points for under-
standing the work that needs to be carried out on ethics in leadership
studies” (p. 323). Yet, it is difficult, and for some counterintuitive, to accept
that leaders can be leaders and yet not act as morally good people. One
solution is offered by Johnson (2013), who alternatively suggests that
ethical leadership is a label that leaders earn from their followers, and thus
it is a practice involving personal behavior and moral influence (p. xxi),
although this recognition is dependent on followers’ motivations, percep-
tions and understanding of ethics—which is again problematic given
observer bias.
Levine and Boaks (2014) would reject the argument that followers are
interested in both an effective and an ethically good leader (p. 227). Levine
and Boaks suggest that, because of the typically unrecognized difference
between prescriptive and descriptive accounts of leadership, there is a
misconception that exists regarding leaders needing to be ethical. Specifi-
cally, when people consider what leadership should be, they generally think
of leaders fitting prescriptive theories; these theories prescribe that our
leaders be ethical, but in fact the description of actual behaviors of those
who are recognized as leaders is much more complex and multivariate. So,
the implicit preference for some, they argue, is for effective leaders over
ethical leaders, what Chap. 1 called utility leadership. For example, consider
a person with heart problems whose heart surgeon is proactive, responsible,
influential and effective in results but open about abusive behavior to
animals. Would a person be willing to run the personal risk of taking a less
competent but more ethically sound surgeon? Anecdotally, multiple real-life
examples can be found in the last 25 years where supporters are willing to
vote for or re-elect politicians who have engaged in unethical behavior (e.g.,
Bill Clinton despite his involvement with Monica Lewinsky or Trump
despite his derogatory comments towards woman).
Yet, leadership research supports the idea that trust is increased between
leaders and followers when leaders commit themselves to the ethical treat-
ment of their followers, which results in a mutual allegiance from which
community interdependence emerges (Graham 1995; Poff 2010). Yet, it
also remains true that some can be regarded as leaders by their followers
because they are effective, even though they are not ethical; some leaders
26 2 THE CHALLENGES WITHIN ETHICAL LEADERSHIP THEORIES

even have nonexistent ethical traits attributed to them because of positive

projection by their followers (Burrows 1981). Moreover, as already stated,
even when a leader does display ethical behaviors, it is possible the leader is
treating followers ethically just to obtain desired result(s), which is acting
ethically in order to attain a goal that is self-serving (e.g., generosity in pay,
with the motive to increase employee output).
So, while ethics is regarded as having domesticity with leadership, ethics
is still trying to find a residence within leadership theory (Levine and Boaks
2014). Mayer et al. (2009) captures this in the following: “Although
philosophers and theologians have long discussed the topic of ethical lead-
ership, it is not until recently that social scientists have begun to empirically
examine ethical aspects of leadership in organizations” (p. 1). Ironically, the
ire raised by the suggestion of considering ethics as a separate phenomenon
from, or not intrinsically connected to, leadership is surprising since most
leadership theories generally leave out ethical considerations (Barling et al.
2008; Brown and Trevi~no 2002), specifically classical philosophical ethical
theories (Ciulla 2005).

CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHICAL ETHICS’ PLACE WITHIN LEADERSHIP

THEORIES
An exploration of the two most commonly used terms for ethics does not
suggest a clear connection between ethics and leadership. Ethics, or the
other commonly used term morals, typically refers to an innate knowledge
of what is right or wrong, and this understanding transcends culture,
religion and time (Gill 2014; Stackhouse 1995). Specifically, these two
terms have the same etymological origin in that they both pertain to
expectations of how individuals ought to live (Gill 2014). Ciulla (2005)
notes, “The study of ethics is about what we should do and what we should
be. It’s about right, wrong, good, evil and the relationship of humans to
each other and to other living things” (p. xi). Ethics, in its broadest
understanding and application, pertains to human flourishing, and in this
broad sense leadership is a subset of ethics, as is every other human activity,
but the two are not synonymous.
The presence of ethical theories extends far back into human history,
with many scholars citing the ancient Greeks as the first to develop and
systematize ethical philosophies (MacIntyre 2003). Others suggest religion
as an initial source (Stackhouse 1995). Whatever the origins, the history of
 CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHICAL ETHICS’ PLACE WITHIN LEADERSHIP. . . 27

