v9 n1: Mensch Responds to Raelin on Leadership-as-Practice

The Challenge of Rival Versions of Moral Enquiry Within Leadership-As-Practice, by Kirk Mensch

A RESPONSE TO Joe Raelin (2020), “The Genealogical Ethics of Leadership-as- Practice”, Bus Ethics J Rev 8(5): 27–31 https://doi.org/10.12747/bejr2020.08.05

Abstract: Herein, I clarify my concern regarding Raelin’s Leadership-as-Practice (L-A-P) and argue that inconsistent moral philosophies undermine the veracity of leadership theory, especially more recent democratic, shared, collective, and practice oriented theories; that this problem seems to be proliferating in the social sciences, and that this is especially concerning in socio-psychologically oriented theories. I contend that the moral foundations of L-A-P remain philosophically disquieting, unless it is understood as excluding moral agents other than those of a genealogical tradition, and that such exclusionary consequences in practice may lead to moral disengagement, which might then lead to cognitive dissonance and even self-harm.

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Kirk Mensch is a moral psychologist who specializes in understanding the impact of incommensurate moral worldviews on theory, practice, and affiliated agents in pluralistic organizations. Kirk can be reached at https://www.linkedin.com/in/kirkmensch/ or at drkirkmensch@gmail.com