Dozens of books are published each year on leadership, but as pundits, scholars, philosophers, and public intellectuals note, what is written is too often shallow and facile, oriented toward quick fixes for performance enhancement or internal organizational and personnel development. Drawing from a diverse range of literature, including history, philosophy, public administration, leadership, religion, and spirituality, this book fills an important gap, exploring what it means to be an ethical and moral leader. It takes a deep dive into the many challenges of leadership, examining the continuing contrast between bureaucracy and democracy, the unique ethical and moral characteristics of nonprofit and faith-based organizations, and the globalization of organizations and institutions.
Throughout the book, author Stephen M. King develops a more holistic and interdisciplinary understanding of ethical and moral leadership, required for more thoughtful theoretical and empirical research. He points students of leadership to the time-honored values of ethics and morality, reestablishes the ethical balance between bureaucracy and democracy, and helps reorient the values' purpose of public, nonprofit, and global institutions, providing hope of a better future for leadership. Ethical Public Leadership is required reading for students of public administration and nonprofit management, as well as for practicing public servants and nonprofit sector employees at all levels.