ABSTRACT
Recursive relationships convey important impacts to leaders in the form of dilemmas and paradoxes that might trigger them to change but this insight is not reflected in current theories on responsible global leadership. In this chapter, the authors take a critical approach to current views, to uncover limitations and open new options to a more comprehensive view on this complex phenomenon. Responsible leadership is an evolving concept informed by different philosophical traditions and research approaches, lately intertwined with the fields of corporate social responsibility, sustainability, and stakeholder theory. The way organizations cope with contradictory demands is key to producing sustainable development. When trying to determine whether and when global leadership can be deemed responsible, focusing in its outputs may raise contradictions in the intersection of what is usually conceived as the global and the local levels.
