Leadership has been considered a fundamental concept within organizational and social structures throughout history; it has been redefined within the framework of different theoretical approaches along with changing economic, cultural, and managerial dynamics. Today, leadership is accepted not only as a process of achieving goals but also as a function of creating value and shaping organizational culture. In this context, the normative framework within which leadership is practiced stands out as one of the key elements determining the quality of organizational outcomes. In recent years, increasing ethical violations and corporate trust crises have increased academic interest in the moral dimension of leadership; ethical leadership and toxic leadership concepts have become more visible in the literature. This study aims to examine ethical leadership and toxic leadership approaches through a literature review method, based on the historical development of the leadership concept. In this study, ethical leadership is considered as the reflection of universal values ​​such as honesty, justice, transparency, and accountability in leader behaviors and organizational processes; while toxic leadership is defined as the production of negative consequences at the individual and organizational levels through the leader's unethical, manipulative, and destructive behaviors. Literature findings indicate that ethical leadership, as a normative-based form of leadership, assumes a trust-generating and regulatory function within the organizational context. This approach assumes that the leader shapes the organizational climate through value-oriented behaviors and structures a sense of justice, trust, and psychological security in the employees' perception of the world. In this respect, ethical leadership is conceptualized not only as an individual practice of virtue but also as an institutional mechanism that regulates organizational processes and relationships in accordance with normative principles. In contrast, toxic leadership is considered a phenomenon that expresses the normative dissolution of the leadership process and the instrumentalization of power relations. In toxic leadership, the leader's behavioral patterns are shaped around control, oppression, and manipulation rather than serving a protective and developmental function for the organizational structure; this leads to the formation of an order based on distrust and fear in the organizational climate. This study examines the concepts of leadership, its historical development, ethical leadership, and toxic leadership, which have recently gained importance, through a literature review. As a result of the literature review, these two approaches are discussed from a conceptual perspective, and evaluations are made to guide future studies.