Received: 6 March 2020 Revised: 3 April 2020 Accepted: 19 April 2020

DOI: 10.1002/csr.1962

RESEARCH ARTICLE

How to apply responsible leadership theory in practice:

A competency tool to collaborate on the sustainable
development goals

Katrin Muff1,3 | Anna Liechti2 | Thomas Dyllick2,3

1
LUISS Business School, Rome, Italy
2
University of St. Gallen, St. Gallen,
Abstract
Switzerland In the era of the sustainable development goals (SDGs) and calls for climate action,
3
The Institute for Business Sustainability, business is challenged to respond more effectively to societal and environmental
Lucerne, Switzerland
challenges. Collaboration with stakeholders requires an ability for broader collabora-
Correspondence tion competencies. These form a part of an established literature on responsible lead-
Katrin Muff, LUISS Business School, Rome,
Italy. ership (RL) competencies. Human resources managers, consultants and educators in
Email: [email protected] charge of developing such competencies demand clarity on the definition and a prac-
tical measurement tool for RL. This paper addresses both by proposing a RL defini-
tion and a RL competency model, that has been operationalized into a free online
tool for individuals and groups. This free Competency Assessment for Responsible
Leadership (CARL) tool is used to assess stakeholder engagement, individual and
group leadership development, and internal sustainable development transformation
work. The CARL online tool serves to systematically analyze and develop RL compe-
tencies, both in business and educational practices, and helps advance the RL theory
based on insights from practice.

KEYWORDS

competency framework, leadership competencies, responsible leadership, SDG, sustainability,

sustainable business, sustainable development, transformation

1 | I N T RO DU CT I O N movements have resulted in further demands for regulatory require-

ments for the finance industry in particular, and business in general.
Ever since the financial crisis of 2008, the call for responsible leaders The call for responsible leadership in association with good corporate
in and beyond business has become louder. The continuing string of citizenship has been sharpened by the introduction of the sustainable
corporate scandals have all but grown. The ethical-based scandals at development goals (SDGs) in 2015. The understanding that business
Siemens, Volkswagen, UBER and many more have shown that busi- plays a key role in resolving societal issues has shaped the expecta-
ness has not learned its lesson from scandals such as ENRON. This tions in civil society that business must take into consideration public
endless series of scandals has damaged the trust in companies and interests, not just private interests (Dyllick & Muff, 2016).
business in general. Some meanwhile suggest that it was the miscon- Such expectations pose some difficult questions regarding the
duct of leadership and irresponsible leaders that were the main causes focus of business leaders: Should they focus predominantly on inter-
for the financial crisis (Pless & Maak, 2011). In the past few years, sig- nal concerns or should they focus more on external, societal con-
nificant societal changes including the global MeToo and climate cerns? Which stakeholders should they give preference and how

This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited.
© 2020 The Authors. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management published by ERP Environment and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Corp Soc Responsib Environ Manag. 2020;1–21. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/csr 1

2 MUFF ET AL.

should they go about in answering this question? Any attempt to accompanied the operationalization and online tool development.
answer these questions quickly demonstrates a need to move beyond Section 6 reviews the three questions by practice and discusses
a simple “right or wrong” thinking. These questions point to a need to potential applications in business and education. Section 7 draws
move beyond a simplistic “either -or” thinking to embrace the sys- some conclusions, hints at limitations and further research needs.
temic conditions of wicked problems that require an “and -and” think-
ing capacity. The requirement to deal with conflicting or contradicting
stakeholder interests beyond and outside traditional organizational, 2 | TOWARD A D EFI NI TION OF
boundaries asks for the ability to deal with moral dilemmas and the RESP ONSIBLE L EA DERSHIP
capacity to behave in fair and ethical ways (Maak & Pless, 2006a;
Maak & Pless, 2006b). The concept of virtuousness in organizations Under the heading of RL we find a connection of two different fields
with virtuousness being defined as representing the best of the of research; research on corporate social responsibility and research
human condition, adds further depth to this idea (Cameron & on leadership, thereby combining the organizational and the individual
Winn, 2012). Early leading companies, such as Danfoss in Denmark, level (Waldman, 2011). The increasing research in the past two
understood that the 2008 financial crisis cannot impede the imple- decades can be categorized into four distinct categories: teaching
mentation of CSR initiatives, but rather provides an opportunity to responsible management, organizing for responsible education,
walk-the-talk (Lehmann, Toh, Christensen, & Ma, 2010). responsible individual learning, and responsible organizational learning
Business practitioners are looking at scholars for guidance and (Cullen, 2019). This article focuses on responsible individual learning.
support in clarifying the requirements for responsible leadership (RL). This section reviews the scholarly discussion in the area of RL over
We have been repeatedly approached to come up with a clear and time and identifies common themes in an attempt to consolidate the
simple definition of RL that can be used for personal and leadership insights into a clear RL definition for individuals and groups. The review
development purposes (Muff & Mayenfisch-Tobin, 2014). These shows how five competency dimensions of RL emerged in the litera-
demands include in particular three questions: ture: creating, managing and securing good relations with multiple
stakeholders, ethically correct and values-based behavior, a continu-
1. Determining the current state of RL competencies—for an individ- ously developed self-awareness, good understanding of the interdepen-
ual or for a group. dencies of a larger system, and the ability to lead change and innovation
2. Assessing the short and long-term effectiveness of RL competen- towards sustainable development. In order to assess these dimensions
cies development. from a developmental perspective, three action domains will be added
3. Evaluating existing training offerings in terms of their RL impact. to complete the proposed two-dimensional framework.
There have been significant advances in clarifying different
Back in 2006, the World Business Council for Sustainable Devel- dimensions of RL. Early on, the globally responsible leadership initia-
opment (WBCSD) engaged a taskforce of business leaders to map out tive (GRLI) highlighted ethically correct and values-based behavior
“tomorrow’s leaders,” putting responsibility and long-term success and action in the context of understanding the interconnectedness of
measures at the beginning and end of strategy and stakeholder the world in their call for globally RL: “Globally responsible leadership
engagement (WBCSD, 2011). It had become increasingly clear, that is the global exercise of ethical, values-based leadership in the pursuit
RL could help provide a better understanding of what might be of economic and societal progress and sustainable development. It is
required from leaders to improve how society thinks about them and based on a fundamental recognition of the interconnectedness of the
their firms (Pless, Maak, & Waldman, 2012). world” (GRLI, 2005). Doh and Stumpf (2005) also emphasized ethical
This paper provides an answer to these specific demands and pre- and values based behavior and action while also highlighting the
sents an online-tool tool for RL competency assessment together with importance of developing good relations with stakeholders: “[...] we
the process used and steps taken to get there. Boyatzis (2008) has suggest that the concept of responsible leadership and governance
argued with conviction that the competencies needed to be effective has three important dimensions, each of which can be observed
in the 21st century can indeed be developed, supporting our ambition through specific individual or organizational behaviors: (1) values-
to not only define but also measure these. Such a tool serves practical based leadership; (2) ethical decision making and (3) quality stake-
purposes, and will allow more and better generation of data that shall holder relationships”. Schraa-Liu and Trompenaars (2006) advanced
seek to advance the scholarly discourse. The perspective applied is the thinking by combining the understanding of system interdepen-
conceptual and it uses comparative analysis. The paper is structured dencies with the need for respecting multiple stakeholder relations:
as follows: Section 2 gives a brief overview of the literature with the “Thus our definition of responsible leadership is that leaders are those
goal to come up with a clear definition and framework (grid) for who take responsibility towards the bottom-line and shareholders of
RL. Section 3 operationalizes the RL grid into a comprehensive model the organization, while at the same time - through reconciliation - take
of 45 competencies across 15 aspects that form the operationalizing responsibility towards integrating a diverse workforce, multicultural
RL competencies into a survey. Section 4 demonstrates how the customers and suppliers, local and global communities, NGOs, envi-
operationalized RL model is translated into an advanced online tool. ronmental concerns and society at large. These leaders recognize and
Section 5 summarizes the prototype development process that respect multiple demands, interests, needs and conflicts stemming
MUFF ET AL. 3