development of ethical theories has delivered a wide range of understanding

of ultimate reality or truth (metaphysics) and methods for determining
when and how truth is established or known (epistemology), thus making
their prescriptions for how people ought to live multifarious. Thus, leader-
ship scholars who are looking to frame, support or re-envision leadership
around ethical theoretical prescriptions are endeavoring to draw from
ancient roots as deep and excursive as the human experience.
However, Stackhouse (1995), building off the work of Richard Niebuhr
(1960/1999), provides a rubric in an attempt to codify classical normative
ethical theories by placing them within the context of everyday questions
individuals would ask regarding obligations or oughts that each classical
ethical theory requires. Stackhouse suggests three concepts for classifica-
tion: “the right,” “the good” and “the fitting.” The right concerns itself
with universal ethical principles, the good is concerned with an individual’s
purpose or goals within ethical action and the fitting is concerned with how
to act within a particular situation. Each one of these concepts and the
corresponding questions align with an established subdiscipline within eth-
ical philosophy. Deontological ethical philosophy is concerned with what is
ultimately right and thus with one’s duty towards universal principles (the
right). Teleology is an ethical philosophy that concerns itself with purposes
or goals of the individual (the good), and ethology is an ethical philosophy
that concerns itself with specific individuals in specific settings (the fitting)
(Ewest 2017). See Table 2.1.
Ironically, in most discussions and research exploring the connection
between leadership and ethics, there is little or no mention of these classical
ethical theories, and very few leadership scholars build directly on the
theories, with only a few exceptions (Ciulla 2014; Ewest 2015). Moreover,
no leadership theory is holistic, including ethical philosophies from each
area of the rubric of the ethical subdisciplines—deontological, teleological
and ethological. Ciulla (2014) captures this in her book addressing ethics
and leadership by saying, “Philosophic writings on ethics are frequently
ignored or rejected because the writing is obtuse or tedious and the content
appears irrelevant to people writing about ethics in their own area of
research or practice” (p. 5).
Specifically, when leadership literature refers to a leader as being ethical, it
is, for the most part, with the possible exception being virtue theory, not
referring to any of the classical philosophical ethical theories but instead to a
leader who holds to a specific set of rational behavioral principles that are
28 2 THE CHALLENGES WITHIN ETHICAL LEADERSHIP THEORIES

Table 2.1 Categories of ethical concepts

Ethical concepts Established ethical subdisciplines Established

ethical theories

The right thing to do asks, “What Deontological morals argue Kantian

are the overarching universal that we are to make decisions Religious
principles and our duty to these based on our duty to the
principles?” universal
The good thing to do asks, “What is Teleological morals focus on Utilitarianism
the purpose or goal?” ends or goals that ought to be Social contract
sought
The fitting thing to do asks, “What Ethological morals are Virtue
is happening in this particular concerned with specific Ethical egoism
situation?” individuals and/or with specific Ethical altruism
settings

deemed ethical (Levine and Boaks 2014; Northouse 2015). Alternatively,

in a few cases, ethical leadership theories, while not directly based on
classical philosophical ethical theories, are based on research exploring the
behaviors or values of those who are labeled by the perception of their
followers as ethical leaders, and then the findings reference classical leader-
ship theories if and when they support the findings. The absence of classical
philosophical ethical theories as an anchor, frame or direct reference for
ethical leadership theories, and an expectation that leaders will model what
is normatively appropriate behavior, is an attestation to the caricature that
leadership and ethics must somehow be conjoined.
A survey of leadership theories that have professed connections to ethics
demonstrates an absence of classical ethical theories. And, without a con-
nection to an ethical theory to act as a rubric or a reference, leaders who
practice these professed ethical leadership theories must become self-
referencing, dependent on their own self-reflection (assessment) alone to
determine the appropriateness of their behavior and the congruence of the
behavior with ethical leadership theory. Correspondingly, the emphasis on
self-awareness results in a self-assessed sense of rightness, or a self-
righteousness, that can culminate in possible self-deception (Price 2003).
Ethical rubrics or frameworks derived from classical ethical theories
provide boundaries, logics and guidance for ethical thinking, and, since
most ethical leadership theories are devoid of connections to classical ethical
theories, ethical leadership theories lack ethical grounding and need
 CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHICAL ETHICS’ PLACE WITHIN LEADERSHIP. . . 29

external accountability (Petrick and Quinn 2001). A brief overview of

specific ethically based leadership theories that have been deemed to have
positive outcomes for leaders and followers demonstrates this reality. These
credible leadership theories include EL, AL, SL, TL and spiritual leadership
(Toor and Ofori 2009). Each of these theories has as a key component
ethical behavior, but in each case ethics is used not in reference to the
classical established ethical theory but instead indicates that leaders will
model what is expected, normatively appropriate ethical behavior (Brown
et al. 2005), and, without a classical ethical theory as a reference, the leader
is left with only the self to reference and is thus exposed to self-deception
(Price 2003).
For example, one of the most widely used classical leadership theories,
which has a professed, albeit tacit, connection to classical ethical theory, is
transformational leadership. Bass and Riggio (2006) and Burns (1978) have
asserted that TL leaders can solve the world’s most critical problems and do
so through a leader’s adherence to ethical values (Kocsis 2002). Transfor-
mational leadership justifies and frames the appropriateness of these ethical
normative leadership behaviors based on Rawls’ (2009) theory of justice,
which defines both the values and corresponding behaviors of justice and
fairness. Some of the behaviors that illustrate the values of justice and
fairness are displayed with typically prescribed behaviors of the TL theory,
such as inspiring a vision within the community, empowering, listening and
helping communities become self-sustaining. While some of the ethical
leadership behaviors required for TL align with Rawls’ ethical framework,
a classical established ethical theory, other leadership behaviors do not and,
for example, emphasize influencing a group to arrive at the best outcomes
(e.g., challenge the process, see Kouzes and Posner 2012). Without
accountability to an ethical framework, TL leaders can demonstrate the
prescribed TL behaviors and be perceived as leaders by their followers,
but they can still lead with unethical goals (Parry and Proctor-Thomson
2002), behaving ethically only as a means to hide self-serving goals. Burns
regarded these leaders as pseudo-transformational leaders. A lack of TL
behaviors anchored in classical ethical theories, which arguably leads to
individual leaders who are self-referencing, and the existence of pseudo-
transformational leaders are both attestations to the bifurcation between
ethics and leadership.
Recognizing the concerns raised by the reality of pseudo-
transformational leadership, Bass and Steidlmeier (1999) developed AL
theory as a corrective. In some respects, each of these leadership theories
30 2 THE CHALLENGES WITHIN ETHICAL LEADERSHIP THEORIES

