ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on entrepreneurial leadership styles and context in Chinese firms. The conceptual development of entrepreneurial leadership is at its embryonic stage; existing studies primarily draw on the mainstream leadership literature, especially the transactional and transformational leadership styles. The philosophical underpinning of Confucian teaching on leadership focuses on the core virtue of benevolence; an individual who is benevolent is termed junzi. The essence of benevolent leadership lies in human nature, human relationships and human governance. In the Chinese context, transformational leadership finds a parallel in Daoism principles. The authentic transformational leadership style can be extended to describe the Daoist leadership of which transformational leaders motivate followers to work for transcendental goals that go beyond immediate self-interests. In particular, as a key thought leader, Hanfei's theory of leadership is based on the presumption that human behaviours are based on the pursuit of self-interest, not by moral values.
