Resisting Hubris: For A Stoic Ethics of Power in Leadership Development

ABSTRACT This essay advances a philosophical and Stoic reinterpretation of hubris that challenges the reductionist treatment it has received in contemporary management research. Whereas most studies, shaped by a positivist epistemology, have sought to quantify the effects of leader hubris on performance, this essay reclaims the concept's original ethical and spiritual meaning: the corruption of the leader's soul through excessive exposure to power. Drawing on Stoic philosophy, we argue that hubris should be understood not only as a measurable psychological trait but as a moral distortion of the self, produced by the intoxicating effects of power on the soul. By revisiting the Stoic tradition of spiritual exercises and building on the examples of Marcus Aurelius and Alcibiades, this essay enables a rethinking of leadership development: it is not a matter of competencies or behavioural development, but an education of the soul grounded in self‐knowledge, temperance, and ethical vigilance. By doing so, this essay opens a heterodox space for reuniting philosophy and leadership ethics in the critique of power and abuse of power.