Gandhian Philosophy as a Model of Ethical Leadership in the Contemporary World

The contemporary world is witnessing an acute crisis of ethical leadership across political, corporate,and social institutions. Despite remarkable advancements in science, technology, and organizationalmanagement, leadership failures characterized by corruption, misuse of authority, erosion of publictrust, environmental degradation, and growing social inequality have become widespread. Leadershiptoday is frequently evaluated in terms of efficiency, profit, power, and strategic success, while ethicalresponsibility, moral integrity, and human values are often marginalized. In this context, MahatmaGandhi’s philosophy offers a comprehensive and enduring framework for ethical leadership groundedin truth, non-violence, moral courage, self-discipline, and service to humanity. This research articlecritically examines Gandhian philosophy as a normative and value-based model of ethical leadershiprelevant to the contemporary world. The study explores core Gandhian concepts such as Satya (truth),Ahimsa (non-violence), Sarvodaya (welfare of all), Aparigraha (non-possessiveness), Trusteeship, andSwaraj (self-rule), and analyses their implications for leadership in political governance, corporateorganizations, and civil society. Using a qualitative and philosophical research methodology, the paperengages with both classical Gandhian texts and contemporary leadership literature, and undertakes acomparative analysis of Gandhian leadership with modern leadership models such as ethical leadership,servant leadership, and transformational leadership.