ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the concept of responsible leadership and discusses some of the alternative conceptualisations that have appeared in the literature to date. It also discusses relation to theorising a collective leadership approach involving multi-agency stakeholders, as well as how sensemaking can help better understand an organisation's approach to corporate social responsibility. The chapter describes a number of ideas for developing responsible leadership that have been put forward in the literature and highlights a role for social change projects. The responsible leader as storyteller and meaning maker emphasises the leader's role and behaviours in creating a collective system of shared meaning through dialogue and sensemaking. The theory of ethical leadership focuses on the leader–follower relationship within organisations, and does not consider the wider social responsibility concerns of leadership for the environment. Ethical leadership theory discusses the concept of normative ethical behaviour, although does not explain what this is, nor what ethical norms should be adhered to.
