Two sides of the same personality coin: An opportunity to refocus (un)ethical analysis

Abstract

AbstractPrior ethics studies highlight the importance of understanding positive or negative leader personality characteristics to improve organizational outcomes. However, few studies combine both positive and negative leader personality characteristics, to unpack and guide ethics theorizations. This lack of methodological balance restricts how we perceive leader ethics, our understandings of organizational experiences, and therefore, our awareness of governance approaches. This study challenges the dominant ethics scholarly orthodoxy—which focuses on positive or negative leader characteristics—by combining self‐determination theory and the Dark Triad perspective, to explore the plurality of ethical dimensions within organizational leadership. A case example is provided to highlight the need for this methodological awareness and four avenues of engagement are discussed to improve future organizational governance and ethics scholarship.