Leadership ethics is relatively new but deals with who leaders are, and what leaders do (Northouse, 424 2013). Many employers maybe concerned with ethics in the workplace. The choices that leaders make and how they respond in a give circumstance are informed and directed by their ethics (Northhouse, 424 2013). Ethics are concerned with the kinds of values and morals and individual or society finds desirable or appropriate (Northhouse, 424 2013). There are five principles of ethical leadership which are respect, service, community, justice, and honesty. These principles are at the core of ethical leadership.
Respect would be defined leaders that respect other and themselves. Respect is complex and goes deeper than the respect that parents teach their children. Have you ever been disrespected at work? A leader that respects their followers is empathic, and tolerant of opposing points of view (Nothouse, 431 2013). Do you always agree with your boss? I don’t, but I know that she respects me and it goes a long way.
An ethical leader also serves others. Ethical leaders should place their followers’ welfare at the top of their list (Penn State World Campus, Lesson 14, 2012). I had an experience this past week with a supervisor that provided great service to me. He works for government and assisted me with an issue. He placed my needs in front of his, and stated that “we are civil servants, I am doing what I can to make people understand that.”
Justice is another ethical principle. Ethical leaders are concerned about issues of fairness and justice (Northhouse, 433 2013). If a leader is just then they are able to treat all of their followers in a fair and equal way. My current leader is just. No members of my team are treated differently. We are all expected to manage our workloads, and get our work done. If it does not get completed, she treats the entire team in the same manner.
A fourth principle of ethical leadership is honesty. Honesty is important principle and best understood when we think about the opposite of honesty, dishonesty. Dishonesty is a form of lying, and way of misrepresenting reality (Northouse, 435 2013). I have worked under some leaders in the past that did not have much honesty. I was a difficult situation, as the leader was actually stealing from a company I worked at. He/she was eventually caught and terminated. Honesty goes a long way with followers, but he/she did not care.
The last main principle of leadership deals with community. A good ethical leader is build community by taking into account the purpose of everyone involved in a group and be attentive to the interests of the community and culture (Penn State World Campus, Lesson 14, 2012). The current organization that I work for does a good job with building community. We have yearly surveys where they ask employee what they can to build a better workplace. They then provide the information to a senior leadership team. They then come with solutions to address any issues. They have done a good job over the years.
Ethical principles should be taken lightly. If a leader can respect others, service others, be just, be honest, and build community it will go a long way with the followers. There are other principles, but these five principles are the core of ethical leadership principles.
References
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.
PSU World Campus. (2012). Lesson 14: Ethics and Leadership. Retrieved from:
https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/fa12/psych485/001/content/014_lesson
Honesty does go along way with followers. I and my coworkers have to trust our leaders with our lives sometimes. I couldn’t imagine not working for an honest leader. To be a good leader on has to be honest. I have worked with dishonest people in the past and when they would tell you something I would question either openly or in my mind. I just find it hard to trust people in anyway if I know they are dishonest. Being honest is about being open with others and representing reality as fully and completely as possible (PSU Lesson 14, 2013). If I doubt or mistrust a leader I could hesitate and possibly get myself or someone else hurt. This is why I feel it is crucial to trust my leaders.
Penn State World Campus. (2012). Lesson 14 : Ethics and Leadership. Retrieved from: https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/fa12/psych485/001/content/14_lesson/04_page
Ethical and unethical behaviors in sports are behaviors you could easily see in sports. Unfortunately the one you hear about the most is the unethical. I was glad to hear you got to witness ethical behavior in sports. I have always felt if any player star or not breaks the rule then the same punishment should be administered. I work in a college community were football is the heart of the town here in Knoxville. I find it funny how much winning makes people happy and also blinds them. Moral reasoning refers to the process leaders use to make decisions about ethical and unethical behaviors (PSU Lesson 14, 2013). A few years ago when Land Kiffin was hired to coach UT everyone was thrilled. The football team was down and people wanted a new coach. Kiffin came in pumping the city up giving people hope. During his time at UT he was actually a real piece of crap off camera. Nobody cared because he was our great new young coach. He actually wrecked his new jeep with young girl he picked up (not his wife). Luckily the person’s yard he ran his jeep through was a big UT fan. One cop was called and an EMS unit to check for injures. Everyone was ok and coach Kiffin was sent home and a wrecker picked up his jeep. Nobody said anything because everyone loved the new coach. Three months later he up and quit. Then all this stuff started coming out and everyone hated him. He was the worst coach ever and people were disgusted by what he had done, which was a lot more. My response was everyone knew he was a piece of crap so why not say it while he was here instead of waiting for him to leave. It really worries me as to how unethical people get when it comes to sports.
Penn State World Campus. (2012). Lesson 14 : Ethics and Leadership. Retrieved from: https://courses.worldcampus.psu.edu/fa12/psych485/001/content/14_lesson/04_page
I believe that ethics are an important attribute of a leader. I find it interesting that while each of our lessons and models studied this year are different, there are many overarching concepts that most of the models share. For instance, just a cursory glance at the first three ethical attributes that you list for Ethical Leadership can be found in other models. You listed: Respect, Serving others and justice (fairness).
The concept of respect is noted in Path-Goal Theory. In that lesson, Northouse describes supportive leadership. He notes that supportive leaders treat their followers as equals and are respectful of them (2013, pp. 140).
The concept of serving others is a fairly obvious one. It is found in Servant Leadership theory. A core attribute of servant leadership is that the servant leader places a priority on satisfying the important needs of followers (Northouse, 2013).
Interestingly, the Servant Leadership model notes that servant leaders are ethical (Northouse, 2013, pp 219).
The concept of fairness is broached in LMX Theory. In that lesson, Northouse discusses whether the existence of an “out” group is fair (or just) (2013, pp 171).
In summary, while each of the models demonstrates many different model formulas, they all share many key concepts in either a positive or negative manner.
References:
Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications.