Abstract
Legitimate leadership has gained relevance as a fundamental category for understanding managerial practices in organizational contexts marked by informality and centralized decision-making, as is often the case in Mexican micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This study aims to design a theoretically grounded instrument to measure legitimate leadership through three key dimensions: moral authority, conscious cooperation, and effective communication. Using a systematic review under the PRISMA protocol and a variable operationalization matrix, the Legitimate Leadership Scale for SME Entrepreneurs (ELLE-Mx) was developed. The instrument consists of 20 items distributed across three dimensions, formulated as affirmative statements using a five-point Likert scale. The design was supported by both classical and contemporary theoretical frameworks, prioritizing semantic clarity, cultural relevance, and practical applicability in non-institutionalized settings. Although this phase does not include empirical validation, the proposed scale represents a relevant methodological contribution for diagnosing ethical leadership in the SME sector and provides a foundation for future psychometric and training-based research. The ELLE-Mx aims to support self-assessment, the development of managerial competencies, and critical reflection on the legitimacy of business leadership in México.