Chapters six through eight of Ethics, The Heart of Leadership, edited by Joanne B. Ciulla (2004) are presented. The sixth chapter is authored by Avolio and Locke (in Cirulla, 2004) and is titled "Should Leaders Be Selfish or Altruistic? Letters on Motivation." In this chapter Avolio and Locke present a number of letters each with a different aspect related to the topic of being selfish versus altruistic in leadership. For example the first letter discusses why leaders should be self-interested, the second presents why they should make sacrifices, the third notes why self-interest is considered more ethical than altruism, and the fourth states why altruism is an important par to leadership. Each of these letters presents the topic within the context of experience and the writers noted their differing views. For example, in the fourth letter the writer stated that the previous exchanges did not change his views and he maintained that altruism, self-sacrifice, and selfishness are each important parts of being human and a leader. Since different views were presented in each letter, the final letter sought to integrate these differences. This writer concluded that as long as a leader's views are in line with the interests of the people, whether these goals serve the leader as well is of not consequence, thus integrating opposing views related to altruism and selfishness.
The seventh chapter of the text is authored by Price (in Ciulla, 2004) and is titled "Explaining Ethical Failures of Leadership." Price attempted to present an explanation of leadership failures and noted initially that many times these failures are not related to any question of morality. In other words, when ethical failures are found in leadership, whether the behaviors are ethical or not is not in question. Thus, while morality remains intact, these unethical actions continue.
As noted by Price, different explanations for
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