from diverse responsibilities and reconcile them by mobilizing and external focus, there was another emerging duality expressed by
successfully engaging the organization and varying stakeholders.” Dassah who points toward the duality between short-term economic
Maak reinforced the importance of stakeholder relations and con- thinking and long-term sustainability: “Responsible leaders see beyond
tributed a new element to the discussion, namely the active engage- their organisations, anticipate and embrace socio-environmental con-
ment of responsible leaders also outside their organization, in society: cerns and go beyond short-term profit to long-term sustainability as the
“[…] building, cultivating and sustaining trustful relationships to differ- ultimate mark of success.” (Dassah, 2010).
ent stakeholders, both inside and outside the organization, and in Subsequently, two additional perspectives were added. Mirvis
coordinating responsible action to achieve a meaningful commonly and colleagues DeJongh, Googins, Quinn and Van Velsor who pres-
shared business vision” (Maak, 2007). Pless further substantiated the ented a multidimensional perspective of RL, suggesting three different
idea of active civil engagement and suggested the need and capacity levels of RL In addition to the traditional individual level they
for leading change by embracing the idea of effectiveness as a further suggested an organizational and societal level: “Responsible leadership
element to the catalog of requirements for RL: “a person who recon- is a function of individual leader (the “Me”), of responsible organiza-
ciles the idea of effectiveness with the idea of corporate responsibility tions (the “We”), and of responsible business in the larger ecosystem
by being an active citizen and promoting active citizenship inside and of investors, consumers, competitors, regulators, and other interests
outside the organization” (Pless, 2007). Pless also embraced earlier (the “Us”) that provide a context for and also have to act responsibly
definitions of ethically correct and values-based behavior and action to legitimate and sustain responsible business leadership.” (Mirvis,
and connected these with the idea of creating social change and sus- DeJongh, Googins, Quinn, & Van Velsor, 2010). This idea builds on
tainable value: “values-based and ethical principles driven relationship the insight developed by Bolden and Gosling (2006) who have argued
between leaders and stakeholders who are connected through a for a more discursive approach that goes beyond an individual notion
shared sense of meaning and purpose through which they raise one of leadership to include also more collective leadership aspects.
another to higher levels of motivation and commitment for achieving It became increasingly apparent that defining RL required also a
sustainable value creation and social change” (Pless, 2007). This broader look at other disciplines such as psychology (Ketola, 2010).
notion of capacity for change and active civil engagement was further Vögtlin and Muff put a focus on the inner dimension of RL by pointing
strengthened by Quinn and D’Amato who added the importance of out the need for self-awareness and reflective capacity. Vögtlin
creating systemic change towards sustainable development: “Globally pointed out the need for awareness and consideration of the conse-
responsible leadership asks business organizations to pay attention to quences for all stakeholders: “Responsible leadership can thus be
the impact their operations have on the planet – requiring a systemic understood as the awareness and consideration of the consequences
view and addressing diverse economic, social and environmental of one’s actions for all stakeholders, as well as the exertion of influ-
issues.” (Quinn & D’Amato, 2008). ence by enabling the involvement of the affected stakeholders and by
GRLI’s renewed and updated call for action for globally responsible engaging in an active stakeholder dialogue.” (Vögtlin, 2011a). Muff
leadership in many ways reflected the discussions of these initial years. suggested more pointedly the need for an understanding of oneself:
It highlighted the interconnection between a good understanding of “Responsible leadership requires a deeper empathy and values-based
system interdependencies and values-based action that is aligned to ethic: an innate understanding of oneself, as well as of colleagues,
social progress: “Responsible leadership implies the grounding of actions organizations, communities, the environment, and how all these fac-
in a system of values, which recognize societal interdependence and tors relate to one other.” (Muff, 2013).
long-term sustainable development. A truly integral perspective consid- Increasingly, the descriptions of RL became more complex and
ering a responsibility for the organization and the broader system in comprehensive and started to shift to definitions, which may be inter-
which it operates is of essence (Küpers, 2011). If the firm wishes to lend preted as a sign of maturation. A group of scholars comprising both the
meaning to its actions and wants to give a purpose to economic pro- field of leadership and sustainability attempted to shift from a descrip-
gress by aligning it to societal progress, ethics are essential to enlighten tion to a definition in the context of a call for a radically new purpose of
tough choices and to guide behavior. The main ethical question for our management education, which was built on a reframing of the role of
time is to choose what kind of world we want to build together with business as well as the understanding of leadership. De Jongh,
the immense resources we have at our disposal” (GRLI, 2008). Quinn Shrivastava, North, Haertle, Muff and Dyllick proposed a definition
and D’Amato’s focus on company internal activities also rang true with focused on the individual RL level: “Responsible leaders are therefore
GRLI, which stressed the internal leadership dimension of RL highlight- individuals who reconcile their personal interests or those of their orga-
ing the demands of being an effective change agent within one’s organi- nization within the context of a wider societal responsibility. They build
zation: “Leadership is the art of motivating, communicating, and cultivate relationships with stakeholders to create shared value,
empowering and convincing people to engage with a new vision of sus- taking into account the potential, long-term impact and indirect conse-
tainable development and the necessary change that this implies. Lead- quences of their actions.” (Muff et al., 2013). Vögtlin’s definition
ership is based on moral authority. Moral authority requires convictions, focusses strongly on the importance of stakeholder relations: “Respon-
character and talent” (GRLI, 2008). With this duality of internal and sible Leadership is to be understood as leading-action, which is
4 MUFF ET AL.

expressed by leaders being (1) conscious of the consequences of their TABLE 1 Overview of key responsible leadership competencies
actions for all stakeholders and thus include these stakeholders in their from the literature review

actions and decisions. Furthermore, it implies that leaders exert influ- Author source Elements
ence with the goal to (2) encourage an active stakeholder dialogues and Dassah, 2010, p. 30 • Understanding the interdependencies
public exchange of opinions, to which (3) any concerned party has the of the system
opportunity to participate, with the intention that (4) the interests of Doh & Stumpf, 2005, • Ethically correct and values-based
concerned stakeholders are considered and balanced in a discursive p. 12 behavior and action
process” (Vögtlin, 2011b, translated from German). • Relationship with stakeholders

In 2015, this debate and discussion around the dimensions of GRLI, 2005, p. 15 • Ethically correct and values-based
behavior and action
RL allowed us to weave these different dimensions into a formal defini-
• Change and active engagement
tion: (based on Liechti, 2014). • Understanding the interdependencies
of the system
A responsible leader demonstrates a deep understanding GRLI, 2008, p. 10 • Understanding the interdependencies
of the interdependencies of the system and the own of the system
person, is distinguished by an ethical and values-based • Ethically correct and values-based
behavior and action
attitude, and able to build long-term relations with dif-
GRLI, 2008, p. 11 • Change and active engagement
ferent stakeholders embracing their needs, while initiat-
• Ethically correct and values-based
ing change towards sustainable development. behavior and action
Maak, 2007, p. 331 • Relationship with stakeholders
We have since worked with this definition, which comprises the • Change and active engagement
five competency dimensions briefly outlined at the beginning of this Mirvis et al., 2010, p. • Understanding the interdependencies
section: creating, managing and securing good relations with multiple 13 of the system
stakeholders, ethically correct and values-based behavior, highly Muff, 2013, p. 498 • Self-awareness
developed self-awareness, good understanding of the interdepen- • Understanding the interdependencies
of the system
dencies with a larger system, and the ability to lead change and inno-
• Ethically correct and values-based
vation towards sustainable development. Table 1 provides a
behavior and action
summative overview of the literature review and the competencies
Muff et al., 2013, pp. • Understanding the interdependencies
found at the time the model was developed: 27–28 of the system
This definition is—5 years later—still relevant. The increasingly • Relationship with stakeholders
obvious societal and environmental challenges and the louder Pless, 2007, p. 438 • Ethically correct and values-based
demands by civil society to embrace the climate crisis has further vali- behavior and action
• Relationship with stakeholders
dated the various aspects of the definition. The world has developed
• Change and active engagement
into even more complexity, highlighting the need for RL even more
Pless, 2007, p. 450 • Change and active engagement
clearly than ever before (Knight, 2018).
Quinn & • Understanding the interdependencies
While the definition of RL provides an answer to the question,
D’Amato, 2008, p. 4 of the system
“What does RL mean?” or “What are the key competencies of RL?” • Change and active engagement
there is a second core question we want to address: “What are the rel-
Schraa-Liu & • Understanding the interdependencies
evant domains of action?” In order to define the domains of action, on Trompenaars, 2006, of the system
the model uses the three action domains as used by Datar, Garvin, p. 140 • Relationship with stakeholders
and Cullen (2010): knowing, doing, and being. Euler and Hahn (2007) Vögtlin, 2011a, p. 59 • Relationship with stakeholders
refer to them as knowledge, skills, and attitudes. By putting together Vögtlin, 2011b, p. 107 • Relationship with stakeholders
these two dimensions, we obtain a two-dimensional framework, the
“Responsible Leadership Grid”. It includes the five competency dimen-
sions and the three domains of action what results in 15 aspects over-
all (see Table 2). 3 | OPERATIONALIZING RESPONSIBLE
These action dimensions seem to be passing the test of time with LE A D E R S H I P I N T O S U B - C O M P E T EN C I E S
Laasch and Moosmayer (2016) pointing out the need to consider com-
petencies in an action dynamic beyond knowing, thinking and doing The idea of “competencies” is not undisputed (Bolden &
to include relating, seeing, and becoming. Gosling, 2006; Carroll, Levy, & Richmond, 2008; Hollenbeck, McCall, &
In the next section, the paper investigates the operationalization Silzer, 2006) and may still be best framed by the philosophical under-
of these 15 competency areas into a comprehensive RL model with pinnings that consider a more integrated conception of competence.
45 sub-competencies. Hager and Beckett (1995) have pointed out that the tasks and the
MUFF ET AL. 5

