The Tension: Leadership, Ethics, and Morality
Ethics and leadership have always shared a complicated relationship. History is replete with numerous charismatic leaders who achieved major outcomes but left moral devastation in their wake. From corporate boardrooms to classrooms to pulpits, leadership often walks a slippery tightrope between influence and integrity. Joanne Ciulla in her book Ethics, the Heart of Leadership reminds us that leadership ethics is not about getting people to follow; it is about what happens to people and communities when they do.[1] Cuilla speaks to the heart of the matter as leadership is not simply about effectiveness but about the ethical impact of one’s influence.
From a Christian leadership context, this dilemma is magnified and intensified by a higher standard in the call to model the character of Christ. Our ministerial mentors laid the groundwork for us as we entered ministry, reminding us that leadership in the church is not a profession but a vocation and that as leaders we were not called to be successful, but faithful and ethical.
Looking at Ethical Leadership, the questions and tensions surrounding the matter include:
• Can a leader be effective without being ethical?
• What gives moral legitimacy? Position, performance, or character?
• When moral ideals conflict with practical realities, which prevails?
Leadership and Morality
In secular contexts, ethical leadership also raises classic tensions. Can a leader be considered effective without being ethical? When ideals collide with institutional demands, how should one conduct themselves, and should an individual compromise for the greater good? I explored this through the lens of a few authors:
Peter Northouse discusses these questions through five ethical principles: respect, service, justice, honesty, and community. [2] Northouse suggests that when leadership is divorced from these values, it moves into manipulation, saying that ethical leaders make it a top priority to treat all of their followers in an equal manner. As I reflect on my ministerial context, I am reminded that morality is the foundation of ministerial leadership, coupled with seeing people as bearing the Imago Dei.
Anna Beerel in Rethinking Leadership highlights another problem in the leadership and morality polemic: the drive for power, control, and approval, which can undermine good intentions and cause more alienation than allies. Leaders and managers need to be educated to understand that many people obey authority out of fear; fear of losing authority. [3]
Peter Drucker highlights culture as the culprit saying, “Culture eats ethics for breakfast.” [4]
These insights hover around a single premise: ethical leadership requires moral awareness, not moral perfection.
Jeff Myers’ Understanding the Culture gives an examination of how several faith cultures intersect with the ever-changing social, political, and moral landscape. He contrasts secular and Christian worldviews, revealing how culture shapes identity, morality, and leadership through the lens of Secularism, Marxism, Postmodernism, New spirituality, Islam, and Christianity.[5]
This chapter on Ethics and morality brought me to another tension: morality and duty. Teleology, the theories about ends, and Deontology, the theories about duty; any ethical system that judges the morality of actions based upon some principle of duty. [6] As our government grapples over the longest American shutdown in history, one of the major policies under fire was the decision to cut and withhold SNAP benefits from Millions of Americans. How could this decision be described? From a deontological lens, the President could be viewed as deontologically derelict.
Looking through the lens as a Christian, many take the position that the President is both morally and ethically wrong. Christians understand human beings as free moral agents, as morally culpable, capable of observing God’s character and responding or not responding in accordance with God’s character. This, in part, is why many find the President’s actions morally and ethically bent.
This moral tension exposes how leadership decisions ripple beyond political lines into ethical accountability. From my view on the sidelines, when public policy disregards the hungry and the poor, it violates both deontological duty and theological responsibility. Myers reminds readers that culture is always shaped by moral agents who either reflect God’s character or distort it.
My Theological and Cultural Position
My own journey as a Christian leader has led me to the conviction that ethical leadership is first and foremost spiritual formation before it is ever secular. The moral authority of Christian leadership does not come from charisma, education, or position; it emerges in what Martin Percy described in Oxford, Christians being the body language of God. This is accomplished through a willingness to lead by love, serve in humility, and stand for justice.
I resonated with N.T. Wright’s belief that Christian ethics is not about rule-keeping but about virtue cultivation [7]. Leadership ethics must therefore be rooted in disciplines of prayer, reflection, and community. At the same time, I also affirm Anna Beerel’s caution that even faithful leaders carry shadows of ambition, fear, and fatigue that must be named and managed through accountability. [8]
Culturally, I operate in a post-Christian, media-saturated environment where moral failure is both magnified and monetized. My conviction is that transparency is paramount for a cultural shift, and that ethical leadership in this generation requires certain necessities. Things such as radical honesty, shared power, and discernment. I also believe Christian leaders must engage culture ethically this is by holding truth and compassion together as witnesses of a Kingdom where justice and mercy meet.
[1] Ciulla, Joanne B. Ethics, the Heart of Leadership. 4th ed. Santa Barbara: Praeger, 2020.
{2] Northouse, Peter G. Leadership: Theory and Practice. 9th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE, 2022. 433
{3] Anna Beerel, Anna. Rethinking Leadership: A Critique of Contemporary, 322.
{4] Schein, Edgar H. Organizational Culture and Leadership. 5th ed. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2017. 47
[5] Jeff Myers, Understanding the Culture: A Survey of Social, Political, and Religious Trends (Colorado Springs, CO: Summit Ministries, 2017), .
[6] Myers, 229.
[7] Wright, N. T. After You Believe: Why Christian Character Matters. New York: HarperOne, 2010.
[8] Beerel
About the Author
Daren Jaime
14 responses to “The Tension: Leadership, Ethics, and Morality”
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Hey Daren,
I was wondering who would be the brave soul to take on ethics this week! I have to say, my favorite line from your post was, “the President could be viewed as deontologically derelict.”
