Throughout history, there are numerous examples of business and government leaders who have fallen from grace only to rise again, and have a “second act” and a “second chance” as a legitimate social actor or leader—that is, they achieved redemption. We explore “the road to redemption” of leaders—when and why it occurs, and what “bumps” prevent it. In our analysis, we conceptualize redemption as a process with three elements—remorse, rehabilitation, and restoration—and as an outcome (the restoration of legitimacy). We argue that achieving redemption is not a product of chance; rather, it is a social construction process of narrative creation and identity construction involving many parties. Also, the road to redemption is shaped by cultural-specific factors—and it is temporally dependent. From this framework, we identify new directions for the theory and practice of leadership.

纵观整个历史，有许多企业和政府领导人的例子，他们从恩典中跌落而只是重新崛起，并作为合法的社会角色或领导人具有“第二种行为”和“第二次机会”，也就是说，他们实现了救赎。我们探索了领导人的“救赎之路”，何时何地发生，以及什么“颠簸”阻止了它。在我们的分析中，我们将赎回概念化为具有三个要素的过程，即悔恨，康复和恢复，并作为结果（恢复合法性）。我们认为实现救赎不是机会的产物；相反，这是一个涉及许多政党的叙事创造和身份建构的社会建构过程。而且，赎回之路受文化特定因素的影响-并且在时间上是依赖的。从这个框架，