Ethical Leadership and Corporate Sustainability: A Qualitative Survey of Daily Managerial Practices

This paper investigates the link between ethical leadership and corporate sustainability, starting from the hypothesis that the effectiveness of corporate sustainability models depends significantly on the daily practices implemented by those in leadership roles, rather than just strategic statements or aggregate ESG indicators. The first part of the thesis reconstructs the theoretical evolution of the concept of leadership, from classical theories to contemporary styles, up to the paradigm of ethical and responsible leadership, and then analyzes the transformation of sustainability from a philanthropic option to a strategic driver, through the main reference models (Triple Bottom Line, evolution of CSR, sustainable leadership). The literature review, however, highlights a significant gap: existing research focuses predominantly on macro and meso levels, aggregate ESG performance, organizational culture, perceptual surveys, and pioneering case studies, leaving little exploration of the behavioral micro-practices through which managers concretely "embody" sustainability in day-to-day management, even in business contexts that are not necessarily at the forefront of these issues. To fill this gap, the second part of the thesis proposes a qualitative investigation based on semi-structured interviews with managers and business leaders, aimed at exploring how daily decision-making, consistency between statements and behaviors, transparent communication, and accountability translate into observable practices. The expected contribution of the work is to enrich the understanding of the microbehavioral foundations of sustainable leadership, integrating the theoretical perspective with original empirical evidence.