TABLE 2 Responsible leadership grid (Liechti, 2014) TABLE 3 Sub-competencies and their sources in the stakeholder
relations dimension
Domains of action (columns) Knowing Doing Being
competency dimensions (rows) (knowledge) (skills) (attitudes) Stakeholder
Stakeholder relations 1 6 11 relations Competencies Source

Ethics and values 2 7 12 Methods to identify and Formulation developed by

integrate legitimate authors based on other
Self-awareness 3 8 13
stakeholder groups sub-competencies
Systems thinking 4 9 14
Seeing conflict as a Formulation developed by
Knowledge
Change and innovation 5 10 15 foundation for creativity authors based on other
sub-competencies
Dealing with conflicting Vögtlin, 2011b, p. 226
person cannot be considered separately, and that competence cannot interests of stakeholders
be reduced to lists and attributes. They propose an integrated view
Initiating and moderating a Muff, 2012, p. 655,
that considers the context of activity and actor in a holistic manner. dialogue (authentic Svanström,
Competence is, hence, relational rather than one-dimensional. communication) Lozano-Garcìa, &
The question arises how these 15 aspects of RL in its five compe- Rowe, 2008, p. 347,
Vögtlin, 2011b, S. 204
tency dimensions and three domains of action can be operationalized
Respecting different GRLI, 2005, p. 18;
and later be made measurable? Based on a literature review and
interests to find a Marquardt &
tested in our prototyping (see Section 5), we identified three sub- consensus (active Berger, 2000, p. 23,
Skills
competencies for each of the 15 aspects resulting in 45 sub- listening, solving conflicts Svanström et al., 2008,
competencies across the whole RL Grid. Let us look at each of the five constructively) p. 347, Vögtlin, 2011b,
p. 229
competency dimensions one after the other to specify its nine specific
sub-competencies. Developing long-term GRLI, 2005, p. 18,
relationships (developing Marquardt &
Let us look first at the sub-competencies and its sources in the
trust) Berger, 2000, p. 23;
dimension of stakeholder relations (Table 3). In the knowledge domain Dassah, 2010, p. 33;
we identified methods to identify and integrate legitimate stakeholder Wade, 2006, p. 241
groups, seeing conflict as a foundation for creativity, and dealing with Being empathic with a Marquardt &
conflicting interests of stakeholders as most relevant sub-competen- desire to help others Berger, 2000, pp.
22–23; Wiek,
cies. The skills domain we identified initiating and moderating a dia-
Withycombe, &
logue (authentic communication), respecting different interests to find Redman, 2011, p. 211
a consensus (including active listening, respecting other opinions and Attitudes
Being open and trustworthy GRLI, 2005, p. 24, Pless &
concerns and constructive resolution of conflict), and developing Schneider, 2006, p. 218
long-term relationships (including building trust with others). The atti- Appreciating the positive in Sterling & Thomas, 2006,
tudes domain covers being empathic with a desire to help others, diversity pp. 360 and 363; Muff
being open and trustworthy, and appreciating the positive in diversity. et al., 2013, p. 36
In looking at the sub-competencies and sources in the ethics and
values dimension we identified the following sub-competencies about oneself, reflecting about one’s own behavior, as well as sharing
(Table 4): The knowledge domain comprises understanding dilemmas, in one’s developmental challenges.
addition to knowing what is right and wrong, and knowing your own Table 6 provides an overview of the sub-competencies and its
values. The skills domain is summarized into the following three aspects: sources in the systems thinking dimension. The knowledge domain fea-
critically questioning and adapting values, acting according to ethics and tures understanding how the systems works, understanding the inter-
own values, and being a role model. The attitudes domain is grouped dependencies and interconnections of the system, and understanding
into being honest and integer, seeking fairness, and being responsible sustainability challenges and opportunities. The skills domain is
toward society and sustainability (serving the common good). grouped into dealing with complexity and ambiguity (including work-
The sub-competencies and sources in the self-awareness dimen- ing across disciplines), estimating consequences of decisions on the
sion include the following elements (Table 5): In the knowledge domain system, seeing the big picture and the connections rather than the
the following sub-competencies are identified: understanding the parts. The attitudes domain includes working across disciplines and
importance of reflection in the learning process, knowing oneself boundaries, defending a long-term perspective, and providing a trans-
(including own emotions, interests, needs, and mental models), and generational perspective.
understanding one’s own strengths and weaknesses. The skills domain Table 7 summarizes the sub-competencies and sources in the
comprises learning from mistakes, reflecting on one’s behavior, mental change and innovation dimension. The knowledge domain includes
models and emotions (including identifying and accepting own understanding the significance of a motivating vision in change pro-
strengths and weaknesses), and adapting the communication style cesses, understanding the drivers and enablers of innovation and crea-
(using emotions consciously). The attitudes domain includes: reflecting tivity, as well as understanding the conditions, functioning, and
6 MUFF ET AL.

TABLE 4 Sub-competencies and their sources in the ethics and values dimension

Ethics and values Competencies Source

Knowing what is right and wrong Pless & Schneider, 2006, p. 218
Knowing your own values Dassah, 2010, p. 33; Sterling & Thomas, 2006, p. 362; Maak &
Knowledge
Pless, 2006b, p. 37
Understanding dilemmas Dassah, 2010, p. 33; Pless & Schneider, 2006, p. 218
Critically questioning and adapting values Maak & Pless, 2006b, S. 43, Dassah, 2010, S. 33 (vgl. moral reflection)
Acting according to ethics Muff et al., 2013, p. 33; Maak & Pless, 2006b, pp. 37 and 42, Pless &
Skills and own values (including Schneider, 2006, p. 218
ethical aspects in decisions)
Acting as a role model Marquardt & Berger, 2000, p. 27; Pless & Schneider, 2006, p. 218
Being honest and integer Svanström et al., 2008, p. 348
Seeking fairness Sterling & Thomas, 2006, pp. 360 and 363
Attitudes Being responsible towards Muff et al., 2013, p. 37, Sterling & Thomas, 2006, p. 363
society and sustainability
(serving the common good)

