It can be argued that a humanistic enlightenment approach to leadership emerged as a counter to the historical prevalence of totalitarian elitism where leaders were often autocratic and authoritarian, demanding obedience through command and control. Although beginning with the ancient Greeks, this kind of leadership has continued through classical periods from early medieval times up until the industrial revolution, and also into our modern era. Since the 18th century, philosophies of enlightened humanism have been the face of leadership thinking if not always what might be seen as its embodied practice. Beneath the surface, there lurks a controlling and demanding imposition of self-discipline that can be seen as equally if not more, repressive than the elitism it replaces. This article is concerned to challenge such repression by developing a neo-humanist enlightenment approach to leadership and its development. It departs from those studies that reflect and thereby reproduce individualized preoccupations with, and attachments to, identity on the part of leaders and the so-called followers. The focus, instead, is on an embodied leadership that encourages an ethical engagement with the community, institutions, organizations, and society.

可以说，一种人文启蒙的领导方法是为了对抗历史上盛行的极权精英主义，在这种情况下，领导者往往是专制和专制的，通过命令和控制要求服从。虽然从古希腊人开始，但这种领导从中世纪早期到工业革命的古典时期一直持续到我们的现代时代。自 18 世纪以来，开明的人文主义哲学一直是领导思维的面孔，如果不总是被视为其具体实践。在表面之下，潜伏着一种控制性和苛刻的自律，与它所取代的精英主义相比，它可以被视为同样甚至更压抑。本文旨在通过对领导力及其发展发展一种新人文主义启蒙方法来挑战这种压制。它与那些反映并从而再现领导者和所谓的追随者对身份的个性化关注和依恋的研究不同。相反，重点是体现领导力，鼓励与社区、机构、组织和社会进行合乎道德的参与。