How Practical Wisdom Enables Transformational and Authentic Leadership

Abstract

In the last decades Positive Leadership has emerged as a prominent leadership model, and among the various theories within Positive Leadership, the Transformational and the Authentic Leadership models are perhaps the most highly regarded. One of the issues these theories face, especially the earlier formulations of Transformational Leadership, is that of being detached from ethical considerations, resulting in a “pseudo leader.” With the aim of complementing the work done by these two leadership models, this chapter argues that virtue ethics is precisely the ethical underpinning that will guarantee truly authentic or transformational ethical leadership. In particular, the present work focuses on practical wisdom as indispensable to the transformational or the authentic leader. In this regard, the chapter begins by placing practical wisdom within the virtue ethics tradition, outlining its role and its relation to the other virtues. The chapter then offers a brief review of the defining characteristics of both the Transformational and the Authentic Leadership Models. Finally, the chapter concludes by bridging the gap between the two, delineating the various parts or aspects of practical wisdom that serve to boost the skills of positive leaders and ensure truly authentic or transformational ethical leadership.