How Do Ethical Leaders in Sustainability-Driven Organizations Perceive Their Role And Challenges In Fostering Employees' Pro-Environmental Behaviors?

Abstract

This thesis explores how ethical leadership is perceived and enacted by leaders in sustainability-driven organizations to promote employees’ pro-environmental behaviors (PEB). Based in an interpretivist paradigm, the study adopts a qualitative, inductive approach based on semi-structured interviews with ethical leaders from socially and environmentally committed organizations in Belgium. Thematic analysis revealed four key themes: the importance of value alignment, the role of ethical role modeling, organizational enablers and barriers, and the practical implications. Findings highlight how ethical leaders actively shape organizational norms and inspire ecological responsibility through trust, coherence, and example. This research contributes to the understanding of leadership as a relational and moral process in the promotion of environmental sustainability in the workplace.