Purpose -This paper aims to review the links between ethics, leadership and psychology, and to introduce the papers for the special issue of the Journal of Management Development. Design/methodology/approach -The paper provides a conceptual review of issues attached to research in the field of responsible leadership psychology. Findings -Individual organisational members affect and are affected by the organisation's collective psyche, and all are potential leaders; therefore, all should care

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... ut their 'inner life' and reflect on the interrelationships between their ethical responsibility, their psychological world, and their interaction with others. Originality/value -Self-enquiry and understanding the unconscious influences on egoconsciousness are essential for nurturing ethical awareness and responsible action as leaders, followers and more generally as organisational agents.