Ethical leadership required to lead Europe beyond instrumental rationality

Purpose: This paper questions the extent to which our interpretation of diversity has been socially-constructed through a pro-conformity lens, and hence undermines the nature of diversity itself and space in which identity can be determined. Approach: The authors reflect on practice and policy in Europe resulting from the expansion of the European Union. Findings: The incumbent and emerging leaders in Europe need to better understand the issues and consequences that are emerging from the dualistic nature of the newly expanded unified Europe. Most Western European countries and companies have previously opted to either implement the minimum requirements, normally driven through law and legislation in its companies and societies, e.g., implement demographic targets to be achieved, or focus narrowly on context-relevant multiculturalism. This stems from Anglo-American practice based on the premise of instrumental reasoning, which has been adopted wholesale in Western societies with little challenge or cultural contextualisation. This contrasts with the approach that the newer EU members adopt, due largely to their experience of heightened individualism as well as communalism throughout their long political and economic histories. Now that the EU has expanded, there is both the opportunity and need for a new form of diversity management to emerge. Practical Implications: The fundamental flaw thus far is that too much of the focus has been on efficiently boxing people into certain categories, typically geographic cultural ones, and then seeking to lead them through those categorical lenses rather than fully embracing the uncertainty of diversity. Leaders need to fully engage in a more diverse discourse and the deconstruction of instrumental reasoning. Originality/value: This paper challenges the accepted interpretation of diversity in Europe by challenging the historical foundations from which it developed, arguing that this was an Anglo- American construction aimed at maximising efficiency rather than appreciating difference.