is an attempt to get to an understanding of authentic ethical leadership

behavior. According to AL, the development of a leader is predicated on the
leader’s development of a positive ethical climate. Authentic leadership
theory was developed at a time when an ethical crisis was contributing to
financial and social crises and was dominating the headlines, which created a
clamor for trustworthy leadership. Luthans and Avolio (2003) argued that a
person with positive psychological capacities, operating in an ethical climate
and motivated by altruism, can use his or her own life experiences to form an
AL style that has as normatively appropriate behavior self-awareness, ethical
reasoning, balanced processing and transparency. Yet the same issues
arise with AL as are found in TL, specifically the reality of pseudo-
transformational leadership, and may be the result of a lack of articulation
with a classical ethical theory.
As mentioned earlier, Price (2003) argues that leaders may have positive
psychological characteristics but can be blinded by their own intrapersonal
values and in turn create a self-righteousness that doesn’t allow them to see
that their self-perceived moral convictions are immoral and self-serving.
Specifically, leaders can feel justified or moral in their actions and be
unethical since there is no patent connection to classical ethical frameworks.
But this may also illustrate the reality that leaders may not be aware of their
personal motivations, as will be discussed in Chap. 3.
The social change model (SCM), which was also an adaptation of Burns’
(1978) TL model, is a values-centered approach focusing on self-
knowledge, service and collaboration (Komives and Wagner 2009). This
model focuses on creating positive community change, but it suffers from
some of the same shortcomings already noted—a general lack of attribution
of leadership behaviors to classical philosophical ethical theories—and with
a lack of an ethical framework to provide boundaries, logic and guidance for
ethical thinking, the leader may in turn rely on ethics based on self-
knowledge, thus leading to self-deception (Price 2003).
Servant leadership, while not theoretically connected to TL, does empha-
size ethical principles as a necessary component, specifically ten principles
acting as virtues or guidelines. While SL does not directly articulate with
classical ethical philosophical theories, some scholars have connected SL to
virtue theory (Whetstone 2001), although the classical rigor and analysis of
virtue theory is not directly referenced in servant leadership. Normatively
appropriate behaviors are listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persua-
sion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to growth and
building community. Generally, SL leaders serve others by paying close
 CLASSICAL PHILOSOPHICAL ETHICS’ PLACE WITHIN LEADERSHIP. . . 31

attention to the unique needs of the people who follow them (Greenleaf
1977). Consider Greenleaf’s (1977) classic statement: “The servant leader
is servant first. It begins with a natural feeling that one wants to serve, to
serve first. Then conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead” (p. 27).
Servant leadership is also actuated by self-awareness (Johnson 2011), but, as
discussed, self-awareness when operative also opens itself to the possibility of
self-deception.
Ethical leadership is different from other positive ethical leadership the-
ories. While the other positive ethical leadership theories have an ethical
component, EL has a dedicated emphasis on ethical normatively appropri-
ate behavior, including considerate behavior, honesty, trust in the leader
and interactional fairness. Ethical leadership also incorporates social learning
theory, which dictates that leaders are responsible for rewarding, punishing
and modeling appropriate leadership behaviors to followers. Brown et al.
(2005) summarize this with the following, suggesting that EL is, “The
development 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. 129). Ethical leadership is still in its infancy but presents the
same challenges theoretically as do the other leadership theories discussed in
that there is no connection to classical ethical theory to act as an anchor or
guide, and thus ethical leaders can fall victim to their own moral self-
deception.
Other emerging leadership theories such as spiritual leadership (Fry
2003) may not suffer from the same overt focus on normatively appropriate
behavior as found in other leadership theories. Fry (2003) defines ethical
well-being as authentically living one’s values, attitudes, and behavior from
the inside-out in creating a life that is principled-center congruent with the
universal (Cashman 1998; Covey 1991; Fry 2003). Again, spiritual leader-
ship does not have direct articulation with and connection to classical ethical
philosophies and thus opens up the leader to moral self-deception; however,
the focus on internal intrinsic values does suggest more theoretical simili-
tude to prosocial leadership.
Each of these credible positive leadership theories is an attestation to the
caricature of ethical leadership as connected to and thus representing clas-
sical ethical understandings and perspectives. Yet, none uses classical ethical
theories as a framework. Each of these theories defaults to self-reflection or
self-awareness and thus opens itself up to self-deception. Generally, leader-
ship theories’ connection with classical ethical theories is insubstantial or at
32 2 THE CHALLENGES WITHIN ETHICAL LEADERSHIP THEORIES

best still emerging (Mayer et al. 2009), and thus ethical leadership theories
prescribe that their exemplary leaders depend on self-reflection and adhere
to prescribed normatively appropriate behavior as depicted by the adopted
theory. The indication is that a more direct and immediate connection to
classical ethical theories is needed to avoid self-deception, which leads to
moral ambiguity initially at the personal level. Ultimately, this affects fol-
lowers since they can be held hostage to the leader’s self-serving and
possibly self-affirming morals, devoid of consideration of others’ needs.

