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Leadership and Ethical Behavior

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Abstract

Leaders do not always take moral and ethical decisions; they may be on the dark side. Whether this is their true nature or just a result of the circumstances in which they find themselves is another matter, but the idea that leaders are always moral and ethical does not hold true. Institutional frameworks either prevent them from taking immoral and unethical decisions or provide them with legitimacy, approving of their actions. This chapter will discuss how and why leaders’ immoral and unethical actions are accepted and legitimacy is provided, or whether an institutional framework prevents such behavior. Perhaps the responsibility not only lies with dark leaders, but with the societies and organizations that somehow allow them to take unethical and immoral decisions.

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References

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Kurtulmuş, B.E. (2019). Leadership and Ethical Behavior. In: The Dark Side of Leadership. Palgrave Pivot, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-02038-5_6

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