TABLE 5 Sub-competencies and their sources in the self-awareness dimension

Self-awareness Competencies Source

Understanding the importance of reflection Formulation developed by authors based on other
in the learning process sub-competencies
Knowledge
Knowing oneself (own needs, emotions, mental models) Dassah, 2010, p. 33, Schraa-Liu & Trompenaars, 2006, p. 150
Understanding one’s own strengths and weaknesses Marquardt & Berger, 2000, p. 24
Learning from mistakes (identifying and accepting Muff et al., 2013, p. 33; Scalberg, 2005, p. 383 Wade, 2006, p. 241
strengths and weaknesses)
Skills Reflecting on one’s behavior, mental models and emotions Svanström et al., 2008, p. 347; Sterling & Thomas, 2006, p. 362
Adapting the communication style Dassah, 2010, p. 33
(using emotions consciously)
Reflecting about oneself Wade, 2006, p. 241
Reflecting about one’s own behavior Wade, 2006, p. 241
Attitudes
Sharing one’s developmental challenges Formulation developed by authors based on other
sub-competencies

dynamics of change processes. The skills domain is grouped into new mindset required for “business action on social and environ-
developing creative ideas (including out-of-box thinking, thinking in a mental issues beyond incremental change and reputation-enhancing
visionary manner and advancing innovations), acting to bring about benefits to systemic change” (WBCSD, 2011, p. 7). Alternatively, in
change and translating ideas into action, as well as questioning the the words of Jeff Immelt, CEO General Electric, at the time: “Lead-
status-quo and identifying steps of change for a sustainable future. ership in the 21st century is going to be more lateral and more con-
The attitudes domain is summarized into: being open, curious and cou- nected. We are going to need to find people who are more
rageous, being flexible and adaptable for change, and being visionary persistent and more adaptable, who are more transparent in terms
in finding solutions for society’s problems (including being convinced of what they are doing… Business will have to be networked with
of the public impact of action, and having endurance to finish governments and society, and we need people who know how to
initiatives). do that.” (WBCSD, 2011, p. 7)
Table 8 provides an overview of all 45 sub-competencies of RL It has meanwhile been demonstrated that RL influences
identified and summarized from an extensive literature review as employees proenvironmental behavior (Afsar et al., 2019) underlining
well as some additions from the authors to come up with a bal- the applicability of making RL measurable so that RL can bring bene-
anced RL Grid (Muff, 2016). It provides a basis for measuring the fits to a manager’s sustainability leadership effectiveness.
MUFF ET AL. 7

TABLE 6 Sub-competencies and their sources in the systems thinking dimension

Systems thinking Competencies Source

Understanding how the systems works Formulation developed by authors based on other
sub-competencies
Knowledge Understanding interdependencies and interconnections of Svanström et al., 2008, p. 348; Sterling & Thomas, 2006, p.
systems 364
Understanding sustainability challenges and opportunities Svanström et al., 2008, p. 347
Dealing with complexity and ambiguity (working across Muff et al., 2013, p. 33, Pless & Schneider, 2006, p. 217,
disciplines) Svanström et al., 2008, p. 348
Estimating consequences of decisions on the system (identifying Marquardt & Berger, 2000, p. 24; Sterling & Thomas, 2006,
Skills connections) p. 364, Svanström et al., 2008, p. 347
Seeing the big picture and the connections rather than the parts Marquardt & Berger, 2000, p. 24; Muff et al., 2013, p. 33;
(thinking in systems) Scalberg, 2005, p. 383; Sterling & Thomas, 2006, p. 364
Svanström et al., 2008, p. 348; Wiek et al., 2011, p. 207
Working across disciplines and boundaries Sterling & Thomas, 2006, pp. 362 and 363
Attitudes Defending a long-term perspective Based on Wilson, Kendall, & Brooks, 2006, p. 20
Providing a trans-generational perspective Muff et al., 2013, p. 33

TABLE 7 Sub-competencies and their sources in the change and innovation dimension

Chang and innovation Competencies Source

Understanding the significance of a motivating vision in Formulation developed by authors based on other
change processes sub-competencies
Understanding the drivers and enablers of innovation and Formulation developed by authors based on other
Knowledge
creativity sub-competencies
Understanding conditions, functioning and dynamics of Formulation developed by authors based on other
change processes sub-competencies
Developing creative ideas (out-of-box thinking, advancing Scalberg, 2005, S. 383; Wiek et al., 2011, p. 209
innovation)
Acting to bring about change and translating ideas into action Sterling & Thomas, 2006, pp. 360 and 363, Svanström
Skills
(involving and inspiring others) et al., 2008, p. 348, Wiek et al., 2011, p. 210
Questioning the status-quo and identifying steps of change Muff et al., 2013, p. 33; Svanström et al., 2008, pp.
for a sustainable future (visionary thinking) 347–348; Wiek et al., 2011, p. 207
Being open, curious and courageous Svanström et al., 2008, p. 348
Being flexible and adaptable for change Muff, 2012, p. 655
Attitudes
Being visionary in finding solutions for society’s problems (and Muff et al., 2013, p. 33, Svanström et al., 2008, p. 348
having endurance)

4 | TRANSLATING THE RESPONSIBLE students tend to be willing to complete a traditional Likert-scale sur-
LEADERSHIP GRID INTO A MEASURABLE vey, our practice test company told us clearly that their leaders would
ONLINE TOOL not spend 20–30 min on completing a survey. We were also cau-
tioned about the risk of receiving survey input with significant issues
The WBCSD has found that its member companies require sustain- of social desirability. Our research partner Fehr Advice in Zurich, Swit-
ability leadership both at the top of the company as well as more zerland, the applied arm of well-known behavioral economist Ernst
broadly throughout the organization (WBCSD, 2011). Measuring com- Fehr from University of Zurich, offered an interesting solution that
petencies at the individual and team level is an essential asset in would resolve both the time and the social desirability issues. They
developing and growing sustainability within and across companies. provided a smart technology based on assessing response time that
Finding a way to measure the 45 sub-competencies in practice was found effective in circumventing the issue of social desirability
and education required some hard thinking and innovation. While while significantly reducing the overall survey time.
8 MUFF ET AL.

TABLE 8 Responsible leadership grid consisting of 45 sub-competencies (Muff, 2016)

Domains of action
Competency dimensions Knowledge (knowing) Skills (doing) Attitude (being)
Stakeholder relations 1. Methods to identify and 4. Initiating and moderating a 7. Being empathic with a
integrate legitimate stakeholder dialogue desire to help others
groups 5. Respecting different interests to 8. Being open and
2. Seeing conflict as a foundation find a consensus trustworthy
for creativity 6. Developing long-term 9. Appreciating the positive
3. Dealing with conflicting interests relationships in diversity
of stakeholders
Ethics and values 10. Knowing what is right and 13. Critically questioning and 16. Being honest and
wrong adapting values integer
11. Knowing your own values 14. Acting according to ethics and 17. Seeking fairness
12. Understanding dilemmas own values 18. Being responsible
15. Acting as a role model towards society and
sustainability
Self-awareness 19. Understanding the importance 22. Learning from mistakes 25. Reflecting about oneself
of reflection in the learning 23. Reflecting on one’s behavior, 26. Reflecting about one’s
process mental models and emotions own behavior
20. Knowing oneself 24. Adapting the communication 27. Sharing one’s
21. Understanding one’s own style developmental
strengths and weaknesses challenges
Systems thinking 28. Understanding how the systems 31. Dealing with complexity and 34. Working across
works ambiguity disciplines and
29. Understanding 32. Estimating consequences of boundaries
inter-dependencies and decisions on the system 35. Defending a long-term
inter-connections of systems 33. Seeing the big picture and the perspective
30. Understanding sustainability connections rather than the 36. Providing a
challenges and opportunities parts trans-generational
perspective
Change and innovation 37. Understanding the significance 40. Developing creative ideas 43. Being open, curious and
of a motivating vision in change courageous
processes 41. Acting to bring about change 44. Being flexible and
and translating ideas into action adaptable for change
38. Understanding the drivers and
enablers of innovation and 45. Being visionary in
42. Questioning the status-quo and
creativity finding solutions for
identifying steps of change for a
society’s problems
39. Understanding conditions, sustainable future
functioning and dynamics of
change processes

Their technology is based on the measurement of user reaction and needs to be taken without interruption in order to generate rele-
times, taking into account reading speed. The advantage of this vant reaction times and results. The online tool is called the “Compe-
assessment lies in the possibility to thus mitigate the effects of social tency assessment for responsible leadership” (CARL) and can be freely
desirability. Nonveridical responding is reflected in longer response accessed either through the dedicated website www.carl2030.org.
times, which are as a result discounted or excluded. The tool measures A joined research team consisting of the authors and the
an association strength for each survey item (a range from −1 to +1, researchers at Fehr Advice compared the operationalized items of our
after re-coding of negatively phrased survey questions, with +1 rep- literature-based survey questions with the existing set of surveys in
resenting a positive association). The assessment tool works with the the area of human decision-making. At the same time, we reviewed
initial first instinctive reaction a respondent has to a question, existing leadership related surveys to covers areas that were not
preventing and excluding the option to reflect and thus to select a addressed by the existing range of their online tools. These survey
socially desirable answer. The result of a participant’s answer is not included the socially responsible leadership scale (Dougan, 2006), the
dichotomous, but a score indicating the extent to which a participant Global Executive Leadership Inventory (Kets de Vries, 2005) and the
agreed or disagreed to a particular statement, resulting in a more Ethical Leadership Scale (Brown, Trevino, & Harrison, 2005), Further-
nuanced reflection of respondents’ skills and attitudes than standard more, formulated questions from Hosenfeld (2010),
survey questions. The survey is completed in less than five minutes Kotrubczik (2008a) and Scherhorn, Haas, Hellenthal, and
MUFF ET AL. 9

