Chapter 9: Reinvigorating Conversations about Leadership: Application of Strategic Choice Theory to the Social Justice Organizational Leader

A review of the literature indicates a lack of scholarship that simultaneously examines leadership, social justice, cultural values, and ethics. The lack of research that jointly explores these concepts is startling given demographic changes in our increasingly global society. The following chapter seeks to encourage a national dialogue about what represents effective, inclusive leadership through the lens of strategic choice theory. The concept of the social justice organizational leader is introduced. This construct refers to a leader who identifies organizational cultural values, relevant moral distress situations, and through such identification and understanding, bases leadership decision-making on principles of social justice and ethical practice. The notion of the social justice organizational leader focuses on equity as central to the leadership role. Real world examples provide case material that illustrate the social justice organizational leader in action. A model is presented that highlights process and outcome variables for the social justice organizational leader.