Leadership

PSYCH 485 blog

The Grey Area of Ethics

by

The principles of ethics are a vital part of historical values that have grown over time, allowing for safer and more equal work environments. The laws of ethics protect us from sexism, discrimination, disrespect, confidentiality breaches, and are overall concerned with people’s welfare (American Psychological Association, 2017). Although ethical principles of leadership seem very cut and dry, respect others and do no harm, there is an overwhelming grey area. In his article overlooking business characteristics involving ethics, Cremer (2013) suggests that there is a certain level of unethical decision-making that we, the public, often accept as normal. There is no clear definition of this grey area of ethics, and no sound solution on how to close this gap, so it is left to the devices of our subjective moral judgments on how to handle certain ethical situations. Cremer (2013) identifies two business observations: the ability to push limits without exceeding the law, and the lack of responsibility within the grey areas of ethics. According to this, the suggested boundary between ethical and non-ethical is the law and the amount of responsibility there is to take. 

Ethics is concerns with values and morals and how these two components can be added together to safeguard the welfare of others and protect their privacy, dignity, and personal values. Morals are defined as a person’s individual motivation for their behavior in response to what they believe is right and wrong, and a person’s values are what they believe to be personally and socially acceptable (PSU WC, L. 14, 2021). “Business ambition often lies in the extent to which one is willing to push the limits” (Cremer, 2013). How far is a person willing to push the ethical limits of a certain situation to benefit themselves or the organization? More interestingly, how far is too far to push and pull within the grey area of ethics? As Cremer (2013) suggested in his article, the law is the “too far” point, but he also suggests that small slip ups in our ethical principles can soon develop into full-blown misconduct and illegal practices. This grey area is where the expansion of unethical behavior begins as a leader slowly tests the limits until it escalates beyond what is just considered moral injustice (Cremer, 2013).  

When it comes to our morals and values as a human and leader, we often differ from one another. Behavioral studies suggest that if we can rationalize our decisions, we can feel comfortably make them (Cremer, 2013) and this can mean that some rationalizations are more extraordinary than others. Cremer (2013) also claims that business, by default, is a grey area in itself and is often synonymous with this type of self-justifiable decision making. We, the public, automatically assume that many large corporations and enterprises are intertwined with unethical, and sometimes illegal, behaviors but they are often overlooked so long as they are within a certain realm of the grey area. As explained earlier though, it becomes a slippery slope the closer that business gets to stepping outside of that realm. 

Studies have concluded that unethical behavior is more often found in cases where it is rewarded, ignored, or where there were no ethics policies instated to begin with (PSU WC, L. 14, 2021). If what Cremer (2013) states is true, the conclusions in these studies are relative to his proposition that the assumed grey area in the business world is one of the instances in which promotes unethical behavior. One of the weaknesses states for ethics in leadership is that is takes an elevated level of thought and understanding of moral and ethical behavior and few people achieve that level (PSU WC, L. 14, 2021). This lack of ethical education and understanding could be a large contributor to the broadened grey area of ethics, the simplicity of rationalization, and the assumed level of immoral character that is allowed in a setting. 

The deviation from ethical boundaries is a widespread issue that is related to multiple conclusions, phenomena, and behavioral reasoning. Each person differs in their values, morals, judgement, and goals, making the grey area a whirlwind of unethical opportunity with very thin boundaries and low expectations. It can be concluded from behavioral studies and the weaknesses found in this leadership theory that ethical leadership can be attained from education, empathy, and care for the community. The area that divides law and ethics is dangerous to dive into, but it can often be unavoidable in most every profession. It may be the most disturbing to realize that many of these unethical behaviors are promoted and rationalized because until they cross the line of unlawfulness, they are overlooked by officials, and the public is overpowered by money, greed, and ignorance. 

References 

American Psychological Association. (2017). Ethical principles of psychologists and code of conduct. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index 

Cremer, D. D. (2013, June 19). Business ethics: Black, white, or grey? London Business School. https://www.london.edu/think/business-ethics-black-white-or-grey. 