I really appreciated how you raised the question, “Can leaders be effective and not ethical?” I’ve been reading a book on the neuroscience of trust lately, and it suggests that while a leader may appear effective without being ethical, that kind of effectiveness is rarely sustainable. History seems to confirm that, doesn’t it?
In your view, what is one practical way leaders can guard against making short-term decisions that cause harm, and instead cultivate the discipline to make ethical choices that lead to long-term good?
Elysse, Thanks, and (laughing) Yes, “deontologically derelict” had to make an appearance this week, it is so befitting. I totally agree leaders might look effective without being ethical, but that kind of success never lasts. One practical way to guard against short-term, harmful decisions I believe is by is to building intentional pauses in how we lead. Taking time to pray, reflect, and check in with people who can hold us accountable and are not impressed by our title or position. These pauses help to keep one grounded. Good leadership is about staying rooted in purpose, not just chasing after quick results which so many do in this capitalistic society..
Hi Daren, Great job on ethics and leadership. Of Northouse’s five principles (respect, service, justice, honesty, and community), which one do you find is easiest for Christian leaders to implement, and which one is hardest to incorporate? In my context, many Christian leaders struggle to find a sense of community for themselves. They may be able to organize it for others, but are often on the outside and lonely.
Hey Kari, of Northouse’s five principles, I think service often comes most naturally for Christian leaders as it is woven into our theology and sense of calling. Most of us genuinely want to serve people and meet needs. But I agree with you, the hardest one is community. Many leaders create it for others, but they rarely experience it themselves. Ministry can be incredibly isolating, and without intentional connection, that loneliness can erode both joy and judgment. I have learned that finding community takes vulnerability, letting others see us as people, not just by the various titles we hold. It is truly a discipline we have to keep practicing.
Daren,
Thanks, as I have been working on my final essay I touch briefly on ethics, situational ethics. Joseph Fletcher in the 1960’s promoted the idea of situational ethics suggesting that a person should be motivated by love of neighbor rather than a strict adherence to laws. Taking the government shutdown into consideration, where would you suggest that each side believes they are loving their neighbor?
Joe Livingstone, “Situation Ethics,” A Level Philosophy &Religious Studies, accessed on November 1, 2025, https://alevelphilosophyandreligion.com/situation-ethics/
Hey Jeff! I am going to look into this book. Each side likely believed they were “loving their neighbor,” just in radically different ways. One side may argue that fiscal responsibility and national security demonstrate love by protecting citizens’ long-term interests- Uggh. The other might say that preserving access to essential programs like SNAP reflects love through compassion and care for the vulnerable. The tension reminds us that love without wisdom and accountability can still inflict pain and wound. Ethical leadership requires holding truth and compassion together. Real love considers both justice and mercy in action.
Hi Daren, I think your post hit on some of the significant issues that our world faces today. When you said we live in a post-Christian media-saturated environment, it reminded me that the sinfulness of humans has been plaguing this world since the beginning of time. Do you think that having the media talk nonstop about immoral happenings or failures of integrity makes it easier for people to become desensitized to the fact that they are still wrong?
Hey Diane. I do think constant media exposure to moral failure can make people numb to it. When every scandal, lie, or abuse is headline news, the shock fades, and we start treating sin like entertainment instead of brokenness. The danger is that when we become desensitized so does our convictions. We stop grieving the things that grieves God. We can’t tune out the world, but we also can’t let it normalize wrong in this noisy culture.
Hi, Daren, thank you for you post on Leadership, Ethics and Morality. You have mentioned several important points on the dynamics of leadership, ethics and morality. There are many combinations of leadership and these elements, however, I appreciate how you pointed out the importance of morality and the Imago Dei as the foundation of your ministerial leadership. I do agree that it summed up how we relate to others in our leadership. Would you give an example of how, ‘Culture eats ethics for breakfast?’ Thank you again, Daren.
Hey Noel, One example is when we see a company or an organization publicly promote integrity but rewards results at any cost. Sometimes this company will preach honesty, integrity and accountability, yet celebrates leaders who cut corners just to grow numbers or meet goals and objectives.. Outcome over values and morals. If leaders fail to model and reinforce ethical behavior daily, the culture will consume even the best moral intentions.
Great article, Daren, thanks. I appreciate the topic too!
You state that “ethical leadership is first and foremost spiritual formation before it is ever secular.” Given the urgency of political and cultural issues, what are some important and practical spiritual disciplines that Christian leaders can use to cultivate the necessary virtue (as per N.T. Wright) to effectively manage the “shadows of ambition, fear, and fatigue” that threaten their ethical conduct?
Hey Debbie! I love NT Wright and he was pretty much a constant in my MDiv studies. Two from his book that I remember which speaks to this are the “accountable community, where trusted voice are leaned into to ask tough questions in love. Also, silence and solitude where we can hear God’s voice over the noise. If we work on the inner life this will be our stability in the midst of crazy.
Daren, I really appreciated your framing of ethical leadership as spiritual formation rather than professional skill. You note that moral authority emerges when leaders “become the body language of God.” I’m curious, how might you see cruciformity (a leader’s participation in the self-giving life of Christ) functioning as a corrective to the distortions of power, fear, and ambition you mention from Beerel? In other words, how does embodied humility become a moral safeguard in leadership?
Hey Chad! Great question! Cruciformity can crucify distorted power when a leader consciously patterns their lives after Christ’s self-giving love, ambition gets redefined and we can see a transition from achievement to service which so many lack. The cross should also reframe success into stewardship from my view. I also feel leading from the posture of surrender rather than superiority, creates space for empathy and compassion. We should aim to serve rather than being served.