Responsible Leadership Notes

Responsible Leadership

Introduction

Learning Objectives

  • Examine the importance of relationship building in leadership.

  • Define Responsible Leadership in terms of the different roles played by such a leader.

  • Explore perspectives on responsible leadership for achieving business sustainability.

  • Debate what characteristics, values, and competencies a leader must exhibit to drive sustainable practices.

  • Critically discuss barriers and tensions between short-term business pressures and sustainable responsible leadership.

VUB’s Profile for a Future-Oriented Business Economist (Kuppens et al., 2025)

A future-oriented business economist:

  • Deploys business knowledge in a targeted way for sustainable development.

  • Uses the planetary and social boundaries as a compass.

  • Follows (inter)national sustainability frameworks.

  • Is a systems thinker.

  • Thinks of the long run.

  • Exhibits regenerative leadership.

  • Takes a pluralistic view of the economy.

  • Reports transparently on sustainability efforts.

  • Is an entrepreneur with a multiple mission.

  • Explores new business models in the circular and biobased economy.

  • Is an inclusive entrepreneur.

  • Is able to develop policy instruments to embed sustainability within organizations.

Why Teach Responsible Leadership?

Ice-Breaker

  1. Think of a person whom you think is a good leader.

  2. What makes that person a good leader?

  3. Would you be able to be such a leader? Why (not)?

Leadership Etymology

  • Leadership stems from the Old English word ‘lædan’ (pronounced like lay-dan).

    • Meaning: to go before as a guide, directing.

  • The word leadership is associated with the idea of going somewhere with others.

  • But where do we want to go?

Responsible Leadership Defined

The adjective in front of the word 'leadership' highlights the direction we want to go:

  • Sustainable leadership: taking into account planet, people, and profit.

  • Regenerative leadership: focus on actively restoring and renewing nature.

  • Responsible leadership: take responsibility for the consequences of leadership.

  • Slightly differing focus, but with the same broader purpose in mind. In this session, the term 'responsible leadership' is used.

Defining Leadership

  • The process or activity of guiding/influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and motivation to accomplish an intended goal or outcome.

  • Focus is on collective processes of people working together toward common goals or collective leadership development efforts, rather than on an individual ‘leader’.

Aspects of Leadership

  • Socially constructed.

  • Inherently values-based.

  • Interdisciplinary (Dugan, 2017).

Snapshot of Leadership Theories

Modern Theories

  • Person-Centred Theories

    • Trait-based leadership

  • Theories of Production and Effectiveness

    • Situational leadership

  • Group-Centred Theories

    • Team leadership

  • Transformational Leadership Theories

    • Servant leadership; Transactional leadership

  • Relational Leadership

    • Reciprocity, connectedness, and interdependence

  • Vanguard Theories

    • Authentic; and Adaptive leadership

  • Justice-Based Leadership

    • Social change leadership

  • Dugan, J. P. (2017). Leadership theory: Cultivating critical perspectives. John Wiley & Sons; Chapters 3 - 10

Theoretical Frameworks

The Roles Model of Responsible Leadership

The roles do not reflect different persons, but one integrative being: the leader. (Maak & Pless, 2006)

Responsible Leadership Practice

A framework based on:

  • Authentic aptitude

  • Relational competence

  • Adaptive capability (Tirmizi, 2018)

Examples of Responsible Leaders

  • No leader is perfect!

  • Have you heard about any of these leaders?

  • What makes them responsible leaders?

Activity: Who Am I?

  • Using approximately 15 words, write a personal advert to answer the question “who am I?” (5 min)

Link with Inner Development

  • Sustainable development requires inner development.

Inner Development Goals (IDGs)

The Five Dimensions

  • Being - Relationship to Self

  • Thinking - Cognitive Skills

  • Relating - Caring for Others and the World

  • Collaborating - Social Skills

  • Acting - Enabling Change

Inner Development Goals

The 23 Skills and Qualities That Responsible Leaders Should Have

  • Being - Relationship to Self

    • Inner Compass

    • Integrity and Authenticity

    • Self-awareness

    • Presence

  • Thinking - Cognitive Skills

    • Openness and Learning Mindset

    • Critical Thinking

    • Complexity Awareness

    • Perspective Skills

    • Long-term Orientation and Visioning

    • Sense-making

  • Relating - Caring for Others and the World

    • Appreciation

    • Connectedness

    • Empathy and Compassion

    • Inclusive Mindset

  • Collaborating - Social Skills

    • Communication Skills

    • Co-Creation Skills

    • Intercultural Competence

    • Trust

  • Acting - Enabling Change

    • Courage

    • Creativity

    • Humility

    • Optimism

    • Perseverance

    • Mobilization Skills

Values for Responsible Leadership

  • Responsibility: being accountable for decisions and their impact on people, society, and the planet.

  • Integrity: acting in alignment with ethical principles, even when it’s difficult.

  • Empathy: understanding and caring about the needs, concerns, and perspectives of others.

  • Fairness: promoting equal treatment, inclusion, and social justice.

  • Transparency: community openly and honestly about intentions, choices, and consequences.

  • Sustainability: making decisions that consider future generations and ecological boundaries.

