The application of ethical leadership for senior leaders: the S-CALM model

Abstract

The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) describes ethical leadership as requiring ‘understanding and critical thinking skills that must be cultivated and exercised throughout a leader’s development.’ The S-CALM Model is a functional toolkit for the application of key principles of ethical leadership in times of heightened stress especially when in command in a difficult situation. ‘It has been designed to encompass ideas from four disciplines that are often not put together, which is what gives it use as an applied tool. The four components that combine to create the S-CALM Model are: ethical leadership theory, military ethics, military leadership doctrine and behavioural science concepts’ as shown in Figure 1.