Date

Class Agenda

Session 1

February 4

Topic: The Challenge of Ethical Leadership

Description: We begin this course with a case study from which to draw out some challenges involved in good leadership. This will set the tone for the framework of this course, which includes the intersection of learning from history, sociology and philosophical ethics—the lived experiences of leaders and their followers within historical, social, and cultural contexts. Also to include a short introduction to the field of leadership ethics.

Readings:

●      Read this syllabus

February 11

NO CLASS MEETING

(work on the readings and essay due for next class)

Session 2

February 18

Topic: Nelson Mandela: Are leaders just a projection of our deepest desires?

Description: Nelson Mandela was trained as a lawyer and was one of the leaders of the African National Congress starting in 1943, founding the ANC’s armed wing, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK), “the spear of the nation” in apartheid South Africa. This led to a 27 year imprisonment and emergence as the clear candidate for Presidency in Post-Apartheid South Africa. He was a master of the symbolic, an embodiment of the new virtues of racial healing and reconciliation. He was known as “Madiba” to his followers, which meant “father”. The narrative about him made him out to be a paragon of virtue, and even a saint. His autobiography played into these notions and his leadership in many ways become a mythology. In this class, we will discuss Mandela’s struggle with his image through the lens of Aristotle’s virtue ethics and ask why we try to make some leaders out to be “larger than life”. The sociology of leadership may provide some clues.

Readings:

1.     Ciulla, “Searching for Mandela: The insights of biographical research” from Leadership, vol. 12, issue 2. 2014.

2.     Ciulla, “Habits and Virtues: Does It Matter if a Leader Kicks a Dog?” from Rivista Internazionale di Filosofia e Psicologia, 5 (3).

3.     Watch “Virtue Ethics” by The Ethics Centre: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qs9QiczZvdU

Assignments/deadlines:

·       “What is Good Leadership?” Essay

Session 3

February 25

Topic: Steve Jobs: Does leadership effectiveness come at the expense of ethics?

Description: Jobs was a brilliant person and innovator but the record is not so good in terms of how he treated people. His biographer, Walter Issacson, explains that Jobs often treated his employees as means to an end. On the other hand, Jobs espoused the discipline of simplicity and self-control of Zen Buddhism, to which he ascribed throughout his career. Does a genius get a pass on ethics? We will consider here Immanuel Kant’s deontological ethics and apply it to Job’s relationship with his followers.

Readings:

1. Price, “Reason and Amoralism” in Chapter 2 of Leadership Ethics: An Introduction
2. Isaacson, W. “The Reality Distortion Field” from Steve Jobs

Assignments/deadlines:

·       Discussion leadership #1

Session 4

March 4

Topic: Angela Merkel: Is trust a better indicator of leadership than charisma?

Description: We explore and critique sociologist Max Weber’s view of the charismatic leader in this session. We are inspired or magnetically drawn to certain figures and the Western obsession with heroes is a powerful myth many grow up with. When we talk about leadership we often talk about people with a vision they want to impart to others.  Yet, is charisma a helpful notion when it comes to understanding the emotional relationship that is at the heart of leadership? We consider in this session the dynamics of trust and the justification based on ability or virtue that can drive leaders and followers to unethical ends. In part, we do this by exploring the life and leadership of Angela Merkel, 16 years the Chancellor of Germany, noticing how contrary she is to the charismatic mold, but yet how effective and stable she was as a leader.

Readings:

1.     Solomon, “The Myth of Charisma” from Ciulla The Ethics of Leadership

2.     Angela Merkel, Chancellor of Germany ch. 11 in Howell & Wanasika (2019) Snapshots of Great Leadership.

3.     Weber, “Legitimate Authority and Charisma” from Ciulla The Ethics of Leadership

Assignments/deadlines:

·       Discussion Leadership #2

·       Quiz #1

Session 5

March

11

Topic: Delores Huerta & Caesar Chavez: Is the courage of followers the real recipe for leadership?