Values for Responsible Leadership

Scholars are calling for questioning our basic ideas about capitalism and the roles of business in society. For instance, in business education we saw the following clusters of business economists (Janssens et al., 2024):

  • Following an external driver

    • A businessperson should only take responsibility if they could get eco- certification for this. (12)

    • A businessperson should choose the cheapest option to produce goods and services, even if this means that production should take place in regions where working conditions are worse compared to our standards. (17)

    • If a businessperson wants to take responsibility, they should only do what is requested to get a green label. (14)

    • A businessperson should only take responsibility for sustainability if consumers demand sustainable products. (9)

    • A businessperson should only take responsibility for the environment if there are laws protecting the environment. (5)

    • A businessperson can pay more attention to sustainability, only if laws and regulations from the government request more sustainable actions from businesses. (13)

    • A businessperson should only act for more sustainability when the government imposes laws and regulation to do so. (20)

    • A businessperson has to produce what consumers want, even when customers ask for unsustainable products. (7)

  • Profit

    • A businessperson should mainly think about making profit but while doing so, try to be sustainable. (11)

    • A businessperson should focus on making profits. (1)

  • Internally driven

    • A businessperson needs to be sensitive to the needs of nature including animals. (16)

    • When taking a business decision, a businessperson needs to think first about the social and environmental impact that the decision creates. (15)

Business Case

Identification of a Business Case

Transform groups of 4 students and identify a business that is performing badly and that requires responsible leadership, such as:

  • a business that came into the news because of pollution

  • a business that does not protect human rights (e.g. child labor)

  • a business that is known for its authoritative leadership practices

  • a business with high burnout rates

  • …
    What makes you decide that this business can benefit from responsible leadership?

Stakeholder Identification

  • Identify at least 4 stakeholders, one in each quadrant

    • high power, low interest

    • low power, low interest

    • low power, high interest

    • high power, high interest

Stakeholder Concerns (Deep Listening Exercise)

  1. Each student takes up the role of one of these stakeholders. (10 min)

  2. If you were to be a responsible leader in this business, you should be able to listen carefully to the concerns raised by the stakeholders.
    Each student proposes their stakeholder’s concerns to their peers.

  • Your fellow students practice deep listening, which means:

    • That they do not react to what the stakeholder is telling

    • That they do not ask questions (yet)

    • That they do not make any eye contact (instead you can look at another direction)

    • That they park any personal thoughts and feelings while listening

Guiding Values: Directing Possible Solutions

A responsible leader should be able to negotiate directing values. This means:

  • Determine what we want to achieve and what we want to avoid

  • Mapping these values enables us to find a balanced and responsible solution

  • The interests of all involved stakeholders are taken into account

Guiding Values

Choose the most important value for each stakeholder involved that should govern a responsible leader’s future decisions. Use the following definitions and order:

  1. Positive: desired value à what should the solution absolutely achieve according to the stakeholder?

  2. Negative: what they don’t want

  3. Extreme of the positive

  4. Extreme of the negative

Value Mapping

Step 1: What Is the Desired Value?
Step 2: What Is the Opposite of the Desired Value?
Step 3 & 4: Determine the Extremes
Example

  • Desired value : love

  • Possible (realistic) : Positive

  • What does the Stakeholder want to avoid?: hate

  • Negative: stalking

  • Impossible (extreme): murder

Leading Across Cultures and Dealing with Dilemmas

Three Roles of Responsible Leadership

Wearing 3 Hats (Voegtlin et al., 2019):

  • An expert who displays organizational expertise

  • A facilitator who cares for & motivates employees

  • A citizen who considers the consequences of decisions for society

Odd One Out? Leading Across Cultures

  • Discuss in small groups and justify your position.

Leading Across Cultures: Systems Thinking

Culture influences responsible leadership through:

  • Shaping decision-making paradigms

  • Underlying values, belief systems, and worldviews

  • Shaping social norms and expectations

  • Prompting assumptions

  • Shaping ethics

Reconciling Dilemmas and Tensions

Social, Environmental and Economic
Enviro-economic dilemmas & tensions

  • CSR creates tensions between developing social and environmental goals while simultaneously making a profit.

  • These tensions can impact stakeholders at all levels.

  • A need for organizations to build capabilities to enable people at all levels, inside and out, to deal with these tensions.

  • Innovative new strategies and approaches are required for more flexibility and adaptability to deal with the ambiguities.

Socio-cultural dilemmas & tensions

Synthesis

Sustainable (and responsible) leadership:

  • requires a significant cultural change in human consciousness.

  • is rooted in the idea that organizations are part of the natural world (and heed to the laws of nature). (Koskela & Goldman Schuyler, 2016)

Make Your Own Theoretical Framework of Responsible Leadership

  • Make a mindmap of what responsible leadership now means to you (individually).

Picasso Party

  • Draw a Portrait of a Responsible Leader

  • Bring your mindmaps of a responsible leader together in groups of 4.

  • Draw a portrait of a responsible leader

  • Be creative

  • You are not allowed to write words

  • Exhibition

  • What do you see in the pictures drawn by peer groups?

  • What did the artists have in mind?

Want to Explore More?

  • Prof. Dr. Alex Mifsud

    • Northumbria University

    • Assistant professor in ESD and responsible leadership VUB (MILO) & UHasselt

    • Voluntary research fellow in ESD

    • alexandra.mifsud@vub.be

  • Prof. Dr. Tom Kuppens

    • VUB (MILO) & UHasselt

    • Associate professor in teaching methodology of economics and sustainability

    • COPERNICUS Alliance Co-president

    • Werecircle Co-founder

    • tom.emile.kuppens@vub.be