10 Virtues of Outstanding Leaders: Leadership and Character - Paperback

by Al Gini (Author), Ronald M. Green (Author)

What makes a good leader? Ten leaders, ten key virtues

This readable distillation of the core common features of successful leaders shows how an individual's character, and especially their virtue, is the defining factor. Without these ten vital virtues, leadership becomes "misleadership." The authors, both renowned business ethicists, combine theory with fascinating biographical detail on exemplary leaders such as Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, and Oprah Winfrey. The result is an accessible text on the ethics of leadership which, unlike many publications that claim to reveal the secrets of success as a leader, is informed by a wealth of exceptional academic experience.

Back Jacket

Arguing that an individual's character--particularly as constituted by ten particular virtues--is the core factor in determining leadership ability, this book offers a fresh perspective on a subject which has spawned hundreds of books claiming to share the secret ingredients of a leader's success. Here, exemplars as varied as Abraham Lincoln, Winston Churchill, Steve Jobs, and Oprah Winfrey provide the evidence for ten core leadership virtues that combined to make them figures of inspiration and influence.

The authors bring their decades of scholarship in business, ethics, philosophy, and leadership to bear on a topic which could scarcely be more timely and resonant. They show how leadership is a lived process that involves more than facts and theories, and that missing key characteristics lends itself all too easily to the conduct of 'misleadership'. Time, place, issues, and circumstances may shape the outcomes of those aspiring to govern the actions of their fellows, but true leadership flows from an individual's character, ethical principles, and desire to be of service to others.

Author Biography

Al Gini is Professor of Business Ethics at Loyola University Chicago, USA, where he is also Chair of the Department of Management in the Quinlan School of Business. A co-founder and long-time associate editor of Business Ethics Quarterly, the journal of the Society for Business Ethics, Professor Gini has for 25 years been the resident philosopher on the NPR affiliate in Chicago, WBEZ-FM, and is a regular speaker on the public lecture circuit. His books include The Ethics of Business (2012), which he co-authored with Alexei Marcoux; Seeking The Truth of Things (2010); Why It's Hard to Be Good (2006); and The Importance of Being Lazy: In Praise of Play, Leisure and Vacations (2003).

Ronald M. Green is Eunice & Julian Cohen Professor for the Study of Ethics and Human Values at Dartmouth College, USA. He served as the director of Dartmouth's Ethics Institute from 1992 until 2011. Professor Green is actively involved in numerous fields of applied ethics, particularly bioethics and business ethics, and is a consultant to a number of leading corporations including Ogilvy & Mather. A former director of the National Institutes of Health's National Human Genome Research Institute, Professor Green has also been a member of the NIH's Human Embryo Research Panel. He was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship in 2005. Professor Green's many publications include The Ethical Manager (1993) and Babies by Design (2007).