Leadership and pro-environmental behaviors within the belgian banking sector

Abstract

This research paper focuses on the issue of the influence of leaders' pro-environmental behaviour on the behaviour of their subordinates within so-called traditional Belgian banks. In order to study this issue, we followed a gradual process divided into three parts. First, the definition of leadership. We started with the definition of leadership according to various authors from the medieval period - Plato and Aristotle - to modern and contemporary authors - such as J.M. Burns and P. Northouse. The question of the influence of leadership is not a recent one in the social sciences. Indeed, a number of researchers - including B.M. Bass - assert that the leader's influence on followers is essentially based on his ability to be an example himself and to show consistency between his ideals and his actions, and this applies to all types of leadership. In the specific case of transformational leadership, whose ecological extension gives rise to pro-environmental leadership, the leader's influence is achieved through pro-environmental behaviours known as Leader Green Behavior. These behaviours aim to demonstrate the leader's ecological position in order to have a greater impact on followers. Secondly, we attempted to highlight the contribution of European green regulations to the ecological transition of banks and the adoption of ecological behaviour within traditional Belgian banks. Finally, we conducted a qualitative study based on semi-structured interviews with 15 participants, including 5 leaders and 10 collaborators from 5 traditional Belgian banks. The thematic and codified analysis of these interviews provided further clarification of the initial research issue and enabled us to collect data that led to concrete results in line with our study.