An Exploratory Study into the Understandings and Awareness of Leadership Ethos and Its Inherent Critical Success Factors by Public Sector Officials in the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and the Ministry of the National Economy (ECONAT)

The movement of virtue from ethos to action

“…Ndalamba and Esau (2020) describe various ways of understanding the concept of ethos: (a) to focus on the Greek word ‘to ethos’, which refers to a shelter or dwelling place, which can be seen, for example, in the article of Östman et al (2019), where ethos implies a feeling of at‐homeness; (b) to recognize ethos as the distinguishing features, beliefs or moral values of a group, or institution; and (c) from a broader anthropological perspective, as the distinctive spirit of a culture or an era. In the theory of caritative caring, ethos, or a value base, is an important basis for ethically appropriate care (Lindström et al, 2018).…”

“…The range of possibilities of how to understand the word ‘ethos’ may, with the words of Ndalamba and Esau 2020, p. 62), include ‘the characteristic ways in which particular groups [...] enact, embody and practise their moral convictions and moral judgement, their sense of what is right and what is wrong’. These convictions may be expressed through virtues, which enhance and promote a behaviour that enables the building of trust in relationships with others, linked to a shared vision that is adequately conveyed.…”