Dutmer launches scholarly work exploring Cicero’s vision of leadership

Culver Academies ethics instructor Evan Dutmer, Ph.D., writes in his new book that one of history's most influential Roman thinkers may also have been one of its earliest leadership theorists.

During a book launch before a crowd of more than 50 students, colleagues, friends and community members at Huffington Library, Dutmer discussed how Marcus Tullius Cicero's writings offer insights into leadership, ethics and civic responsibility that remain relevant today.

"We are living in critical times," Dutmer said, reading from the preface of his new scholarly book, “Cicero's New Leadership: A Proto-Transformational Leadership Theory.” “Marcus Tullius Cicero, ancient Roman politician, orator, and philosopher, lived amid crises nearly his entire adult life. In contrast to the autocratic tendencies of some of his contemporaries, Cicero advocated for a new kind of leadership, one he also thought very old, to respond to these crises.”

According to Dutmer, Cicero championed leaders who inspired followers through character rather than force. The event connected classical philosophy to contemporary questions of leadership, ethics and civic responsibility.

Dutmer cited declining trust in institutions, growing workplace disengagement and the rise of authoritarianism in today’s world as evidence of a need for leaders who are both principled and effective. Dutmer said Cicero offered a vision of leadership centered on virtue, authenticity and service to the common good rather than power, coercion or personal ambition.

"Cicero paints a picture of leadership that is strikingly modern," Dutmer said. "A responsive, bi-directional leadership centered around transformational leaders who motivate their followers by virtues, persuasion and authenticity, not by force, coercion and empty charisma."

The book examines Cicero's concept of the rector rei publicae, or "helmsman of the commonwealth," and argues that it serves as a precursor to transformational leadership theories popularized by leadership scholar James MacGregor Burns in the 20th century.

Throughout the presentation, Dutmer introduced audience members to Cicero, who lived during the collapse of the Roman Republic and the rise of the Roman Empire. A senator, philosopher and defender of republican government, Cicero became one of Rome's most influential statesmen before being executed by supporters of Mark Antony in 43 B.C.

Dutmer noted that Cicero's influence extended far beyond ancient Rome. The Roman thinker coined numerous philosophical terms that remain part of modern language, including "essence," "quality," "humanity," "perception" and "probability."

John Buggeln, Ph.D., a Culver humanities instructor, also spoke at the book launch and noted that it was Constitution Day, which he said was appropriate because many of America’s founders viewed Cicero as a model of republican virtue. He pointed to figures such as John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, who looked to classical thinkers for guidance on leadership and citizenship.

"Self-government has two meanings," Buggeln said.  “It requires that we govern together, and we govern ourselves as individuals.”

Buggeln praised the book’s connection between classical ideas and modern challenges.

“I see Evan's work connecting well to an American sense of what makes a good leader,” he said.

He also pointed to the alignment between Dutmer’s scholarship and Culver Academies’ longstanding emphasis on character development.

“I'm also happy for Culver to support this work so connected to the school's mission of character and leadership education,” Buggeln said.

He said the main question of the night was: "What does it mean to be a good leader?"

The event also featured a discussion on the relationship between ethics and effectiveness in leadership. Drawing from Cicero's writings, Dutmer challenged participants to consider whether successful leadership can be separated from moral leadership.

He referenced what leadership scholars sometimes call the "Hitler problem" — the question of whether effectiveness alone is enough to define leadership. Cicero, Dutmer said, rejected that view, arguing that leaders must pursue both what is advantageous and what is morally right.

Audience members were invited to discuss leaders they considered both ethical and effective. Among audience members, authenticity emerged repeatedly as a defining characteristic of admired leaders.

The evening concluded with a passage describing Cicero's death and enduring legacy. Despite being executed and decapitated by political rivals, Cicero's influence survived, Dutmer said, because his ideas remained relevant across generations.

Reflecting on the lengthy process of bringing the book to publication, Dutmer said one of the most rewarding aspects was watching his own ideas evolve through years of revision and scholarship.

"To see something through like that was really fun and special," he said.

For Dutmer, the central message of both Cicero's life and his own book remains clear in that leadership is most powerful when effectiveness is guided by virtue.

"Every instance of leadership is deeply imperfect," he said. "The challenge is finding ways to adapt enduring ideas to the world we live in today."