Foundational Leadership Theory: An Ethical Leadership Approach to Developing Positive Employee Work Engagement

Abstract

Organizational commitment has a significant positive association with employee work engagement. Comparatively, organizational leaders recognize the value and competitive advantage of inspiring employee work engagement for sustainability in their industry. Numerous studies confirm that ethical leadership predicts organizational commitment. However, as of 2019, research suggested that alternative ethical leadership theories were needed to explain the influence on work engagement better. This study aimed to investigate the predictive power of Foundational Leadership Theory (FLT) developed by Fuller in 2021. FLT is an inward (internal) and outward (employee perceived) examination of ethical decisions based on integrity, assurance, and pragmatism. The findings were based on responses from 248 full-time employees across various industries in the United States of America. Pearson correlation and regression analysis revealed that integrity, assurance, and pragmatism predicted positive employee work engagement. FLT is a new theory and advances our understanding of employee commitment and work engagement in an organization. Human resource managers (HRM) recognized that employee enthusiasm is reflected in their work engagement. Therefore, leaders who rely on FLT are more likely to maintain a competitive advantage by creating or improving employee enthusiasm and engagement on the job.