Chapter 6: Should Transformational Leadership Theory Include an Ethics Component?: Insights From the Cupbearer to the King

Does the Old Testament narrative of Nehemiah illustrate important leadership behaviors that could help bolster modern transformational leadership theory? Yes, absolutely! The Old Testament narrative of Nehemiah illustrates important leadership behaviors that align with transformational leadership, but it also highlights a missing component in the theory. Using narrative genre analysis, this chapter first explores the meaning of Nehemiah 2:1–20 and then compares the analysis with the modern leadership theory of transformational leadership. In the process, it assesses Nehemiah’s leadership behavior, pointing out both the alignment with and divergence from transformational leadership to add insight and suggest possible refinement to the theory. The analysis identified an important difference between the pericope and transformational leadership: ethical boundaries. To integrate the insight from this exegesis into transformational leadership, the theory must adopt a component that serves to ethically constrain and direct a transformational leader’s actions while preserving the positive leadership characteristics originally envisioned. Blending transformational leadership with ethical leadership may present a promising direction to investigate. Nehemiah’s actions, which were constrained by his devotion to God, demonstrate that ethical transformational leadership is possible.