Seibold (2012) were also reviewed, amended for the response-time competencies identified. These questions were generated from four
type of situation and subsequently tested. online survey sources (Hexaxo survey, Playfulness survey, Global
Appendix 1 shows an overview of the 45 sub-competency Preferences survey, and the Dark triad survey). These were comple-
aspects and the initially considered and ultimately selected online sur- mented with an additional eight own formulations that were devel-
vey questions generated by the behavior economics survey methods oped specifically by the research team in this context, adding up to
developed by Fehr Advice. The research team identified a total 24 survey questions using the time-sensitive online survey technology
127 potential questions that may match and selected a final 16 ques- developed by Fehr Advice. A total of 21 existing offline survey ques-
tions that were deemed suitable to assess the responsible leadership tions from the Global Executive Leadership Inventory (GELI), the
Socially Responsible Leadership Scale (SRLE-R3), Hosenfeld,
Kotrubczik and own developed questions for the education prototype
TABLE 9 Summary overview of sources for survey questions were used in the area of self-awareness and across the other four
areas of RL to ensure suitability with the original sub-competencies.
No.
Of the 21 offline survey questions, eight needed to be adapted after
Source of items Source detail
an initial online testing and three existing online questions were
4 Global executive leadership inventory
recoded (reversed formulation for better functionality). The resulting
3 Hosenfeld
21 Offline survey was both validated by four subject experts and initially tested
2 Socially responsible leadership scale
surveys by about 10 persons for clarity, understanding, and redundancy. Of
2 Kotrubczik the amended eight off-line questions, five originated from own formu-
10 Own formulation (used with students) lations, two from Kotrubczik and one from the Socially Responsible
5 Hexaxo survey (Fehr online tested) Leadership Scale. All three online questions that were amended origi-
5 Playfulness survey (Fehr online tested) nated from the Playfulness survey. Table 9 provides an overview of
24 Online 5 Global preferences survey (Fehr online the different survey questions’ sources:
surveys tested) A comprehensive overview of the finalized questions is provided
1 Dark triad survey (Fehr online tested) in the next five tables below. Table 10 provides an overview of the
8 Own formulation (Fehr online tested) questions and sources of the stakeholder relations dimension. In total,
45 Total 45 Total items four of the nine questions came from the tested Fehr behavioral

TABLE 10 Overview of CARL online survey questions for stakeholder relations

Code Attribute Source of item Survey question

SK1 • Methods to identify and HEXAXO survey (Fehr) Q40 The first thing that I always do in a new place is to
integrate make friends.
legitimate stakeholder
groups
SK2 • Seeing conflict as a Socially responsible leadership Conflicts can be a basis for creativity.
foundation for creativity scale (SRLS-R3) by
Dougan (2006)
SK3 • Dealing with conflicting Own formulation (BE19 adapted Finding consensus among different stakeholders is
interests of stakeholders and recoded) a waste of time.
SS1 • Initiating and moderating a Own formulation (BE07 adapted) I am able to initiate and moderate a dialogue
Stakeholder dialogue among stakeholders.
relations SS2 • Respecting different HEXAXO survey (Fehr) Q33 I tend to be lenient in judging other people.
interests to find a consensus
SS3 • Developing long-term Own formulation (BE03) Most of my friends I have known for many years.
relationships
SA1 • Being empathic with a desire Playfulness survey (Fehr) Q3 I like to cheer up other people and make them
to help others adapted happy.
SA2 • Being open and trustworthy Global preferences survey (Fehr) I assume that people have only the best intentions.
Q8
SA3 • Appreciating the positive in Global Executive Leadership I like working in diverse teams.
diversity Inventory (GELI) by Kets de
Vries (2005, p. 14)
10 MUFF ET AL.

TABLE 11 Overview of CARL online survey questions for ethics and values

Code Attribute Source of item Survey question

Ethics EK1 • Knowing what is right and HEXAXO survey (Fehr) Q36 I would never accept a bribe, even if it were very large.
and values wrong
EK2 • Knowing your own values Own formulation (ET06) I am aware of the values that are important to me.
EK3 • Understanding dilemmas Own formulation (ET04 Dilemma situations can never be solved.
improved)
ES1 • Critically questioning and Own formulation (ET06) I regularly question my values and adapt them if
adapting values necessary.
ES2 • Acting according to ethics Own formulation It is important to me that I always act according to my
and own values values.
ES3 • Being a role model Own formulation I always try to act as a role model.
EA1 • Being honest and integer Dark triad survey (Fehr) Q27 I’ll say anything to get what I want.
recoded
EA2 • Seeking fairness Global preferences survey I am willing to punish someone who treats others
(Fehr) Q4 unfairly, even if it incurs costs on me.
EA3 • Being responsible towards Global preferences survey If I’d unexpectedly receive money, I would donate part
society and sustainability (Fehr) Q11 of it to a good cause.

economics online tools, and five were adopted from traditional RL off- 5 | PROTOTYPING THE
line surveys. O P E R A TI O N A L I Z A T I O N F O R TH E O N L I N E
Table 11 shows the questions and their sources for the nine sub- QUESTIONNAIRE
competencies in the ethics and values domain. Five questions were
developed based on own formulations, three of them first tested with In order to prototype the process of operationalizing the 45 compe-
students and two developed for the online survey. The remaining four tencies into an online questionnaire and tool we used four different
questions were generated directly from the Fehr Advice online tools. assessments:
Table 12 lists the questions and their sources for the nine sub-
competencies in the self-awareness dimension. None of the existing 1. The survey questions were tested during a two-year period in a
online survey questions by Fehr proved relevant and insights from suitable Master course at a university in order to assess the rele-
existing leadership surveys including the Global Executive Leadership vance of the RL dimensions in a real-life situation.
Inventory (GELI), the Socially Responsible Leadership Scale (SRLE-R3), 2. The survey was amended to fit the limited time availability of busi-
Hosenfeld and Kotrubczik were used together with own formulations ness practitioners in a sizable in-company assessment exercise,
developed and tested prior to their adaptation to the online response- with the purpose to understand the usefulness and applicability of
time survey. the survey results and the RL Grid in real-life.
Table 13 indicates the survey questions and related sources for 3. The outcomes of the first and the second assessments were
the nine areas in the systems thinking dimension. Five questions shared with thought leaders from academia and practice in order
were developed based on insights gained from the RL grid resulting to highlight potential shortcomings and challenges.
in own formulations of which three were tested in offline surveys. 4. The online tool was exposed to a Beta-test involving 103 users in
Four questions were generated from Fehr Advice. There is a clear order to allow the required calibration of the response rates and
advantage of using existing response-time questions given their pro- the generation of the automated results.
found testing of more than 1000 completed survey as compared to
translating questions using different survey methodologies, such as
a Likert-scale. 5.1 | Survey question assessment in a Master
Table 14 summarizes the survey questions and related sources course
for the nine sub-competencies in the change and innovation
dimension. In this area, a mixture of sources was selected for a A Master course in the area of applied business sustainability using a
best result with two questions from the RL literature (the SRLS-R3 student-based pedagogy was selected to test the operationalization
and Kotrubczik), two questions each from the Playfulness and the of the RL Grid. The course was considered due to its innovative and
Global Preferences survey (Fehr), as well three own formulations experiential approach that was considered an ideal platform for devel-
of which two generated for the benefit of this response-time oping responsible leadership competencies in a Master’s level univer-
online survey. sity course (Dyllick & Muff, 2014). The 12-week Master course called
MUFF ET AL. 11

TABLE 12 Overview of CARL online survey questions for the self-awareness dimension

Code Attribute Source of item Survey question

Self-awareness AK1 • Understanding the importance of Own formulation (IB01 adapted and The ability to reflect is quite irrelevant
reflection in the learning process recoded) for learning new things.
AK2 • Knowing oneself Hosenfeld (2010, p. 212) I think I know myself very well and
how I behave in different situations.
AK3 • Understanding one’s own Own formulation (IB07) I am aware of my strengths and
strengths and weaknesses weaknesses.
AS1 • Learning from mistakes Global Executive Leadership I’ve never done the same mistake
Inventory (GELI) by Kets de Vries twice.
(2005, p. 14)
AS2 • Reflecting on one’s behavior, Kotrubczik (2008b), p. 45)—recoded I hardly ever reflect on my values,
mental models and emotions ways of thinking, and ways of
behaving.
AS3 • Adapting the communication style Global Executive Leadership I adapt my communication according
Inventory (GELI) by Kets de Vries to the situation.
(2005, p. 14)
AA1 • Reflecting about oneself Global Executive Leadership I’m interested in my own mistakes so I
Inventory (GELI) by Kets de Vries can learn from them.
(2005, p. 14)
AA2 • Reflecting about one’s own Hosenfeld (2010, p. 212) I like to exchange ideas with others
behavior regarding how to improve my
behavior.
AA3 • Sharing one’s developmental Hosenfeld (2010, p. 212) I ask others about areas in which I
challenges. have potential for improvement.

