ROLE OF HOLISTIC LEADERSHIP IN BUILDING SUSTAINABLE ORGANIZATIONS: A CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK AND RESEARCH PROPOSITIONS

Research shows that positive leadership styles are associated with employee engagement and, more recently, with pro-environmental behavior. Environmental sustainability, however, is usually examined as an outcome of these styles or as a “green” add-on to them, rather than as a component of the leadership model itself. This conceptual paper develops the H.E.R.O. framework of holistic leadership (Heart & Spirit, Embracive thinking, Relational dynamics, Operations leadership), in which accountability for Triple Bottom Line (TBL) outcomes is built into the leadership construct alongside inner, relational, and systems-level capacities. Drawing on a purposive narrative review of leadership, sustainability, and holistic leadership literature, the paper (1) offers a working definition of holistic leadership, (2) positions it against six established leadership approaches, (3) specifies the four H.E.R.O. dimensions and a pathway for developing a measure, and (4) advances three directional, testable propositions on TBL performance, relational mechanisms, and cross-functional integration of sustainability. The study contains no empirical data. The framework is not yet validated, and its distinctiveness from integrative, spiritual, and sustainable leadership is an open empirical question. Implications for executive selection, HR practice, and leadership development are offered as hypotheses to be tested.