In the last decades there has arisen a greater awareness of the ever present need for critical academic reflection on the nature of ethics leadership and committees in research, healthcare, and organizational systems. Yet what is meant by ethics itself? How is ethics understood as a historical phenomenon? What challenges must ethics leaders face about their self-understanding and their role within an institution? What strategies might prove fruitful for future development in ethics leadership? What is the authentic role of ethics leaders and boards within an institution? If the work and service of ethics leaders and boards are to increase and deepen the ongoing life of an institution, then it is important for these leaders and bodies to engage in an ongoing and critical assessment of their identity, their self-understanding, their mission, their specific services, and the ways in which they can become a proactive part of the evolving richness that research, healthcare, and other types of institutions provide for the life and welfare of society and its citizens. This article explores these issues by way of academic commentary and reflection in the hope of stimulating ethics leaders and boards toward new and unprecedented self-understanding and servant leadership.