Leadership Virtues in Business: What Are They and Why Do They Matter?

UD Admissions | December 2, 2025

For the modern leader, skills alone are not the defining factor; character is the true mark of identity. In a world short on authenticity, leadership virtues offer a solution to the current leadership crisis. Effective business leaders practice what they preach, embodying leadership virtues in action, not as mere words or ideals but as lived habits of excellence.

Key Takeaways

Virtue is the habitual disposition to do the good.
When business leaders embody leadership virtues, they effectively guide teams and prioritize human flourishing in all decisions.
Values reflect beliefs, but when not backed by action, they fail to hold weight.
Leaders who pursue virtue, rather than simply profess values, set themselves apart.
Leadership virtues such as prudence, temperance, and courage form the foundation of effective and authentic leadership.
To build leadership virtues, one must intentionally cultivate them.
Choosing a graduate business program that emphasizes character formation helps you establish a foundation for virtuous leadership.

Four people collaborate at a table, discussing documents and taking notes in a modern office setting.

What Are Leadership Virtues?

Virtue is defined as a habitual and firm disposition to do the good. Virtues are not skills but habits, acts of the will that enable one to choose the good consistently in action. Leadership virtues include qualities such as courage and temperance, all directed toward human flourishing and promoting the common good.

What Is the Difference Between Virtue vs. Value?

While values reflect beliefs, they often prove hollow without action. When not practiced, values, though intended to guide decisions, fail to hold real weight. It is through the habitual enactment of values that virtue is cultivated.

Business leadership rooted in virtue serves as a blueprint for true success, guided not by recognition or profit but by the pursuit of goodness itself. In practice, this means prioritizing people over profit and treating others as ends in themselves, not as means to an end.

In pursuing the following virtues, leaders guide themselves and their organizations toward integrity, purpose, and long-term success.

Courage: Boldness and Resolve

According to Aristotle in the Nicomachean Ethics, courage is the first virtue that makes all other virtues possible.
The virtue of courage, or fortitude, enables leaders to take action in the face of fear or uncertainty.
It allows them to persevere through challenges, make difficult decisions in times of crisis, and inspire confidence in others.

Prudence: Practical Wisdom

Prudence, one of the four cardinal virtues in philosophy, is the ability to discern the right action in any given situation.
Business leaders who exercise prudence make decisions in the best interests of their people, balancing short- and long-term goals.

Temperance: The Merit of Self-Regulation

The leaders who pursue temperance grow in self-control.
Lacking temperance leads to a lack of humility, making organizations vulnerable to toxic work environments.
With temperance, a leader can decisively choose against unethical decisions, even when a choice is unpopular or leaves profit on the table.

Justice: Fairness and Integrity

Justice, the fourth cardinal virtue, means giving others their due without bias.
Just leaders practice transparency and create cultures of authenticity.
They build relationships rooted in trust, which leads to higher employee engagement.

Transcendence: Purpose and Excellence

Transcendence, connected to the virtue of faith, involves recognizing an external source of goodness, truth, beauty, and purpose.
Such leaders pursue meaning and excellence beyond themselves, understanding that their actions serve a greater good.
By recognizing this higher purpose, leaders can guide others toward it, helping all work for the common good.

Cultivate Character and Virtue at The University of Dallas School of Business

Leaders who cultivate virtue cultivate character and build the foundation for lasting personal and organizational success. Habits require intentional practice, and a graduate business program that emphasizes both technical expertise and character formation can help you develop a virtuous leadership style.

At the University of Dallas College of Business, our graduate degree programs combine in-demand skills with intentional character formation, cultivating virtuous leaders ready to take on the future of business.

To learn more about what it takes to transform into a leader, download the guide: The Makings of a Manager vs. a Leader: Why a Master’s in Leadership Might Not Be For You.