Pennsylvania State University World Campus. (2021). PSYCH 485 | Lesson 14: Ethics and Leadership https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2137573/modules/items/32271438 

Servant Leadership at Home

by

Servant leadership is a type of leadership in which the leader acts as a “parent” to the followers and serve them what they need to become future leaders and serve others. This “servant” relationship is what helps the followers grow individually from the company’s requirements. The end goal is that the leader builds a strong group os leaders who can help continue the cycle and serve others (PSU WC, L. 11, 2021). In order to fulfill the position of a servant leader, a leader must have certain characteristics. According to PSU WC (2021) the 10 characteristics of a servant leader are listening, empathy, healing, awareness, persuasion, conceptualization, foresight, stewardship, commitment to the growth of people, and building community. These 10 characteristics help describe how parenthood is based on servant leadership as parents hold many of these characteristics. A parent’s goal is to nurture their children and help them grow so that one day they can take care of themselves and future children of their own (PSU WC, L. 11, 2021).

As an adult, it is my duty to be a role model for kids and help them grow both individually and socially so that they can soon teach others the same. Parents quickly grow the ability to conceptualize situations with their kids and home life and solve problems that may seem like a mystery to others. A servant leader is able to put others before them, and in the case of parenthood this occurs more often than not, such as changing diapers or retrieving snacks (PSU WC, L., 11, 2021). Healing, awareness, listening, and empathy all intertwine together as characteristics and they each give more power behind conceptualization and putting others first. Servant leaders, much like parents, must listen to their followers and hear all concerns, empathise with them, communicate with them, and see their point of view so that you can better solve situations and and offer more effective leadership (Northouse, 2018). Each of these characteristics are important for defining individual needs and characteristics so the approach used by the leader fits the induvidual.

My kids are messy, energetic, and nonstop moving. They know how to work the televisions, where their toys go, and that they have so let hot food cool down before eating; but there is still so much to learn. These types of skill development are not something we are born with, but something we are taught. “A servant leader focuses on the people that are directly below them, rather than the company as a whole. In servant leadership, the leader ensures that the followers are growing in all areas…” (Tait, 2020). In my home, it is more effective for me to teach separate skills to both kids in order to cater to the correct needs rather than our family as a group.

The outcomes from this type of leadership are follower performance and growth, organizational performance, and societal impact (Northouse, 2018). While this type of leadership may seem better suited for larger organizations, it can just as easilt describe a much smaller scale single family home. In my home it is my duty and goal to help develop my kids into functioning adults that can perform well in the real world and make a positive impact. According to Tait (2020) Google has implimented servant leadership and the results showed increased productivity and revenue. When it comes to children and increasing motivations and productivity it is important that we lead them to be able to take such direction.

Parents, teachers, daycare workers, and extended families all share the duty of keeping our young generations safe and constantly teach them new life skills. We must nurture them so that they become productive, caring individuals who can continue the cycle of service. Showing empathy and interest to children will help expand trust and relationships so that a positive affect can be left with the child. Servant leadership is able to help define how parents use the 10 characteristics of a servant leader to mold and shape their children into future leaders and mentors.

References

Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and Practice. 8th Edition. Los Angeles: Sage Publications

Pennsylvania State University World Campus. (2021). PSYCH 485 | Lesson 11: Servant Leadership https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2137573/modules/items/32271438 

Tait, B. (2020, March 11). Council Post: Traditional Leadership Vs. Servant Leadership. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbescoachescouncil/2020/03/11/traditional-leadership-vs-servant-leadership/?sh=6a34c9ff451e.

The Power and Influence of Hitler

by

Adolf Hitler and his rise to power was a chain of events that intrigues us yet terrifies us; it makes us question how one man could acquire the power and influence to lead a mass genocide. “Power is the capacity to cause change, influence is the degree of the actual change in a target person’s attitudes, values, beliefs, or behaviors” (Hughes, Ginnett, & Curphy, 2012). The Milgram experiment by S. Milgram (1963) is a well-known study that investigated how authority figures exert power and influence over the participants’ moral conscious and obedience to authoritative figures (Hughes, et al., 2012). Participants in this experiment were told to shock the other participant hidden behind glass when they gave the wrong answer, and while some found this absurd and withdrew from the study, 70% of the participants followed orders through the entire experiment (as cited in: Hughes, et al., 2012). Even with permission granted by the experimenter to drop out of the experiment without punishment, a significant portion of the participants chose to continue to take orders. While Hitler’s reign was responsible for the Holocaust and his authority led to real pain and death, the Milgram experiment gave us the perspective of how easily the Power and Influence theory can be applied.