Description: Delores Huerta was a somewhat overlooked and vital leader in

the Farm workers movement in California in the 20^th Century. Along with Caesar Chavez, she led a small group of dedicated Mexican-Americans who worked strategically for impoverished worker communities launching a movement for labor rights among powerful growers and state government. We will watch a recent documentary called Delores, which captures her dedication and sacrifice but more importantly her practice of the virtue of courage.

Reading:

1. Ganz, “Introduction: How David Beat Goliath” in Why David Sometimes Wins: Leadership, Organization, and Strategy in the California Farm Worker Movement
2. Chaleff: Ch. 4 “The Courage to Challenge” in The Courageous Follower: Standing Up to and For Our Leaders

Assignments/deadlines:

·       Discussion Leadership #3

Session 6

March 18

Topic: Sepp Blatter: Does power and self-interest corrupt leadership?

Description: Sepp Blatter was the President of Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) for 17 years brought down by scandal and corruption charges. Barbara Kellerman’s book Bad Leadership makes the case that unethical leaders are just as important to the study of leadership as ethical leaders. Bad leaders’ routes to deception and “exceptionalism” are instructive as they get us to explore the potentially corrupting influence of the power that comes from leadership.

Readings:

1.     “Sepp Blatter: Past President of FIFA”. In ch. 33 Howell & Wanasika (2019) Snapshots of Great Leadership.

2. Price, “Power and Self Interest” in Chapter 3 of Leadership Ethics: An Introduction

Assignments/deadlines:

·      Quiz #2

Session 7

March 25

Topic: Leymah Gbowee: How does a greater common purpose transform society?

Description: Leymah Gbowee is a Liberian social worker who led a women’s movement for peace during a civil war between the Liberian government under the dictator Charles Taylor and warlords in Sierra Leone. Her nonviolent struggle brought together Christian and Muslim women from the refugee camps who succeeded in forging a peace deal, the exile of Charles Taylor, and election of the first female African president. We will examine her tactics and how she practiced justice in the midst of bloodshed and crisis in the frame of Mill’s Ultiliatarianism and Burns’ Transforming Leadership.

Readings:

1.     “Leymah Gbowee: Liberian Leader of Women in Peacebuilding Network”, ch 25 in Howell & Wanasika (2019) Snapshots of Great Leadership.

2. Price, “The Greater Good” in Chapter 8 of Leadership Ethics: An Introduction

Assignments/deadlines:

·       Discussion leadership #4

April 1

Mid-term break: Enjoy!

Session 8

April 8

Topic: Milada Horáková: How is suffering transmuted into moral leadership?

Description: Milada Horáková was a Czech feminist, suffragist, Senator, Holocaust survivor and ultimately the victim of a communist show trial. She was the only woman out of 240+ convicted in 1950’s Czechoslovakia to receive the death penalty. She was well-acquainted with suffering but through her community, her religious faith, and her service to others made deep meaning in the midst of two totalitarian regimes: the Nazi Protectorate and Stalinist early communism in Czechoslovakia. Yet, she supported President Dr. Edvard Beneš removal of the Sudeten Germans after the war. We will consider the ethics of how we use suffering as a force for change and the good of society.

Reading:

·      Hayden & Hench, “One also has to know how to lose”: The Role of Suffering in Milada Horáková’s Spiritual Leadership. Chapter in Inspirational Women Leaders (2026)

·      Allison & Setterberg, Suffering and Sacrifice: Individual and Collective Benefits, and Implications for Leadership. In Allison et al (eds) Frontiers in Spiritual Leadership (2016)

Assignments/deadlines:

●      Discussion leadership #5

Session 9

April 15

Topic: Franz Kafka: What is absurd about leadership?

Description: This session will really be a discussion with author of Franz Kafka and the Truths of Leadership, Dr. Leah Tomkins. She is a leadership scholar who had the rare privilege at Oxford University to translate the original Kafka manuscripts and letters. You may know Kafka from his short stories, like Metamorphosis, but you may not know that he was a policy maker and legal strategist for the Workman’s Accident Insurance Institute in the Kingdom of Bohemia for 14 years working his way from assistant to Senior Secretary. He knew quite a bit about being in power as well as being an underdog. Showcasing how power hinges on control of the narrative, Tomkins will argue that Kafka is extraordinarily relevant for our ‘post-truth’ world, where truth is often up for grabs and authority belongs to whoever can spin the most compelling fictions and fantasies.

