Examining how leader character strengths and ethical leadership relate to leader outcomes

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 integrity, moral courage, empathy, self-control, and psychological flourishing), 218 of their subordinates (who rated their officer's ethical leadership), and 115 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 integrity, courage, and empathy 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.