Abstract

Studies on humanistic approaches have been reviewed as ethical problems at several major US firms came to light in the early 2000s and global issues such as the wealth gap and climate change became apparent. It is crucial to improve research on humanistic leadership that considers both social and economic values to replace conventional leadership theories that emphasize financial success and are now being criticized even by Western scholars and practitioners. This study aims to provide a process model of humanistic leadership that outlines its behavioural attributes in the Japanese context. First, we examine the statements of two Japanese humanistic leaders in terms of definitions of organization and leadership, and discover that their leadership style revolved around three key objectives: societal prosperity, employee happiness, and profitability. Humanistic leadership with “an altruistic mindset” that achieves these three objectives is an ideal leadership model in today’s business world. We also discover that, unlike the existing leadership styles, Japanese humanistic leaders do not identify each stakeholder for which a leader or company is responsible; instead, they pay attention to the benefits to all individuals involved. Second, we examine the perspectives of Eichi Shibusawa (practitioner) and Baigan Ishida (philosopher) to determine how these two individuals created critical Japanese merchant values, which influenced both business leaders. We conclude by presenting propositions on humanistic leadership practices that are based on the aforementioned findings, providing key implications for practitioners seeking to implement this leadership style and paving way for future research on the subject.