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Taoist Leadership Ethics

Craig Johnson

George Fox University

This essay addresses ethical issues raised by the growing popularity of Taoist leadership concepts. Western leaders seeking the benefits of Taoism should first consider its assumptions and how these presuppositions impact ethical decision-making. In philosophical Taoism, principles revealed in creation, not laws or moral codes, guide ethical choices. Ideal leaders exert minimal influence and model their behavior after such metaphors as the uncarved block, the clay pot, the child, the valley, and water. Ethical implications of Taoist leadership include: 1) nature as the ultimate ethical standard; 2) evil as blindness and a belief in the goodness of natural humankind; 3) a focus on being rather than doing; 4) multiple ways of understanding and the importance of multiple perspectives; 5) an emphasis on soft tactics and service; and 6) the spiritual dimension of the leader-follower relationship.

Taoism addresses many of the ethical shortcomings of dominant Western culture but those who would follow Taoist teaching may need to abandon their belief in the traditional distinction between right and wrong, moral absolutes, the importance of moral reasoning, deism, punishment of evildoers, and active influence. At the very least, leaders need to recognize that Taoism is an integrated philosophical system with its own set of assumptions about the origins of the universe, human nature, ways of understanding, and spirituality.

Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies, Vol. 7, No. 1, 82-91 (2000)
DOI: 10.1177/107179190000700108
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