12 Aug Responsible Leadership
Responsible leadership is a broad term used to convey a number of diverse elements that determine how ‘responsible’ a leader acts and behaves when conducting their business of making decisions about people and organisational performance. Responsible leadership is a reasonably new concept; therefore there is limited literature on this theory.
Maak and Pless discuss responsible leadership as an evolution from ‘leader-subordinate’ relationship and moving to ‘leader-stakeholder’ relationship. This subtle but important differentiation significantly widens the scope and meaning of responsible leadership to encompass a more diverse group where relationships become the focus of leadership. Responsible leadership also means leading by example. Pless describes responsible leadership as a:
“ …values-based and thorough ethical principles-driven relationship between leaders and stakeholders who are connected through a shared sense of meaning and purpose through which they raise one another to higher levels of motivation and commitment for achieving sustainable values creation and social change” (Pless 2007, p.438).
The related leadership style of ethical leadership is connected to responsible leadership theory. While responsible leadership focuses on relationship factors with stakeholder to achieve effective outcomes, ethical leadership is concerned with influencing stakeholders, particularly employees, by conducting business in an ethically manner and demonstrating ethical behaviours.
Are you a responsible leader? Is your approach consistent in this context of responsible leadership? Are you ensuring stakeholders are provided with the right level of communication, direction and autonomy to allow them to be successful?
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