ABSTRACT
Barker (2001: 491) proposes that ‘leadership is all about change’. And he doesn’t stop there. He goes on stating that leadership is ‘a process of transformative change where the ethics of individuals are integrated into the mores of a community as a means of evolutionary social development’ (Barker, 2001:491). Hence, the title of this book could have been so much shorter, as ‘Leadership’ encompasses both elements of change and ethics. However, for the purpose of this book it is essential to acknowledge that there is no one right approach to changes, leadership or ethics. These are all complex issues which are highly context-dependent, and none of them are value-free (Macleod and By, 2009; Burnes and Jackson, 2011). All three are matters of subjectivity and although there may be some universal agreement on elements of ethics, there is no rule book. Although ethics is all about attempting to differentiate right from wrong and good from bad, about increasing positive consequences and decreasing negative consequences (see Burnes and By, 2011), there is no right or wrong approach and we should not be subscribing to the TINA (There Is No Alternative) principle (Diefenbach, 2007).