TABLE 13 Overview of CARL online survey questions for the systems thinking dimension

Code Attribute Source of item Survey question

Systems thinking TK1 • Understanding how the Own formulation I think through a problem until I understand it
systems works in detail.
TK2 • Understanding Playfulness survey (Fehr) Q5 I dislike working out solutions for very
inter-dependencies and recoded complex problems.
inter-connections of systems
TK3 • Understanding sustainability Own formulation The welfare of people and nature is
challenges and opportunities important to me.
TS1 • Dealing with complexity and HEXAXO survey (Fehr) Q53 Even in an emergency I wouldn’t feel like
ambiguity panicking.
TS2 • Estimating consequences of HEXAXO survey (Fehr) Q20 recoded I make decisions based on the feeling of the
decisions on the system moment rather than on careful thought.
TS3 • Seeing the big picture and the Own formulation (recoded) I sometimes get lost in details.
connections rather than the
parts
TA1 • Working across disciplines and Own formulation (SY03) When looking for solutions I integrate
boundaries insights from diverse disciplines.
TA2 • Defending a long-term Playfulness survey (Fehr) Q2 I prefer to plan ahead rather than living from
perspective day to day.
TA3 • Providing a trans-generational Own formulation When making decisions one should also
perspective consider future generations.

“Strategies for Sustainable Development” at the University of for completing the course and represented an integral part of the final
St. Gallen was reviewed for a suitable educational practice test for the grade. These papers were coded in accordance to the RL definitions in
RL operationalization. The authors reviewed the end-of-course reflec- order to assess the suitability for prototyping an RL operationalization
tion papers of students, which represented a mandatory requirement using this course.
12 MUFF ET AL.

TABLE 14 Overview of CARL online survey questions for the change and innovation dimension

Code Attribute Source of item Survey question

Change CK1 • Understanding the significance Socially responsible leadership scale To make change happen sucessfully,
and Innovation of a motivating vision in (SRLS-R3) by Dougan (2006)— having a vision is not important.
change processes improved and recoded
CK2 • Understanding the drivers and Own formulation I know what it takes to be innovative
enablers of innovation and and creative.
creativity
CK3 • Understanding conditions, Own formulation I am aware of the conditions and
functioning and dynamics of dynamics of change processes.
change processes
CS1 • Developing creative ideas Playfulness survey (Fehr) Q9 I like developing new ideas with a
adapted playful approach.
CS2 • Acting to bring about change Global preferences survey (Fehr) Q1 I am generally quite unwilling to take
and translating ideas into adapted and recoded risks to bring about change.
action
CS3 • Questioning the status-quo Own formulation (VE09 adapted) I often question the status-quo and
and identifying steps of initialize change.
change for a sustainable
future
CA1 • Being open, curious and Global preferences survey (Fehr) Excitement, novelty, and challenge in
courageous Q17 adapted life are very important things to me
CA2 • Being flexible and adaptable Playfulness survey (Fehr) Q14 You shouldn’t take everyday routine
for change too seriously, but rather improvise
if something doesn’t work out.
CA3 • Being visionary in finding Kotrubczik (2008b), p. 45)— It is important to me to find solutions
solutions for society’s improved to problems that are relevant to
problems society.

During a 2-year period, the RL operationalization was used both Table 15 provides an overview of the competency gains by dimension
before and after the course as a way to test the operationalization and by differentiating the statistical relevance by dividing the p-value
with multiple-choice questions. The survey investigated to what results into two separate groups of significance (X = p < .05 and
degree and extent this specific course develops competencies of Y = p < .01), the later thus showing a very strong statistical relevance
responsible leaders. of the results as compared to only a strong statistical relevance of the
Both the execution and completion objectivity criteria were con- results of the former. Negative change (NC): These items relate to
firmed by ensuring identical instructions to all students when com-
pleting the survey, and the multiple-choice survey. The reliability was
evaluated and confirmed through the Cronbach-alpha, albeit only
slightly in some domains (the Cronbach-alpha should be significantly
above 0.5 but is only slightly above 0.5 in some areas). Given the small
sample size (n = 33) for the quantitative survey, the Wilcoxon test for
normal distribution was not granted, as the data were ordinal rather
than interval scaled. The boxplot in Figure 1 visually compares these
averages of 5.05 (before) versus 5.23 (after) on a scale of 1 (entirely
wrong) to 7 (entirely correct) indicating a “very significant” statistical
relevance (p-value of .0087).
As it is insightful to look at the opportunities presented by using a
RL tool to assess the effectiveness of an educational learning experi-
ence, a summary of the learning gained from the RL-based survey fol-
lows. The results show that gains in competency are particularly
pronounced in the dimensions of ethics and values, stakeholder rela-
tions and change and innovation. Moreover, students have progressed
F I G U R E 1 Boxpot of the average self-assessment scores before
significantly in all three domains of action (knowing, doing, and being), and after the course [Colour figure can be viewed at
albeit not to the same degree in each of the competency dimensions. wileyonlinelibrary.com]
MUFF ET AL. 13

TABLE 15 Overview of competency gains in the responsible programs and trainings in view of their RL impact. The organization had
leadership grid of Liechti (2014) previously undergone an internal process to define what RL meant and
Knowledge Skills Attitudes Total had subsequently engaged with Business School Lausanne to assess their

Stakeholder relations Y X Y findings. The prototype was translated into a company internal survey
tool to be used by a representative sample (n = 89) of their three manage-
Ethics and values Y Y Y
ment levels (Zoppi, 2016). The survey triggered the identification of three
Self-awareness X NC
competency areas as “blind-spots” areas, which were underdeveloped.
Systems thinking Y NC
The RL grid with its 15 aspects and 45 sub-competencies proved an
Change and innovation X X X
insightful tool for the company and its concern with analyzing and devel-
oping specific RL competencies. In addition, the RL grid helped the com-
students judging their competency as lower than at the beginning of pany to display their existing training offers in a clear way that highlighted
the course. Such awareness can be explained through an increasing overlaps and gaps. Based on a number of follow-on interviews allowed
understanding in the course about a competency resulting in the self- the company to translate the identified blind spots into actions to be
assessment: “Oh, maybe I didn’t know as much as I thought about this added to their training and development priorities (Zoppi, 2016).
particular competency.”
Table 16 offers a summative view of the most significant compe-
tency gains when comparing the before and after self-evaluations of 5.3 | Expert review of the learning and insights
those aspects with a very strong statistical relevance (p-value < .01 only).
Six aspects emerge as particularly important (in order of size of differ- A group of experts of Responsible Leadership scholars from theory and
ence), covering all domains of action (knowing, doing, and being) as well practice as well as HR representatives of the involved company met to
as most competency dimensions (with the exception of change and discuss the outcome of the responsible leadership assessment in the
innovation): company, in the context of corporate responsibility and business sus-
In summary, the prototype that operationalized the RL definition tainability. The experts reviewed previous prototyping steps in an
has proven very useful and insightful in assessing responsible leader- attempt to triangulate learning around the RL prototype. These insights
ship competencies in an educational practice setting. It is encouraging as well as the interconnection with business sustainability and its trans-
to see that the prototype approach has provoked such considerations formative common space are reflected in a conceptual article on the
and has allowed opening the research field more widely. topic (Muff, 2016).