ETHICAL LEADERSHIP AND NORMATIVE ETHICAL ACTION THEORY

The caricature of leadership theories as being ethical and thus representing,
even tacitly, classical ethical theories is but one of the challenges to be
considered. A second caricature is the restricting of leadership ethics to
normative action ethical theory without consideration of any of the other
categories of normative ethical discourse, forsaking a more holistic under-
standing of ethics’ role in ethical leadership behavior.
Veatch (2016) provides a clear description of the levels of moral dis-
course, which acts as a holistic depiction of the levels of classical moral
reasoning found within classical ethical philosophy. The four levels
presented by Veatch include cases, rules and rights, normative ethics and
metaethics. Cases, Veatch (2016) argues, are frequently the starting place
for moral discourse. Cases typically act in an advisory role by providing
examples for comparing a present ethical dilemma with similar ethical
situations, where the dilemma was resolved within acceptable ethical param-
eters. Here, the person draws upon knowledge of similar features between
the present case and the paradigm case that acts as a guide. For example, a
religious person may draw from biblical narratives, or a physician may draw
upon a previously established patient case where there is general agreement
among colleagues. However, if new ethical issues arise that the established
paradigm represented by cases cannot solve, or if there are disagreements
between paradigm cases, then this level of moral reasoning becomes inad-
equate. For example, if the childhood paradigm story (case) of George
Washington and the cherry tree is used to resolve the moral dilemma of a
whistle blower who loses his job, the two stories, or cases, stand in opposi-
tion and the paradigm case is inadequate (Veatch 2016).
The second level of moral discourse or reasoning involves rules and
rights. Rules and rights are grounded in a moral system that outlines
behavioral norms and beliefs about right and wrong, where the authority
Another random document with
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ofreçiesse[412] me tocaua poco a
mi, y menos me daua por ello.
Miçilo.—Dime, si en vna
quaresma sabias que algun
feligres estaua en algun pecado
mortal, de alguna enemistad o en
amistad viçiosa de[413] alguna
muger, ¿qué hazias? No
trabajauas por hazer a los vnos
amigos, y a los otros vuscar
medios honestos y secretos como
los apartar del pecado?
Gallo.—Esos cuydados ninguna
pena me dauan. Proprios eran del
proprio pastor cura: viniesse a
verlos y proueerlos. Comiasse él
en cada vn año treçientos
ducados que valia el benefficio
paseandose por la corte, y auia
yo de lleuar toda la carga por dos
mil marauedis? No pareçe cosa
justa.
Miçilo.—¡Ay de las almas que lo
padeçian! Ya me pareçe que te
auias obligado con aquella
condiçion; que el cura su culpa
pagara.
Gallo.—Dexa[414] ya esto; y
quiero te contar vn
aconteçimiento que passé en un
tiempo, en el qual juntamente
siendote graçioso verás y
conoçerás la vanidad desta vida,
y el pago que dan sus viçios y
deleytes. Y tambien verás el
estado en que está el mundo, y
los engaños y laçiuia de las
peruersas y malas mugeres, y el
fin y daño que sacan los que a
sus suçias conuersaçiones se
dan; y viniendo al caso sabras,
que en vn tiempo yo fue vn muy
apuesto y agraçiado mançebo
cortesano y de buena
conuersaçion, de natural criança y
contina residençia en la corte de
nuestro Rey. Hijo de vn valeroso
señor de estado y casa real; y por
no me dar más a conoçer, basta,
que porque haze al proçeso de mi
historia te llego a dezir, que entre
otros preuillejios y gajes que
estauan anejos á nuestra casa,
era vna compañia de çien[415]
lanças de las que estan en las
guardas del Reyno, que llaman
hombres de armas de guarniçion.
Pues passa ansi que en el año
del señor de mil y quinientos y
veynte y dos, quando los
françesses entraron en el Reyno
de Nauarra con gran poder, por
tener ausente a nuestro prinçipe,
Rey y Señor, se juntaron todos los
grandes y señores de Castilla;
guiando por gouernador y capitan
general el condestable Don Yñigo
de Velasco para yr en la defensa
y amparo y restituçion de aquel
Reyno, porque se auian ya
lançado los françesses hasta
Logroño; y ansi por ser ya mi
padre viejo y indispuesto me
cometio y dió el poder de su
capitania con çedula y liçençia del
Rey; y ansi quando por los
señores gouernadores fue
mandado mouer, mandé a mi sota
capitan y alferez que caminassen
con su estandarte, siendo todos
muy bien proueydos y basteçidos
por nuestra reseña y alarde;
porque yo tenia çierto negoçio en
Logroño en que me conuenia
detener le mandé que guiassen, y
por mi carta se pressentassen al
Señor Capitan General, y yo
quedé allí; y despues quando
tuue acabado el negoçio parti con
vn escudero mio que á la contina
le lleuaba para mi conpañia y
serviçio en vn roçin; y luego como
entramos en[416] Nauarra fue
auisado que las mugeres en
aquella tierra eran grandes
hechizeras encantadoras, y que
tenian pacto y comunicaçion con
el demonio para el effecto de su
arte y encantamiento, y ansi me
auisauan que me guardasse y
viuiesse recatado, porque eran
poderosas en peruertir los
honbres y avn en conuertirlos en
vestias y piedras si querian; y
avnque en la verdad en alguna
