Ethical Leadership: reflections from the perspective of the cardinal virtues

Abstract

 This research is aimed at determining to what extent leadership based on the cardinal virtues could help a leader guide a company and its human group toward developing excellence, in the technical-economic sense as well as the human aspect, thereby facilitating achievement of the public good for all stakeholders and those related to them. The research used a descriptive, documentary methodology, based on the approaches of Guillen (2008), Sisón (2004), Horta and Rodríguez (2008), Garcia (2009) and Platoon (2000), among others. Conclusions are that leaders should cultivate and develop the cardinal virtues to complement technical or professional skills, humanizing the organizations they direct and achieving the greatest possible well-being for all interest groups that interact with the company, contributing in this way to social capital.