Conversations on Leadership: Wisdom from Global Management Gurus

CHAPTER 10

Joseph Badaracco Jr.: Leading Quietly and Morally

Joseph Badaracco Jr. is the John Shad Professor of Business Ethics at Harvard Business School and Senior Associate Dean and Chair of the MBA Program. His research focuses on business ethics, particularly on leadership and individual decision-making. He is the author of four books on these topics: Business Ethics: Roles and Responsibilities (1994); Defining Moments: When Managers Must Choose between Right and Right (1997); Leading Quietly: An Unorthodox Guide to Doing the Right Thing (2002); and Questions of Character: Illuminating the Heart of Leadership Through Literature (2006).

Leadership involves complex ethical issues without easy answers. In Defining Moments, Badaracco points ...