manera me escandalizasse,
holgué en ser auisado, porque la
neçedad como es regoçijada
reçibe pasatiempo con
semejantes cosas; y tanbien
porque yo de mi cogeta fue
affiçionado a semejantes
aconteçimientos. Por tanto yua
deseoso de encontrarme con
alguna que me encantasse, y avn
yua de voluntad y pensamiento de
trocar por alguna parte de aquella
arte el fauor del prinçipe y su
capitania; y caminando vna
mañana[417] yendo reboluiendo
estas cosas en mi pensamiento,
al bajar de vna montaña me apeé
por estender las piernas, y
tanbien porque descansasse algo
mi cauallo, que començaua ya
algo el sol a calentar; y ansi como
fue apeado tirandole de las orejas
y estregandole el rostro di la
rienda a mi escudero Palomades
que ansi se llamaua,
mandandole[418] que caminasse
ante mi; y en esto bolui la cabeça
atras y veo venir tras mi vn
honbre en vna vestia, el qual en
su habito y trato luego que llegó
me pareçió ser de la tierra; por lo
qual y por holgar yo mucho de la
conuersaçion le aguardé, y ansi
llegando a mi me saludó; y por el
semejante se apeó para bajar, y
luego començé a le preguntar por
su tierra y lugar, como en el
camino suele aconteçer y él me
dixo que era de una aldea
pequeña que estaua vna legua de
allí; y yo trabajaua meterle en
conuersaçion presumiendo dél
algun encogimiento, porque como
aquella tierra estuuiesse al
presente en guerras tratan con
nosotros con algun recato no se
nos osando confiar. Pero en la
verdad aquel honbre no mostró
mucha cobardia, mas antes
demasiada liberalidad. Tanto que
de sus hablas y razones
façilmente juzgaras ser otra cosa
que honbre, porque ansi con su
habla me embelleñó que casi no
supe de mi, y ansi del Rey y de la
Reyna, y de la guerra de los
françeses y castellanos venimos a
hablar de la costumbre y bondad
de la gente de la tierra, y el
çiertamente vino a hablar en ello
de buena voluntad. Començomela
a loar de fertil y viçiosa,
abundante de todo lo necesario, y
yo dixe: hombre honrrado yo
tengo entendido desta tierra todo
el cunplimiento entre todas las
prouinçias del mundo, y que la
gente es de buena habilidad y
injenio, y las mugeres veo tanbien
que son hermosas y de apuesta y
agraçiada representacion; y ansi
él me replicó: por cierto, Señor,
ansi es como sentis: y entre todas
las otras cosas quiero que sepais
que las mugeres, demas de su
hermosura, son de admirable
habilidad, en tanta manera que en
saber exçeden a quantas en el
mundo son. Entonçes yo le
repliqué deseando saber de su
sçiençia; importunandole me
dixesse algo en particular de su
saber; y él me respondió en tanta
abundançia que toda mi atençion
lleuaua puesta en lo que el dezia.
Diziendo: señor, mandan el sol y
obedeçe, a las estrellas fuerçan
en su curso, y a la luna quitan y
ponen su luz conforme a su
voluntad. Añublan los ayres, y
hazen si quieren que se huelle y
paseen como la tierra. Al fuego
hazen que enfrie, y al agua que
queme. Hazense moças y en vn
punto viejas, palo, piedra y vestia.
Si les contenta vn honbre en su
mano está gozar dellos[419] a su
voluntad; y para tenerlos mas
aparejados a este effecto los
conuierten en diuersos animales
entorpeçiendoles sus[420]
sentidos y su buena naturaleza.
Han podido tanto con su arte que
ellas mandan y los honbres
obedeçen, o les cuesta la vida.
Porque quieren vsar de mucha
libertad yendo de dia y de noche
por caminos, valles y sierras a
hazer sus encantos y a coxer sus
yeruas y piedras, y hazer sus
tratos y conçiertos. Lleuauame
con esto tan traspuesto en si que
ningun acuerdo tenia de mi
quando llegamos al lugar; y
cabalgando en nuestras vestias
nos metimos[421] por el pueblo, y
queriendo yo passar adelante me
forçó con grande importunidad y
buena criança que quisiesse
apearme en su posada porque
seruia a vna dueña valerosa que
acostunbra reçebir semejantes
caualleros en su casa de buena
voluntad; y como fuesse llegada
la hora del comer holgué de me
apear. Salionos a reçebir vna
dueña de alta y buena
dispusiçion, y[422] avnque
representaua alguna edad tenia
ayre y desenboltura de moça, y
en viendome se vino para mi con
vna boz y habla halagüeña y muy
de presto dispuso toda la casa y
aparato con tanto seruiçio como si
fuera casa de un principe o
poderoso señor; y quando miré
por mi guia no la vi; porque
entrando en casa se me
desapareçió; y segun pareçe por
todo lo que passó antes y
despues no puedo creer sino que
aquella muger tenia aquel
demonio por familiar en hábito y
figura de honbre. Porque segun
mostró en su habla, trato y
conuersaçion no creo otra cosa,
sino que le tenia para enbiarle a
caza de hombres quando para su
apetito y recreaçion le daua la
voluntad. Porque ansi me cazó a
mi como agora oyras. Luego
como llegamos, con mil regalos y
ofreçimientos dispuso la comida
con grande aparato, con toda la
diligençia y soliçitud posible; en
toda abundançia de frutas, flores
y manjares de mucho gusto y
sabor, y los vinos muy preçiados
en toda suauidad, seruidos de
diuersas dueñas y donzellas, que
casi pareçian diferentes con cada
manjar. Tubome la fiesta en
mucho regocijo y passatiempo en
vna sala baja que caya sobre un
huerto de frutas y de flores muy
suabes; ya me pareçia que por
poco me quedara alli, sino fuera
porque ansi como en sueño me
acordé de mi viaje y compañia, y
aconsideré que corria gran peligro
mi honrra si me descuydasse; y
ansi sospirando me leuanté en pie