Reading:

·       Tomkins, Introduction and selected chapters, Franz Kafka and the Truths of Leadership, 2024.

Assignments:

·      Bring your questions for Leah Tomkins to class!

Session 10

April 22

Topic: Indra Nooyi: How do the obligations of membership affect responsible leadership?

Description: As CEO of PepsiCo, Indian-born Indra Nooyi introduced social responsibility into her multinational corporation in a way few have done before. Some say the purpose of business is simply to maximize profits, some say the balance of profits and social responsibility, but Nooyi found ways to take a soft drink company and make it responsive to a health and environmental crisis. We will discuss how she accomplished this and why in a competitive business environment. We will explore the special obligations and contingencies of business leaders like Nooyi as well as the moral framework of communitarianism.

Readings:

·      “Indra Nooyi: CEO of PepsiCo,” ch. 21 in Howell & Wanasika (2019) Snapshots of Great Leadership.

• Price, “Membership and Moral Particularity” in Chapter 7 of Leadership Ethics: An Introduction

Assignments/deadlines:

·       Discussion leadership #6

·       Quiz #3

Session 11

April 29

Topic: Jacinda Ardern: Is compassionate pragmatism possible for leaders to sustain?

Description: As the youngest prime minister in New Zealand’s history, Jacinda Ardern could be seen as an example of a new paradigm of leadership in government. She faced several crises including a terrorist attack on a NZ mosque and COVID-19. Leading right up to her resignation as Prime Minister, Ardern also faced misogynistic assertions of her opponents, as well as the media, as she sought to address some of the most difficult issues facing any government. We will discuss the ethics of compassion in public leadership in this session.

Reading:

1. Simpson et. al. (2022) “Theorizing compassionate leadership from the case of Jacinda Ardern: Legitimacy, paradox and resource conservation.”
2. Listen to Dr. Suze Wilson & Dr. Brad Jackson - Appreciative Reflections on the Leadership of Jacinda Ardern: https://practicalwisdom.buzzsprout.com/979897/episodes/12320442-dr-suze-wilson-dr-brad-jackson-appreciative-reflections-on-the-leadership-of-jacinda-ardern  Phronesis: Practical Wisdom for Leaders podcast (Scott J. Allen)

Assignments/deadlines:

• Discussion leadership #7

Session 12

May 6

Topic: Václav Havel: Under what circumstances do the powerless prevail?

Description: We will discuss the life of Václav Havel as a playwright, community-builder, founder of Charter 77, failure and imprisonment, intellectual influences, and Civic Forum facilitator and moral force. He was nicknamed “The Carbon” because of his ability to bond people together for a common purpose, but he also challenged his countrymen to take responsibility and shoulder the work of recovery from 40 years of a repressive communist system. We will discuss the theological virtue of hope in the context of dissident leadership actions of Havel that brought him into the Presidency of the Czech Republic.

Reading:

1. Hayden, (2024) “Leadership and the Ethics of Hope: Lessons from Charter 77 Human Rights in Czechoslovakia” in Leadership.

Assignments/deadlines:

·      Discussion leadership #8

·      Quiz #4

Session 13

May 13

Topic: Everyday Leadership and Ethics

Description: Students will share their insights from their comparative ethical leadership analysis research papers. We will draw out some commonalities and students will be asked to write in class about the dominant themes about ethics and leadership that they have observed across the leaders we have studied. We will conclude with a discussion of the morally relevant features of leadership in light of living in a post-truth world.

Reading:

1.     Price, “Everyday Leadership Ethics” in Chapter 9 of Leadership Ethics: An Introduction

2.     Alvehus, Sweet little lies? Towards a mendaciology of leadership. Leadership, 2025

Assignments/deadlines:

• Comparative Leadership Analysis Paper due