Adolf Hitler is well known for his incredible speeches. He had the ability to vocally inspire millions and drew in his followers with his promises of a better Germany. It was inarguably convenient for Hitler to find many weak spots in Germany’s government as the depression had hit, unemployment was at an all time high, and Germany’s government lost the trust of its’ people (BBC, 2021). A large portion of Hitler’s rise to power was spent influencing people that he is the man the people of Germany needed to make the country thrive again. Influence tactics are the actions and methods an individual does to persuade and influence others, and Adolf Hitler was very fluent in most of them (PSU WC, L. 7, 2021). Hitler started with rational persuasion, using logic and known issues to influence more people to follow his lead, and his inspirational appeals drew in more crowds who were unhappy with the current democracy and agreed and supported Hitler’s ideas (PSU WC, L. 7, 2021). From around 1930-1933 the level of unemployment, starvation, and the citizen’s uncertainty with the government, people was rising and people starting to flock to the extreme left (communism) and the extreme right (Nazi). In 1933 Hitler was appointed Chancellor of Germany, and his rise to power took a bolder turn, especially as more followers were cheering on the slow rise of the Nazi party (BBC, 2021). Hitler now had an actual position of legitimate power and authority and it was time to change his tactics to a more serious and urgent degree.

Due to his new position as Chancellor and the difficulties within the government during the time of his official position in politics, his influencing behaviors turned to more legitimized and pressure tactics. As Chancellor, Hitler held a legitimate level of power and the requests and propaganda he was letting out were now backed up with his authoritative title (Hughes, et al., 2012). Along with his newly heightened power and influence tactics, his ability to use pressure tactics grew as well. Since there was already an immense amount of pressure on the government as the Depression caused devastating results, pressure tactics worked in Hitler’s favor. People wanted jobs, food, and security, and Hitler found his opportunity to persuade the public that communism would destroy the country, and the Nazi party would bring Germany back to what it once was; follow him and you will be rewarded. Hughes, et al. (2012) states that the ease of influencing others increases with the level of power the leader employs. Hitler was able to persuade fellow leaders to pass a law restricting personal liberty which led to many communist arrests, and from there on he was able to pass laws and form an extreme dictatorship and complete control of Germany (BBC, 2021).

“Leaders usually can exert more power during a crisis than during periods of relative calm” (Hughes, et al., 2012). Hitler was recognized as a “savior” who was going to bring Germany out of poverty and lower unemployment rates, and this led to an increased referent power (BBS, 2021). Because he had incredible speeches that drew in crowds with inspiration and perseverance, he was respected and trusted by those who were looking for a government official who wanted to help. Referent power is the potential influence a leader has given the relationship they have with their followers (Hughes, et al., 2012). As previously stated, his legitimate power began when he was appointed Chancellor, and it reached absolute peak when he gained complete control. While legitimate power does add credentials to the individual’s reputation and ability, a leader needs much more, and Adolf Hitler was able to offer it all (Hughes, et al., 2012). Following his climactic career as dictator, he was able to control resources, peoples’ lives, newspapers, and an increasing amount of people’s previous freedoms (BBS, 2021). By having so much control and power over nearly every aspect of life, his reward power was at an extreme as he was able to use this control to increase his influence over the people (Hughes, et al., 2012).  Lastly, and arguably most profound, is the coercive power that Adolf Hitler terrorized his followers, and secret opposers, with. Hitler was responsible for killing hundreds of thousands of disabled individuals he sent off to gas chambers, he placed curfews, made being a Jew practically illegal, and many offenses were punishable by death (The History Place, 2001). Hitler’s reign began with earning the trust of the people he aimed to rule, but it has now turned to terrorizing them into obedience.

Power and influence can be used for the greater good, or it can be taken advantage of and turned into a fear based dictatorship. Hitler was responsible for influencing millions of people that he was going to save them from poverty, hunger, and government failure. The public that supported the nazi party were excited for change and trusted that he would bring it. His ability to influence all those people gave him a stepping stone to push his way through the gaps and take over an entire country in front of everyone’s eyes. Hitler claimed for himself what many powerful leaders want, and that is untimate control. Adolf Hitler is a morbidly perfect example of the disadvantagous side of the power and influence theory and how it can lead someone with the right amount of capabilities to high power.

References

BBC. (2021). The impact of the Depression on Germany – Hitler into power, 1929-1934 – OCR B – GCSE History Revision – OCR B – BBC Bitesize. BBC News. https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zwmdfrd/revision/1.

The History Place. (2001). The History Place – Triumph of Hitler: The Nuremberg Laws. The History Place. https://www.historyplace.com/worldwar2/triumph/tr-nurem-laws.htm.

