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Purpose — This chapter aims to present the way how to think about honesty in leadership, practically and simply on an example of the Czech Republic.Design/methodology/approach — This chapter discusses what (dis)honesty in leadership is, how it manifests and how it is perceived in the Czech Republic. It is illustrated with corruption statistics and a short interview with a Czech top manager from Microsoft.Findings — Contemporary leadership models accentuate soft side of leading personalities, including emotion, integrity, communication, networking, and serving others. Honesty belongs to necessary characteristics of effective leaders. Among Czech culture standards, several values are associated with integrity and honesty, particularly generosity, care about relatives, and confidence based on social relations as well as high evaluation of human behavior. The main weaknesses are low acceptance of formal structures and rules, the importance of informal communication, a strong tendency to conflicts and personal interpretation of any criticism.Originality/value — The complexity of (dis)honesty in leadership (encompassing its nature and impact factors) has received relatively little research attention.

Isaac O. Amoako is a researcher at the Centre for Enterprise and Economic Development Research (CEEDR) and lecturer in enterprise and small business at the Department of International Management and Innovation, all at Middlesex University Business School, UK. He completed his Ph.D. in 2012 in the same university and his paper on “alternative institutions” used by exporting SMEs in Ghana has been accepted and forthcoming in International Small Business Journal (ISBJ). His research interests include enterprise and small business start-up and management, interorganizational trust, culture and organizations, and international business management. Prior to his academic career he was an entrepreneur starting and managing his own businesses for over 20 years.

The economic life is often hindered by problems that can be successfully solved by tapping into concepts of social sciences. Herein, basic assumptions uniform people’s behavior but these may also create problems and thus, nowadays the economy meets the consequences of the so-called “soft issues” for various reasons. In this light, the aim of the volume is to show what kind of influences may turn out from honesty and dishonesty to management and the economy, in general. These effects generate an ensemble where factors could affect and be affected by each other in several ways.