proponiendo yr con la posible
furia a cunplir con la guerra y
luego boluerme a gozar de aquel
parayso terrenal. Y ansi la maga
por estar muy contenta de mi
buena dispusiçion me propuso a
quedarme aquella noche alli;
diziendo que ella no queria, ni
tenia quanta prosperidad y
aparato poseya sino para seruir y
hospedar semejantes caualleros.
Prinçipalmente por auer sido su
marido vn castellano de gran
valor, al qual amó sobre todas las
cosas desta vida, y ansi no podia
faltar a los caualleros castellanos,
por representarsele qualquiera
dellos aquellos sus primeros
amores que ella a la contina tenia
ante sus ojos presente. Pero
como avn yo no auia perdido del
todo mi juizio y vso de razon
trabajé de agradeçerle con
palabras acompañadas de mucho
cumplimiento y criança la merçed
que me hazia; con protestaçion
que acabada la guerra yo vernia
con mas libertad a la seruir. No le
pessó mucho a la maga mi
defensa como esperaua antes de
la mañana satisfazerse de mi
mucho a su voluntad; y ansi me
dixo: pues señor, presupuesto
que teneis conoçido el deseo que
tengo de os seruir, y confiando
que cumplireis la palabra que me
dais, podreis hazer lo que
querreis; y por mas os seruir os
daré un criado mio que os guie
quatro leguas de aqui, donde os
vays a dormir con mucho solaz.
Porque tengo alli una muy
valerosa sobrina que tiene vn
fuerte y muy hermoso castillo en
vna muy deleytosa floresta que
estará quatro leguas de aqui,
llegando esta noche allí, no
perdiendo xornada para vuestro
proposito, por ser mia la guia y
por la graçia de mi sobrina que
tiene por costunbre[423] hospedar
semejantes caualleros, como yo,
os hospedará, y allí pasareis esta
noche mucho a vuestro contento
y solaz; yo le bessé las manos
por tan gran merçed, la qual
açepté; y luego salió el viejo que
me truxo allí cabalgando en vn
rozin y despidiendome de la
maga[424] començamos a
caminar. Fuemos hablando en
muchos loores de su señora, que
nunca acabaua de la
engrandeçer. Pues dixome: Señor
agora vays a este castillo donde
vereis vna donzella que en
hermosura y valor exçede a
quantas en el mundo ay; y
demandandole por su nonbre,
padres y calidad de estado me
dixo él: eso haré yo, señor, de
muy buena voluntad de os dezir,
porque despues desta mi señora
a quien yo agora siruo no creo
que ay en el mundo su igual, y a
quien con mejor voluntad
deseasse ni deua yo seruir por su
gran valor; y ansi Señor,
sabed[425] que esta donzella fue
hija de vn señor natural desta
tierra, del mejor linaje que en ella
ay, el qual se llamaua el gran
varon; y por su hermosura y linaje
fue demandada de muchos
caualleros de alta guisa, ansi
desta tierra como de Francia y
Castilla, y a todos los
menospreçió proponiendo de no
casar con otro sino con el hijo de
su rey; y siendo tratadas entre
ellos palabras de matrimonio
respondió el Rey de Nauarra que
tenia desposado su hijo con la
segunda hija del Rey de Françia,
y que no podia faltarle la palabra.
Por lo qual sintiendo ella afrenta
no auerle salido çierto su deseo,
por ser dama de alta guisa
propuso de nunca se casar hasta
oy; y ansi por auer en su linaxe
dueñas muy hadadas que la
hadaron, es ella la mas hadada y
sabia muger que en el mundo ay.
En tanta manera que por ser tan
sabia en las artes la llaman en
esta tierra la donzella Saxe hija
del gran varon; y ansi hablando
en esto fuemos a entrar en vna
muy hermosa y agraçiada floresta
de mucha y deleytable arboleda.
Por la qual hablando en estas[426]
y otras muchas cosas caminamos
al pareçer dos leguas hasta que
casi se acabó el dia. Y ansi casi
media hora antes que se pusiesse
el sol llegamos a vn pequeño y
muy apazible valle donde pareçia
que se augmentaua mas la
floresta con muchos jazmines
altos y muy graçiosos naranjos
que comunicauan en aquel
tiempo su oloroso azahar, y otras
flores de suabe y apazible olor.
En el medio del qual valle se
mostró vn fuerte y graçioso[427]
castillo que mostraua ser el
parayso terrenal. Era edificado de
muy altas y agraçiadas torres de
muy labrada canteria. Era labrado
de muy relumbrante marmol y de
jaspes muy finos, y del alabastro
y del musayco y moçaraues muy
perfetos y otras piedras de mucha
estima[428]. Pareciome ser dentro
de exçeso sin conparaçion más
polido, pues de fuera auia en el
tanta exçelençia. Y ansi fue que
como llamamos a la puerta del
castillo y por el portero fue
conoçida mi guia fueron abiertas
las puertas con mucha liberalidad,
y entramos a vn ancho patio; del
qual cada cuadro tenia seys
colunas de forma jonica, de fino
marmol, con sus arcos de la
mesma piedra, con vnas medallas
entre arco y arco que no les
faltaua sino el alma para hablar.
Eran las imagines de Piramo y
Tisbe, de Philis y Demophon; de
Cleopatra y Marco Antonio. Y ansi
todas las demas de los
enamorados de la antiguedad; y
antes que passe adelante quiero
que entiendas que esta donzella
Saxe de que aqui te contaré, no
era otra sino la vieja maga que en
el aldea al comer me hospedó. La
qual como le pareçiesse que no
se aprouechara de mi en su casa
tan a su plazer como aqui, tenia
por sus artes y industrias del
demonio esta floresta y castillo y
todo el seruiçio y aparato que
oyras, para holgar con quien
queria noches y dias como te
contaré. Por el friso de los arcos
del patio yua vna gruesa cadena
dorada que salia releuada en la
canteria, y vna letra que dezia:

«Quantos van en derredor,

son prisioneros de amor».

Auia por todo el torno ricas

imagines y piedras del Oriente, y
auia en los corredores altos
gruesas colunas enteras de
diamante, no sé si verdadero o
falso, pero oso juzgar que no auia
mas bella cosa en el mundo. Por
lo alto de la casa auia terrados de
muy hermosos y agraçiados
edefiçios, por los quales andauan
lindas y hermosas damas
vestidas de verde y de otros
amorosos colores, con guirnaldas
en las cabezas, de rosas y flores,
dançando a la muy suaue musica
de arpas y dulçaynas que les
tañian sin pareçer quién. Bien
puede qualquiera que aqui entre
afirmar que fuesse aqui el
parayso o el lugar donde el amor
fue naçido: porque aqui ni entra,
ni admiten en esta compañia cosa
que pueda entristeçer, ni dar
passion. No se vsa[429] aqui
otra[430] cosa sino[431] juegos,
plazeres, comeres, danzar, vaylar
y motexar. Y otras vezes juntas
damas y caualleros cantar musica
muy ordenada, que juzgaras estar
aqui los angeles en contina
conuersaçion y festiuidad. Nunca
alli entró cana, arruga, ni vejez;
sino solamente juuentud de doze
hasta treynta años, que se sepa
comunicar en todo deleyte y
plazer. En esta casa siempre es
abril y mayo, porque nunca en
todo el año el suaue y templado
calor y fresco les falta; porque
aquella diosa lo dispone con su
arte a medida de su voluntad y
neçesidad. Acompañanla aqui a
la contina muy valerosas damas
que ella tiene en su compañia de
su linaxe, y otras por amistad, las
quales atraen allí caualleros que
vienen en seguida de su valor.
Estos hazen la corte mas vfana y
granosa que nunca en casa de
Rey ni emperador tan adornada
de cortesania se vio. Porque
solamente entienden[432] en
inuençiones de traxes, justas,
danças y vayles; y otras a la
sonbra de muy apazibles arboles
nouelan, motejan, rien con gran
solaz; qual demanda questiones y
preguntas de amores; hazer
sonetos, coplas, villançicos, y
otras agudeças en que a la
contina reçiben plazer. Por lo alto
y por los xardines, por çima de
chopos, fresnos, laureles y
arrayanes, buelan calandrias,
sirgueros, canarios y ruyseñores
que con su musica hazen suaue
melodia. Estando yo mirando toda
esta hermosura ya medio fuera de
mi, se me pusieron delante dos
damas más de diuina que de
humana representaçion porque
tales pareçian en su habito, modo
y gesto; que todas venian
vestidas como de casa real.
Trayan muy ricos requamados,
joyas y piedras muy finas; rubies,
esmeraldas, diamantes, balajes,
zafires, jaçintos y de otras infinito
numero que no cuento. Estas
puestas ante mi con humilde y
agraçiado semblante, auiendoles
yo hecho la cortesia que a tales
damas se les deuia, con muy
cortés razonamiento me
ofreçieron el hospedaje y seruiçio
de aquella noche de parte de la
señora del castillo; y yo auiendo
açeptado la merçed con
hazimiento de graçias, me dixeron
estar me aguardando arriba; y
ansi dexando el cauallo a mi
escudero me guiaron por el
escalera. Avn no auiamos
acabado de subir quando vimos a
la bella Saxe que venia por el
corredor, la qual con aquella
cortesia y semblante me reçibió
como si yo fuera el Señor de todo
el mundo, y ansi fue de toda
aquella y trihunfante y agraçiada
corte tan reuerençiado y acatado
como si yo fuera todo el poder
que los auia de mandar. Era aquel
palaçio tan adornado y exçelente,
y tan apuesta aquella
bienauenturada[433] compañia
que me pareçe que mi lengua la
haze injuria en querertelo todo
pintar. Porque era ello todo de
tanto aparato y perfecçion, y mi
injenio de tan poca eloquençia
que es neçesario que baje su
hermosura y grandeza muy sin
comparaçion. Muchos abria a
quien yo contasse esta historia
que por su poca esperiençia les
pareçiese[434] manera de fingir.
Pero esfuerçome a te la pintar a ti
Miçilo más en la verdad que
puedo porque tengo entendido de
tu cordura que con tu buen crédito
debajo destas toscas y cortas
palabras entenderas lo mucho
que quiero sinificar. Porque
ciertamente era aquella corte y
compañia la más rica, la más
hermosa, agraçiada y generosa
que en el mundo nunca fue: ni
lengua humana con muy alta y
adornada eloquençia nunca
podria encareçer, ni pluma
escreuir. Era toda de florida y
bella edad, y sola entre todas
venia aquella mi bella diosa
relumbrando como el sol entre
todas las estrellas, de belleza
estraña. Era su persona de
miembros tan formados quanto
pudiera con la agudeza de su
ingenio pintar aquel famoso
