Abstract
Evidence from a growing number of studies suggests leader character as a means to advance leadership knowledge and practice. Based on this evidence, we propose a process model depicting how leader character manifests in ethical leadership that has positive psychological and performance outcomes for leaders, along with the moderating effect of leaders’ self-control on the character strength–ethical leadership–outcomes relationships. We tested this model using multisource data from 218 U.S. Air Force officers (who rated their honesty/humility, empathy, moral courage, self-control, and psychological flourishing) and their subordinates (who rated their officer’s ethical leadership) and superiors (who rated the officers’ in-role performance). Findings provide initial support for leader character as a mechanism triggering positive outcomes such that only when officers reported a high level of self-control did their honesty/humility, empathy, and moral courage manifest in ethical leadership, associated with higher levels of psychological flourishing and in-role performance. We discuss the implications of these results for future theory development, research, and practice.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 765-781 |
Number of pages | 17 |
Journal | Journal of Business Ethics |
Volume | 160 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Dec 1 2019 |
All Science Journal Classification (ASJC) codes
- Business and International Management
- General Business, Management and Accounting
- Arts and Humanities (miscellaneous)
- Economics and Econometrics
- Law