5.2 | Testing the usability of the RL grid for 5.4 | Beta-testing of the online tool for calibration
business
The Beta-test sample of 102 participants served to calibrate the social
A practice application was used to clarify and improve the prototype. A desirability factor using the association strength of the responses with
leading Swiss telecom provider wanted to know how their managers self- the question at +0.7. Responses that occurred with an association
assessed their responsible leadership competencies. The company had a strength of +0.7 and higher were considered as “completed,” lower
desire in particular to (a) undertake a RL-relatedself-assessment of its results were rejected due to the risk of social desirability. The Beta-
management and (b) assess their existing leadership development test furthermore served to refine the response coding per

TABLE 16 Detailed overview of competency gains in the responsible leadership grid of Liechti (2014)

Competency Domain Before After

Competency aspect dimension of Action (avg. value) (avg. value) Difference p-value
Initiating and moderating a dialogue Stakeholder relations Skills 4.36 5.18 0.82 (19%) .0001
Critically questioning and adapting Ethics and values Skills 3.73 4.39 0.67 (18%) .0095
one’s own values
Understanding interdependencies, Systems thinking Knowledge 5.39 6.15 0.76 (14%) .0016
functioning
and connections of systems
Including ethical aspects in decisions Ethics and values Skills 4.82 5.45 0.64 (13%) .0055
Feeling responsible towards Ethics and values Attitude 5.18 5.70 0.52 (10%) .0047
sustainable development
Knowing oneself, one’s emotions, Self-awareness Knowledge 5.27 5.79 0.52 (10%) .0014
interests and needs
14 MUFF ET AL.

F I G U R E 2 Responsible leadership
competencies mastery levels
from 1 to 4

competency sub-dimension. A completed answer resulted in one 6 | P O T E N T I A L A P P L I C A T I O N S A N D U SE

point in a given dimension. As each of the 15 competency areas FO R B O T H B U S I N E S S A ND E D U C A T I O N
consisted of three aspects, three correct answers result in a green
code (or 3 points), two in a yellow (or 2 points) and one in an There is an increasing understanding that there is a need for a fundamen-
orange code (or 1 point). No correct answers resulted in a red code tal mindset shift from “inside-out” to “outside-in” perspective to enable
(or zero points). companies to contribute positively to society (Dyllick & Muff, 2016). This
The calibration procedure has enabled us to verify the scale to organizational mindset shift is strongly connected to an individual mindset
attribute to the various competency level in each of the 15 compe- shift from a “self-oriented” to a “systems-oriented” rationale. A “self-ori-
tency areas, by assigning the value 1 to zero of the three elements ented” rationale is defined by mostly egotistic values combined with
acquired, the value 2 for having one of the three elements acquired, short-term thinking. A “system-oriented” rationale encompasses mostly
value 3 for two and value 4 for all three competencies acquired and altruistic values and long-term thinking (Pureza and Lee, 2020).
developed (see Figure 2). The maximum value for all 15 competency This research journey started with three clear demands from
areas would thus 15 times 4 equals 60. practice:
We adjusted the three action domains in order to weight the
varying difficulties in obtaining the different domains of action. Using 1. Determining the current state of RL competencies - for an individ-
a scale of 100%, we attributed 25% to “knowledge,” 33% to “skills” ual or for a group.
and 42% to “attitude.” Alternatively, expressed differently, “knowl- 2. Assessing the short and long-term effectiveness of RL competen-
edge” is weighted at 60% of “attitude” and “skills” is weighted at 80% cies development.
of “attitude.” Using this action domains scale, we translate the original 3. Evaluating existing training offerings in terms of their RL impact.
competency areas value of 60 into a scale 100 points, thus weighting
the five competency areas of “knowledge” with a factor of 1.25, the Our prototyping suggests that the CARL is an answer to the first
five competency areas of “skills” with a factor of 1.25 and the five two points (1) and (2).
competency areas with a factor of 2.1 (see Table 17).
These calibrations and adjustments allow generating an overall
score for the competencies of responsible leadership on a scale of 6.1 | Determining the degree and extent of
0 to 100. This provides a sample with an overall sense of where he is existing responsible leadership competencies for an
at a given point. Furthermore, we are providing insight into how a individual and for a group
sample is doing as compared with the maximum value for the five
competency dimensions and the three action domains (see Table 18). To date, several hundred of individual users have used the online
Since its inception, the tool has been used widely in business edu- assessment to determine their personal responsible leadership compe-
cation around the world. tencies. The online survey tool generates automatically a free personal

TABLE 17 Competency areas and action domains scaling overview

MUFF ET AL. 15

TABLE 18 Example of competency dimensions and action domains assessment against the maximum score

profile with an overview of those competencies that can still be Let us look at the example of a before and after assessment of an
improved and developed. A person can retake the survey repeatedly MBA course conducted at the Catholic University of Louvain in Bel-
and self-assess her improvement over a self-selected period of time. A gium in Spring 2017. Figures 3 and 4 show how such an evolution
growing number of institutions of higher education (see point 2) have might look like for a program comparing the RL competencies of an
started to use the tool to assess the profile of a group of students as a entire class at the beginning of a program (Figure 3) versus the end of
professor starts a given course. a program (Figure 4). The teaching faculty or the program manage-
ment can use such information to understand which areas of RL may
have been insufficiently addressed during the program and can dis-
6.2 | Assessing the short and long-term cuss with the faculty how this might be improved in a next year. We
effectiveness of responsible leadership competencies are starting to calibrate the development by assessing the difference
development of before and after.
A comparative analysis of the before and after assessments,
The University of St. Gallen and Business School Lausanne, both in completed by 10 and 8 participants respectively, allows the partici-
Switzerland, University of Louvain in Belgium, IPMI International Busi- pants and lecturer to observe the following developments (see
ness School in Indonesia, South East Asia, Case Western University in Table 19):
the United States and the University Stellenbosch in South Africa use
the assessment as a way to: • The course brought an overall increase in responsible leadership
competencies of 16%.
• Enable their students to self-generate their individual RL profile • The action domain “attitude” (being) was most significantly
before and after a course. increased, by 55%.
• Generate class profiles of courses, programs, or entire degrees to • The most change in the competency dimensions occurred in terms
assess a group’s RL profile and development progress before and of “stakeholder engagement” and “self-awareness” (33 and 34%,
after an intervention. respectively).

F I G U R E 3 Competency assessment of responsible leader (CARL)—Before a course (100% response rate) [Colour figure can be viewed at
wileyonlinelibrary.com]
16 MUFF ET AL.

F I G U R E 4 Competency assessment of responsible leader (CARL)—AFTER a course (80% response rate) [Colour figure can be viewed at
wileyonlinelibrary.com]

TABLE 19 Before–<span></span>after<span data-pi-mid="915"></span> comparison of a sample MBA course

It might well be interesting to assess what interventions may course-based surveys with faculty that is not specifically trained in
have contributed to significant positive changes. Participants as well understanding the impact of a preassessment of a class prior to teach-
as interveners are excellent sources for finding potential avenues of ing. It has been suggested that such pre-assessments highly influence
answers to this question. Given a change in the number of respon- a teacher (positively and negatively) and it remains yet to be better
dents, we suggest not drawing conclusions from variations below understood how we can set up this survey to limit unintended nega-
20% change; these may have causes that are beyond the means of tive consequences of such sharing of data at a course level.
analysis available here. We have noted that negative change does
not necessarily imply a loss of a competency, but reflects the
increase of awareness of a participant because of having been 6.3 | Evaluating a broad range of existing training
exposed to certain concepts, experiences, or reflections which may offerings in terms of responsible leadership impact
result in participants rating their knowledge, skills or competencies
lower than previously estimated in any given dimension. It is there- The experience with the Swisscom company case has shown that by
fore not necessarily appropriate to question too much a reduction using the RL grid, the human resources team was able to assess the
of a competency, unless before-after invention show consistency in effectiveness of their large training and development offer in accor-
such data over time. dance to the 15 areas identified, allowing them to understand which
As indicated, pedagogically trained and experienced faculty may dimensions where not addressed at all and where they may have
be interested to look at a class of students take a “before–after” overlapping offers that could be optimized in a next phase.
assessment, in order to understand blind spots and learning opportu- With Millennials entering the workforce, it becomes clear to what
nities at the beginning of a course. Such insight may serve as an addi- degree this new generation is attracted to sustainable companies
tional measure to understand the impact of any learning intervention (Alonso-Almeida Del Mar & Llach, 2018). This underlines not only the
over a given period at the end of the course. Given the current limita- need but also the opportunity for companies to assess how it can
tions of suggestions provided by the tool in terms of how to improve upgrade its training to develop RL across its organization and leaders
a current level of responsibility, it is considered premature to share at all levels.
MUFF ET AL. 17