Apeles con su pinçel. Los
cabellos luengos, rubios y
encrespados; trançados con vn
cordon de oro que venia a hazer
una injeniosa laçada sobre el lado
derecho de donde colgaua vn
joyel que no auia juizio que le
bastasse estimar[435]. Traya los
carrillos muy colorados de rosas y
jazmines, y la frente pareçia ser
de vn liso marfil; ancha,
espaciosa, llana y conueniente,
que el sol hazia eclipsar con su
resplandor. Debajo de dos arcos
de çejas negras como el fino
azabache le estan baylando dos
soles piadosos a alunbrar a los
que los miran, que pareçia estar
amor jugando en ellos y de alli
disparar tiros gentiles con que
visiblemente va matando a
qualquier hombre que con ellos
echa de ver. La nariz pequeña y
afilada, en que naturaleza mostró
su perfeçion. Muestrasse debajo
de dos pequeños valles la chica
boca de coral muy fino, y dentro
della al abrir y çerrar de un labrio
angelical se muestran dos hylos
de perlas orientales que trae por
dientes. Aqui se forman
çelestiales palabras que bastan
ablandar coraçones de diamante.
Aqui se forma vn reyr tan suaue
que a todos fuerça a obedeçer.
Tenia el cuello redondo, luengo y
sacado, y el pecho ancho, lleno y
blanco como la nieue, y a cada
lado puesta en él vna mançana
qual siendo ella diosa pudiera
poner en si para mostrar su
hermosura y perfeçion. Todo lo
demas que secreto está, como
cuerdo puedes juzgar
corresponder a lo que se muestra
de fuera en la mesma proporçion.
En fin en edad de catorçe años
escogió la hermosura que
naturaleza en vna dama pudo dar.
Pues visto lo mucho que te he
dicho de su veldad no te
marauillarás, Miçilo, si te digo que
de enamorado de su belleza me
perdi; y encantado salí de mí,
porque depositada en su mano mi
libertad me rendí a lo que de mí
quisiesse hazer.
Miçilo.—Por cierto no me
marauillo, Gallo, si perdiesses el
juizio por tan estremada
hermosura, pues a mi me tiene
encantado en solo te lo oyr.
Gallo.—Pues andando ansi,
como al lado me tomó,
siguiendonos toda aquella
graçiosa compañia, me yua
ofreçiendo con palabras de toda
cortesania á su subjeçion:
proponiendo nunca querer ni
demandar libertad, teniendo por
aueriguado que todo el mereçer
del mundo no podia llegar a
poseer joya de tan alto valor; y
avn juzgaua por bienanenturado
al que residiendo en su presençia
se le diesse sola su graçia sin
mas pedir. Hablando en muy
graçiosos requiebros,
faboreçiendome con vnos
ofreçimientos muy comedidos:
vnas vezes por mi persona, otras
diziendo que por quien me
embiaua alli. Entramos a vna gran
sala adornada de muy sumptuosa
y estraña tapiçeria: donde al cabo
della estaua vn gran estrado, y en
el medio dél vn poco más alto,
que mostraua alguna differencia
que se daua algo a sentir, estaua
debajo de un rico dosel de
brocado hecho el asiento de la
bella Saxe con muchos coxines,
debajo del qual junto consigo me
metio; y luego fue lleno todo el
estrado de graçiosas damas y
caualleros, y començando mucha
musica de menestriles se
començo vn diuino serao. Y
despues que todos aquellos
galanes huuieron dançado con
sus damas muy a su contento y
yo con la mia dançé, entraron en
la sala muchos pajes con muy
galanes libreas, con hachas en
sus manos, que los guiaua vn
maestresala que nos llamó a la
çena; y leuantandose todos
aquellos caualleros, tomando
cada qual por la mano a su dama
fuemos guiados por vna escalera
que deçendia sobre vn vergel,
donde estaua hecho vn paseo
debajo de vnos corredores altos
que cayan sobre la gran huerta; el
qual paseo era de largo de
doçientos pies. Eran todas las
colunas de verdadero jaspe
puestas por muy gentil y
agraçiado órden; todas çerradas
de arriba abajo con muy
entretexidos gazmines[436] y
rosales que dauan en aquella
pieza muy suave olor, con lo[437]
que lançauan de si muchos
clabeles y albahacas y naranjos
que estauan çerca de alli. Estaua
vna mesa puesta en el medio de
aquella pieza que era de largo
çien pies, puestos los manteles,
sillas y aparato, y ansi como
deçendimos a lo bajo començó a
sonar grandissimo numero y
differençia de musica: de
trompetas, cheremias,
sacabuches, dulçaynas, flautas,
cornetas y otras muchas
differençias de sonajas muy
graçiosas y apazibles que
adornauan mucho la fiesta y
engrandeçian la magestad y
enchian los coraçones de mucha
alegria y plazer. Ansi se sentaron
todos aquellos caualleros y
damas en la mesa, vna dama con
vn cauallero por su órden; y luego