Responsible leadership and reasonable action

Abstract

Mainstream leadership practices often create negative impacts on nature, future generations and society as a whole. The principle of responsible leadership requires leaders to achieve their objectives in ecological, future-respecting and pro-social ways. Responsible leadership is consistent with the concept of reason advocated by Indian-American economist Amartya Sen. Reason is the discipline of subjecting one’s choice of action to reasoned scrutiny. Leadership choices should satisfy the criteria of ‘ecological reason’, ‘reason for future generations’, and ‘social reason’. Spirituality plays a major role in developing responsible leadership. The spiritually enlightened leader goes beyond self-interested calculations and exercises genuine empathy toward others while benefitting from an all-encompassing perspective.