In the business world these days, we must take into consideration many factors in becoming successful individually and as a team. One major important factor I’ll be talking about is how ethics influence leadership. How I value the importance of having good ethics, my leadership experiences in life, and how I will apply these values in my future career.
Today we live in such a diverse environment, which means we are surrounded by a lot of different culture, ethnicity, and religion. To become a successful leader you must learn to deal with the differences, one could possess and practice a code of ethics which should include valuable guidelines of principles. Knowing wrong from right; basically sums up what ethic is really all about. Kenneth R. Andrews, in Ethics in Practice (March 1989), “Contends that there are three aspects to ethical behavior in organizations: the development of the individual as an ethical person, the effect of the organization as an ethical or unethical environment, and the actions or procedures developed by the organization to encourage ethical behavior and discourage unethical behavior.” (n.p.) I believe that if you understand, apply, and educate others about the value of morals, honesty, and having good ethics, you’ll become a better leader in all aspect of life.
When I was a manager for my prior company I worked for, I had an assistant. My assistant’s name was Michael; he was three times my age. One day, we had a young African American female customer come in and applied for a loan, Michael assisted her with the paper work, and kindly denied her for the loan. As I manager, I overviewed the young lady’s loan application and found that she was actually qualified for a loan, and so I confronted Michael...
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... how to solve an issue or preventing an issue, comes with the knowledge of knowing what is right and what is wrong, and since we’re dealing with different cultures in our civilization these days, people have different prospective on things, so it’s important to understand and to keep an open-mind at all times because with time passing; things change, acknowledging all the differences is a great key in becoming a successful leader in today’s business world!
Works Cited
National Defense University in, Strategic Leadership and Decision Making (p.15) http://www.au.af.mil/au/awc/awcgate/ndu/strat-ldr-dm/refer.html
Kenneth R. Andrews, in Ethics in Practice (March 1989) (n.p.)
UOK, Values & Ethics Code(p. 4) http://getinvolved.uky.edu/Leadership/pdf/Values%20and%20Ethics.pdf
Management Study (2011)
http://www.managementstudyguide.com/leadership-ethics.htm
The importance of ethical leadership is emphasised in theories of ethical leadership such as transformation theories which seek to raise the consciousness of followers by appealing to ideals and moral values rather than to materialistic desires or negative emotions such as fear and jealousy; Servant leadership theory which explains why the primary concern of the leaders should be to nurture, develop, and protect followers; Spiritual leadership theory which explains how leaders can enhance the spiritual meaning in the work experienced by followers; Authentic leadership theory which describes an ideal leader whose behavior is guided by strong positive values, (Yukl, 2010). In addition, all these theories emphasise the importance of leadership
The study indicated that the influences processes employed by transformational and transactional leaders may be driven by different ethical values that also appear to indirectly impact follower attitudes toward corporate social responsibility. Transformational leadership was strongly associated with leader deontological values, suggesting that such leaders’ strong beliefs in altruism, universal rights, and principles lay the groundwork for enacting the key motivational and inspirational behaviors that drive leadership outcomes in organizations. Transformational leaders’ ability to demonstrate idealized attributes and behaviors, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration behaviors rest on a strong deontological ethical foundation. A leader’s beliefs in selflessness, treating followers, and teammates as ends and viewing leadership practices as having ethical implication regardless of their consequences in any organization. These views facilitate an authentic demonstration of transformational behaviors in the stakeholder view of corporate social responsibility. Leader teleological ethics was found to predict active transactional leadership behavior, indicating that a leader’s belief in reciprocity norms, the maximization of mutual interests, and judging the ethical content of leadership acts according to their consequences were key to facilitating contingent reward and active performance monitoring
Looking at the first word in ethical leadership we see, as stated in the Webster-Merriam dictionary, ethical is defined as “following accepted rules of behavior: morally right and good”. When we think of someone who is ethical we, first, think of someone who ‘follows the rules’. By following the rules I mean someone who in the eyes of the majority is morally sound. Having strong morals is what I believe the key is to an ethical person. On the other side of the definition of ethical is defining it as having inside oneself the desire to do what’s right over what is wrong. When we speak about someone who is ethical this desire is one that is not dependent on external forces i.e. no one can sway an ethical person’s mindset.
My code of ethics helps determine what kind of decision I make as a leader. When making a decision not only the code of ethics affect what kind of decisions the leader will makes, but also the impact on power holders. The definition of power is the ability of one person to influence others or exercise control over them. (Nahavandi, 2015) There are two different ways how power impacts a leader, a positive impact and negative impact. Positive impact focuses on action-oriented where a leader is more sensitive and more generous. Negative impact is a leader who cannot empathize where a leader is addicted to power and take all the credits. When a leader is impacted positively with power, the leader is going to be successful making ethical decisions. For example, the leader will be able to obtain thoughtful information from his/her peers and make a valid and reasonable decision while account his/her subordinates. When a leader is impacted by negatively with power, the leader will abuse his/her power and make poor and unethical decisions. As a leader, leaders should avoid abusing their powers and maintain a positive impact on power
Strong Ethics is a Critical Quality of Leadership. Verschoor, Curtis C., Strategic Finance, January, 2006, Vol. 87, Issue 7, P. 19-20.
