Responsible Leadership edited by Thomas Maak and Nicola M. Pless

This book is collection of different studies and articles about leadership and integrity of leaders in business world. This book tries to introduce the concept of responsible leadership which has not been focused greatly by researchers and theorists. Whose has mostly identified effective leaders either by their traits or behavior or the situational variable but never has anyone really focused the integrity associated with the leadership. It takes ethics and responsibility as serious and central components of leadership. Leading is a responsibility as history has shown us the faces of different irresponsible and unethical leaders like  Changez khan and Adolph Hitler who have incur great harm to the societies and with them also those responsible like  Luther King and Gandhi whom have benefited their societies and followers. In business an effective leader is someone who motivates their subordinates to get things done efficiently and effectively and to take the organization toward success. It’s a great responsibility on the part of leaders to show integrity and being ethical as the fate of so many people depends on them. A lot has been written on the effectiveness of leadership but nothing on responsible leadership.This book also focuses ethics and integrity of leaders who act responsibly and tries to define responsible leadership and contrast it from others. It explains that leaders are not born with ethics but it’s their upbringing and education that make them ethical or unethical. It sees ethics as core and integral to leadership and also focus on the relationship of leaders in a stakeholder’s society where leaders interact with the multitude of stakeholders. With such interaction how effective leaders emerges ethically and responsibly. Due to the cases of management and leadership misconduct in Enron, WorldCom, Bhopal etc, those involved in business leadership have become increasingly aware that one of the core challenges, if not the challenge, in business today is leading responsibly and with integrity. But what exactly is responsible leadership? What makes a responsible leader? And how can responsible leadership be developed? The three part of this book focused the abovementioned key questions. Part I aims at identifying the crucial dimensions of responsible leadership in business, laying the foundations for better understanding of its roots, requirement and the relationship it is based on. Part II of this book contributes on the capabilities, virtues and competences that individuals need as responsible leaders globally. Part III of this book look at the innovations in ways and means of developing responsible leaderships through transformational programmes.

Book Reviewed by Aamir Khan