Responsible leadership attributes: a systematic literature review

The literature on leadership points to a growing interest in leaders who understand their role not only in achieving economic and financial results, but also in generating and distributing social and environmental value. In this context, the concept of Responsible Leadership has gained relevance. Given the lack of consensus on the definition of this term, this article aims at summarizing the main attributes of a responsible leader identified in the literature. A systematic review was conducted in the Scopus, SciELO and SPELL databases, which provided a broad understanding of the subject. The initial search brought up 2,965 articles. Applying the established exclusion criteria, 88 articles dealt with the principles, values and competencies of this leadership. As a result of the analysis, a new framework was proposed with four dimensions of Responsible Leadership: individual, relational, organizational and systemic. Our framework offers a structure for developing leaders committed to sustainability, ethics and collective well-being. In this way, the model can be used as a strategic reference for the development of sustainable policies and practices, capable of aligning organizational objectives with global needs, guaranteeing the ethical and positive legacy of organizations.