As a result of a number of business schools around the world Future data that will be compiled with the current and future use
have started using this assessment, it has been suggested, that this of the online tool CARL will allow the further refinement and develop-
online tool might well be way to answer to the question posed by the ment of how we best define RL. The tool will generate insight into
U.N. Principles of Responsible Management Education (UN PRME), which of the dimensions are most challenging to develop and which
namely to what degree do you actually educate responsible leaders. may actually decrease once a participant gains awareness of a given
Business School Lausanne in Switzerland, for instance, has started to dimension (as is shown in Section 6 in the area of knowledge). Data
do a survey for all incoming students in all programs (bachelor to doc- collected will support further research that will allow a refinement and
toral) since September 2016 and at the end of studies across all the improvement of the tools and its applications. The current simplistic
same programs. They are using the CARL in combination with the recommendations that the online tool automatically generates to
SuliTest (www.sustainabilitytest.org) as a way to assess progress of every user and group can and must be further developed once suffi-
students in two dimensions of their vision: responsibility and cient data is available. The same applies to the initial attempt of quan-
sustainability. tifying the progress as outlined in Section 6.
It is our hope that the work reflected in this paper and the Limitations of this paper include the explorative nature of the
resulting CARL tool which has been in use for nearly 4 years now, approach taken in this paper. The comparative research and the sub-
contributes to the development of more responsible leaders both as sequent prototyping in education and practice are solid in their
continuing development at the firm and during a more formal business methods as far as such methods may generate solid approaches.
education. While a majority of the survey questions of the online tool have been
In a time where companies are challenged to not only reduce tested in similar situations, the tool itself does need further practice
their negative footprint but also to focus on increasing their positive tests that can only be provided with the usage of the tool. It is impor-
handprint, a model and tool that measures both the “avoid harm” and tant to analyze the effectiveness of the tool once sufficient additional
the “do good” behaviors of leaders and managers (Stahl & De data has been generated.
Luque, 2014) must serve—so we trust—a positive impact of business. The CARL serves as a database to enrich the current discourse of
RL with real-life data that is sought to further advance the related dis-
cussion. Thanks to all current and future users and to all those col-
7 | C O N C L U S I O N S , L I M I T A T I O N S , A ND leagues active in further advancing responsible leadership on an
FURTHER RESEARCH individual, an organizational and a societal level.

This paper demonstrates that the three questions posed by Managers OR CID
can indeed be answered: Katrin Muff https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5501-5451

1. The CARL provides a pragmatic and rapid way to determine the RE FE RE NCE S
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20 MUFF ET AL.

APPENDIX 1

Overview of 45 RL sub-competencies as compared with the response-time survey questions

Hexaxo Global
No. Competency Mastery Attribute personality Dark Triad Playfulness preferences Total
1 Stakeholder relations Knowledge (knowing) • Methods to identify and 2 0 0 0 2
integrate legitimate
stakeholder groups
2 Stakeholder relations Knowledge (knowing) • Seeing conflict as a 5 0 0 0 5
foundation for creativity
3 Stakeholder relations Knowledge (knowing) • Dealing with conflicting 1 3 0 0 4
interests of stakeholders
4 Stakeholder relations Skills (doing) • Initiating and moderating a 0 2 0 0 2
dialogue
5 Stakeholder relations Skills (doing) • Respecting different 3 0 1 0 4
interests to find a
consensus
6 Stakeholder relations Skills (doing) • Developing long-term 0 0 1 0 1
relationships
7 Stakeholder relations Attitude (being) • Being empathic with a 1 0 1 2 4
desire to help others
8 Stakeholder relations Attitude (being) • Being open and 1 0 0 1 2
trustworthy
9 Stakeholder relations Attitude (being) • Appreciating the positive in 2 0 3 1 6
diversity
10 Ethics and values Knowledge (knowing) • Knowing what is right and 2 4 0 0 6
wrong
11 Ethics and values Knowledge (knowing) • Knowing your own values 0 0 0 0 0
12 Ethics and values Knowledge (knowing) • Understanding dilemmas 0 2 0 0 2
13 Ethics and values Skills (doing) • Critically questioning and 1 2 0 1 4
adapting values
14 Ethics and values Skills (doing) • Acting according to ethics 2 0 0 1 3
and own values
15 Ethics and values Skills (doing) • Being a role model 2 0 2 0 4
16 Ethics and values Attitude (being) • Being honest and integer 2 3 0 0 5
17 Ethics and values Attitude (being) • Seeking fairness 1 0 0 2 3
18 Ethics and values Attitude (being) • Being responsible towards 0 0 0 3 3
society and sustainability
19 Self-awareness Knowledge (knowing) • Understanding the 0 0 0 0 0
importance of reflection in
the learning process
20 Self-awareness Knowledge (knowing) • Knowing oneself 0 3 1 1 5
21 Self-awareness Knowledge (knowing) • Understanding one’s own 5 0 0 0 5
strengths and weaknesses
22 Self-awareness Skills (doing) • Learning from mistakes 0 0 0 0 0
23 Self-awareness Skills (doing) • Reflecting on one’s 0 0 0 3 3
behavior, mental models
and emotions
24 Self-awareness Skills (doing) • Adapting the 0 0 1 0 1
communication style
25 Self-awareness Attitude (being) • Reflecting about oneself 1 2 1 0 4
MUFF ET AL. 21

Hexaxo Global
No. Competency Mastery Attribute personality Dark Triad Playfulness preferences Total
26 Self-awareness Attitude (being) • Reflecting about one’s own 2 2 0 0 4
behavior
27 Self-awareness Attitude (being) • Sharing one’s 1 0 1 0 2
developmental challenges.

Hexaxo Dark Global

No. Competency Mastery Attribute personality triad Playfulness preferences Total
28 Systems Knowledge • Understanding how the systems works 0 1 0 0 1
thinking (knowing)
29 Systems Knowledge • Understanding inter-dependencies and 0 0 2 1 3
thinking (knowing) inter-connections of systems
30 Systems Knowledge • Understanding sustainability challenges and 0 0 0 1 1
thinking (knowing) opportunities
31 Systems Skills • Dealing with complexity and ambiguity 3 1 2 1 7
thinking (doing)
32 Systems Skills • Estimating consequences of decisions on 1 0 1 0 2
thinking (doing) the system
33 Systems Skills • Seeing the big picture and the connections 0 0 0 0 0
thinking (doing) rather than the parts
34 Systems Attitude • Working across disciplines and boundaries 0 2 0 0 2
thinking (being)
35 Systems Attitude • Defending a long-term perspective 0 0 2 0 2
thinking (being)
36 Systems Attitude • Providing a trans-generational perspective 0 0 0 0 0
thinking (being)
37 Change and Knowledge • Understanding the significance of a 0 0 0 0 0
innovation (knowing) motivating vision in change processes
38 Change and Knowledge • Understanding the drivers and enablers of 0 0 0 0 0
innovation (knowing) innovation and creativity
39 Change and Knowledge • Understanding conditions, functioning and 0 0 0 0 0
innovation (knowing) dynamics of change processes
40 Change and Skills • Developing creative ideas 5 0 1 1 7
innovation (doing)
41 Change and Skills • Acting to bring about change and translating 0 0 0 1 1
innovation (doing) ideas into action
42 Change and Skills • Questioning the status-quo and identifying 2 0 2 0 4
innovation (doing) steps of change for a sustainable future
43 Change and Attitude • Being open, curious and courageous 5 0 2 1 8
innovation (being)
44 Change and Attitude • Being flexible and adaptable for change 1 0 4 0 5
innovation (being)
45 Change and Attitude • Being visionary in finding solutions for 0 0 0 0 0
innovation (being) society’s problems
51 27 28 21 127

Note: there was no suitable online questions for the dimension “self-awareness.” These were sourced from existing off-line surveys.
In italics, the online survey questions selected for the competencies.
a
Note: there was no suitable online questions for the dimension “self-awareness.” These were sourced from existing off-line surveys.
b
In italics, the online survey questions selected for the competencies.