Ethical Leadership
Ethical Leadership
Name
Kaplan University
SUBJECT
SUBJECT CODE
PROFESSOR
Date
Introduction
The topic Ethical Leadership is more complex than meets the eye. It means leadership that knows what is right and acting based on those guidelines. The question that should be asked then is “what is right?” Once the ethical course of action is determined the leader must then have the integrity and fortitude to proceed with that course of action. In addition to decision making ethical leadership also implies that a leader must be ethical in their attitudes and interactions. This essay seeks to inform about the practice of ethical leadership and its value to an organization The Practice of Ethical Leadership
In order to understand the practice of Ethical Leadership it must be broken down to its constituent terms; Leadership and Ethics. Leadership is defined as a process of social influence in which a person can enlist the aid and support of others to accomplish a common task (Chemers, 1997). Ethical leadership is when the leader demonstrates integrity and trustworthiness to convince employees to buy his vision (Dirks & Ferrin, 2002). In order to demonstrate his integrity and trustworthiness the ethical leader is a people-oriented person (Resick, et. al, 2006) who motivates people towards accomplishing the goals of the group instead of personal benefit.
Ethical leader must look within himself and upon reliable sources for guidance in determining what is ethical. Laws, Culture, Religion, and even personal upbringing can be sources of the framework for ethical leadership. The reason why the sources are so varied is because the ‘right’ in doing what is right is not always fixed in stone. While some ethics are immutable, such as lying to a business partner or stealing company materials, other are less so. For example, dissent or talking back to superiors is strictly taboo in Oriental cultures but it calm disagreement is tolerated in western organizations.
Name
Kaplan University
SUBJECT
SUBJECT CODE
PROFESSOR
Date
Introduction
The topic Ethical Leadership is more complex than meets the eye. It means leadership that knows what is right and acting based on those guidelines. The question that should be asked then is “what is right?” Once the ethical course of action is determined the leader must then have the integrity and fortitude to proceed with that course of action. In addition to decision making ethical leadership also implies that a leader must be ethical in their attitudes and interactions. This essay seeks to inform about the practice of ethical leadership and its value to an organization The Practice of Ethical Leadership
In order to understand the practice of Ethical Leadership it must be broken down to its constituent terms; Leadership and Ethics. Leadership is defined as a process of social influence in which a person can enlist the aid and support of others to accomplish a common task (Chemers, 1997). Ethical leadership is when the leader demonstrates integrity and trustworthiness to convince employees to buy his vision (Dirks & Ferrin, 2002). In order to demonstrate his integrity and trustworthiness the ethical leader is a people-oriented person (Resick, et. al, 2006) who motivates people towards accomplishing the goals of the group instead of personal benefit.
Ethical leader must look within himself and upon reliable sources for guidance in determining what is ethical. Laws, Culture, Religion, and even personal upbringing can be sources of the framework for ethical leadership. The reason why the sources are so varied is because the ‘right’ in doing what is right is not always fixed in stone. While some ethics are immutable, such as lying to a business partner or stealing company materials, other are less so. For example, dissent or talking back to superiors is strictly taboo in Oriental cultures but it calm disagreement is tolerated in western organizations.
References: Chemers M. (1997) An integrative theory of leadership. Dirks, K. T., & Ferrin, D. L. (2002). Trust in leadership: Meta-analytic findings and implications for research and practice. In Journal of Applied Psychology, 87, 611- 628. Resick, C. J., Hanges, P. J., Dickson, M. W., & Mitchelson, J. K. (2006). A cross-cultural examination of the endorsement of ethical leadership in Journal of Business Ethics, 63, 345-359.