Leadership: In Pursuit of Purpose

ABSTRACT Addressing what is perhaps the biggest blind spot in leadership theory and practice, this article sets out to enshrine the pivotal role of purpose. First, it introduces the Telos Leadership Lens (TLL) consisting of the following principles: 1) Leadership is a responsibility of the many, not a privilege of the few 2) Leadership is the collective pursuit of delivering on purpose 3) Leadership purpose is to be guided by internal goods (exemplified by the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals). Second, the article further develops leadership ontology, ‘the theory of entities that are thought to be most basic and essential to any statement about leadership’, by shifting the focus to purpose. Third, emerging from these developments it identifies a new leadership model. Separately or in combination, these contributions can assist organizations in addressing current and future challenges, some of which are existential in nature as evidenced by the climate crisis, and others such as the Covid-19 pandemic potentially changing the way we live our lives and conduct our business. Although challenges of this scope can only be solved in partnership, the very nature of current leadership convention may obstruct or even prevent such partnerships from taking place in any meaningful way.