Leadership, Ethics, and Their Circumstances

Leadership, Ethics, and their Circumstances is the tenth in the 10-volume series, Lynchburg College Symposium Readings, 3rd edition. Each volume presents primary texts organized around an interdisciplinary , liberal arts theme, such as social consequences of social stratification; science and human nature; and war, peace, and empire. The series has been developed by the Lynchburg College faculty for use in the Senior Symposium and the Lynchburg College Symposium Readings Program (SS/LCSR). While these programs are distinctive to Lynchburg College, the texts are used on other college campuses across the nation, as well as by readers interested in significant original texts on important topics.

At any time in our lives, we may be called upon to serve as leaders in some capacity, or we might be required to be good followers, both integral roles of leadership. This volume provides opportunities for leaders to reflect upon leadership and its circumstances. The works selected for this volume will introduce the reader to many key thinkers' concepts of leadership, looking at leadership in many different contexts. The lives of several great leaders are included to examine various models of leadership, so that we might examine our own ideas and assumptions of leadership with the goals of shaping our own personal theories of leadership and reflecting upon the desired results of leadership. Readings from the ancient Greeks to modern writers, from the eastern and the western cultures, and in varied contexts of government, commerce, religions, social movements, or in war and peace, all assist and challenge us to consider the nature and implications of good or bad leadership.