Ethical leadership is hard to define according to research cited by Yukl, (2013). Ethics depends on time, culture, and laws. We can attempt to define ethical leadership by looking at the leader’s behavior, values and how he or she influences followers (Yukl, 2013). Every organization has ethical and moral guidelines stipulated through their policies, rules and regulations. A leader who is honest and trustworthy can be said as an ethical leader. But it depends on how the behavior is reflected in the organization and the employees. Ethical leadership can also be defined as to whether the behaviors violate cultural customs and laws of the society. Personal morals and ethics may be in conflict with managing the organization
The learnings of culture with in organisations were influential in my coaching performance. At the time I started to study culture and diversity of leadership I had culture difficulties at my current place of work as a high level coach. We had recently hired a new male coach who would work alongside me to coach our senior athletes.
German Philosopher, Immanuel Kant once said, “In law a man is guilty when he violates the rights of others. In ethics he is guilty if he only thinks of doing so” (1800). The word ethics refers to “character” and “conduct” (Northouse, 2015, p. 330). It is deeply “concerned with the virtuousness of individuals and their motives” and “the kinds of values and morals an individual or a society finds desirable or appropriate” (Northouse, 2015, p. 330). Thus, “in regards to leadership, ethics is concerned with what leaders do and who leaders are” (Northouse, 2015, p. 330). Ethics in leadership allows leaders to make decisions regarding what is virtuous or not in a situation. All throughout the history of American government, difficult decisions have been made and the fight for ethics has always been “implicitly or explicitly involved” (Northouse, 2015, p. 330).
2005; Piccolo et al., 2010, Zhu et al. 2015). Top management teams and policy makers must carefully
All styles of leadership must include ethics that are built on a foundation of values, obligation to do good, while adhering to the healthcare organizational codes that reflects the agency’s mission. In healthcare, this means high-quality care for patients or delivery outcomes ((Levitt-Rosenthal, 2013). In evaluation of my past career roles and where I would like to go in the future, I really have not had issues that I needed to work on. However, I have left two jobs because I did not agree with a few of the company’s policies in how they operated to keep grant monies. According to Larson (2013) the top five ethical issues, in healthcare delivery today, are finding a balance between efficient and quality
My personal code of ethics is constructed by a set of ideas and standards that are guided through the use of knowledge and personal beliefs. Each individual is raised with unique values and experiences that internalize personal identity. Our identity is guided and shaped through the interactions from parents, community, teachers, and peers. Leadership identity is no different. Educational leaders should be given the opportunity to take the time to develop their own personal codes of ethics based on life stories and critical incidents. (Shapiro & Stefkovich, 2011, p. 23) Understanding our values and beliefs are the basis for successful leadership. As Shapiro and Stefkovich (2011) state, “a professional ethical code cannot be established without
“Good leaders develop ideas. Great leaders develop people. The best leaders develop new leaders”, these are the words that were quoted by one of my teachers in high school who influenced and taught me some of the essential lessons in regards with being a good and effective leader. I always remember this saying every time I am working in a group or if I am given a task to lead a team. I’ve been involved in a lot of group activities in the past wherein I’ve witnessed a lot of group relationship that inspired me as well as taught me of the do’s and don’ts when it comes to leading people and getting along with your groupmates. Based from these practical learning experiences, I believe that I still have a lot of things that I need to learn and skills
Although I have many core values, including diligence, happiness, helpfulness, true friendship, freedom, and intelligence, the most significant in my life are love, morality, honesty, and forgivingness. Throughout my life, these particular values have proved key to becoming the person I wished to be. “The term leadership involves our self-images and moral codes” (Values in Leadership). In order to lead and to be someone who upholds their values, one must be fully aware of what is important to them and what drives them.
Ethical leadership organizational ethics and socially responsibility are inseparable (Johnson). Leadership is not a inherited gift or family heritage; it is not a degree from an ivy league graduate school. Becoming a leader is an intentional process of growth that must be lived out experientially (Mullane). Ethical leaders demonstrate three distinctive characteristics, knowledge, action and character. Leaders have to have the ability to say “yes” or even “no” to a never ending series of challenges. A leader needs to be able to define their values, character and leadership style. When accepting the role of leadership you become encumbered by ethical issues and concerns. .
What do Kenneth Lay, Bernard Ebbers, Conrad Black, Dennis Kozlowski, and Scott Thompson have in common? Yes, they were all in high ranking leadership positions, worked for very large companies, and were men. Unfortunately for the companies they worked for, they also lacked any sense of ethical leadership. Ethics are very important in the business world, and managers need to do all they can to hire and retain ethical people.