We advance the discussion that each leader has a moral component that can be defined as character that is distinct from values, personality, and other similar constructs. We seek to clarify what underpins forms of character-based leadership and exemplary leader behaviors. We build out our previous discussion (Hannah \u26 Avolio, this issue) that the locus of character is within the leader and is an integral part of the leader\u27s self-system. Further, we extend the domain of character research toward its upper bounds and introduce the notion of ethos as a distinct class of character and relate ethos to extra-ethical virtuous behaviors. Finally, we place character in relationship to collectives and discuss bidirectional influences operating between leader character and the context.
展开▼
