Enacting responsible leadership: the case of Singapore

The literature on responsible leadership focus predominantly on a western context with limited empirical studies reported from Asia. To address this gap, this paper aims to explore responsible leadership from a non-western context focusing on Singapore. Case studies developed from face-to-face interviews with 20 influential Singaporean leaders were analysed and similarities and differences between and within cases were utilised to identify contextual factors that influence responsible leadership. The findings reveal that Singaporean leaders possess traits/values that make them both responsible and effective leaders. However, contextual factors such as national culture and ethos of the nation as well as relational intelligence also influenced responsible leadership and the management of the tension between being responsible and effective.