Which Virtues are 'The' Virtues? A Rank-Ordered Analysis of Virtues in Leadership

The current research study was conducted from an Aristotelian and Christian understanding of virtue within leadership. Nineteen virtues were identified in the literature review and discussed as essential for living a life of eudaimonia or flourishing. Within the literature review, a gap was identified in the discrepancy between how the general public conceptualizes virtue and how philosophers, psychologists, and theologists understand virtue. Additionally, scientific research in leadership is inconsistent in the operationalization of virtue, which limits the ability to research virtues in leadership validly and reliably. Therefore, this study provided the general public with an online survey of 19 virtues essential to leadership. A sample of 304 self-selected participants responded to a survey of how they understood and prioritized those leadership virtues. The top five ranked virtues included magnanimity, hope, humility, gratitude, and forgiveness. The top five rated virtues included truthfulness, wisdom, humanity, gratitude, and patience. This bottom-up approach bridged the gap between theory and application in virtuous leadership. Finally, the participants were asked how they felt about using virtuous language in leadership before and after the rank-order exercise to determine whether their opinions changed. The analysis revealed significant differences in how demographic subgroups rated and ranked virtues. There was also a significant increase in the participant’s comfort level of using virtuous language after completing the rank-ordering exercise. Research limitations and calls for future research were discussed.