Hughes, R. L., Ginnett, R. C., & Curphy, G. J. (2012). Leadership: Enhancing the lessons of experience. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill Companies

Pennsylvania State University World Campus. (2021). PSYCH 485 | Lesson 7: Power and Influence. https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2137573/modules/items/32271438

Milgram, S. (1963). Behavioral Study of obedience. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 67(4), 371–378. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0040525

Leadership Styles of Presidential Candidates

by

With such an importance regarding followership, what happens when you are unable to connect with each follower? What if only 51.3% of your followers truly supported you (Lindsay, 2020)? Followers are an important part of the leadership process because they are the ones assigned to complete the tasks working in favor of the leader and group, as well as support, challenge, and learn from the leader (PSU WC, 2021, L. 3). While challenging the leader may help advance ideas and goal achievement, too much push back or distrust from the followers can create a problem. According to Lindsay (2020), President Joe Biden won 51.3% of cast votes, leaving a 48.7% gap of follower uncertainty. How is a leader in such high position supposed to lead a country that only 51.3% of voters voted for, and how exactly do leadership theories apply to such high numbers? 

The situational approach to leadership suggests a leader adapts to their followers, as they can actively switch from directive roles to more supportive, depending on the situation (PSU WC, 2021, L. 5). As president, it is impossible to adapt and switch roles, and they are faced with the moral duty of carrying out what was promised during their campaign. A criticism of the situation approach to leadership is that compared to smaller, more controllable groups, larger groups of followers may be less predictable, provide fewer chances for style pairing, and lacks evidence to back up its credibility (PSU WC, 2021, L. 5). When leading billions of people, there will be obvious backlash, resistance, unpredictable reactions from fellow country leaders and citizens, and an immense amount of pressure to make the right call. While a leader of such high status can create new ideas in respect of others, push agendas they see fit, and implement reforms to transform areas of living, there will always be groups of people that are left out or negatively impacted. Because of this, it does not seem fit that the situational leadership approach is appropriate to define the position of the President of the United States (POTUS). 

The personality and traits of a person are arguably one of the strongest criteria when searching for life partners, friends, and leaders. The Five Factor Model (FFM) introduces conscientiousness, agreeableness, neuroticism, openness to experience, and extraversion as the main categorical summary of human traits and personality (PSU WC, 2021, L. 2). The traits approach is an important aspect of leadership because traits are a way we present ourselves. How exactly is President Biden supposed to win the hearts of the almost 48% of voters that did not choose him on the ballot? As seen with his predecessors, the US citizens that have lived through the ups and downs of presidencies over the years, and the convictions and victories that go along with it, there will never be a time that everyone looks at them in the same light. The trait approach to leadership is criticized for its inability to isolate leadership traits when presented with different situations; “the situations influences” leadership (Northouse, 2018, p. 31). When speaking about the POTUS, this criticism is a perfect description for the issue in terms of this type of leadership. Our traits and personality are a part of us, and it is rarely a changing aspect. To contrast this criticism, Northouse (2018) claims a strength of this approach is that we consider our leaders to be gifted, intelligent, specific types of people and the differences between people is what makes it a fulfilling approach. This type of approach caused an uproar in the recent 2020 election as both political sides argued for who they saw as more fit to represent our country, and former president Trump received backlash from billions of people and the media. President Biden is argued by some to be softer spoken and more people oriented, while former president Trump was thought by some to be the opposite. “People have a need to see their leaders as gifted people, and the trait approach fulfills this need” (Northouse, 2018, p. 30). The end consensus for this approach is that while the trait approach may not fit the role of presidency itself, the trait approach is important for the voters. 

In slight contrast, the skills approach explains how “leaders must possess certain abilities that allow them to act as a leader” (PSU WC, 2021, L. 4). It would seem obvious that the POTUS should attain skills specific to their role, but Donald Trump, who had little political background, won against Hillary Clinton, who has been in politics for decades. The 2020 election presented Joe Biden as the election winner, but many people are questioning his abilities and skills in different ways than they questioned former president Trump and each president before him. At all times, the president is making decisions and giving speeches, and their skills must be highly adaptable, but there will consistently be groups of people who do not believe in their abilities. Whether it was a good or bad presidency, the president’s legacy is what will always be remembered; what did they accomplish? The skills approach “describes good and bad patterns of behavior without necessarily predicting future success or failure” (PSU WC, 2021, L. 4). The 2016 and 2020 election brought to light that former president Trump had no military or political experience, while Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden have been in politics for decades. Skills that Trump was recognized for greatly differed from the skills of Clinton and from Biden. The skills approach is rather subjective for the role of POTUS because there is a divide between who we believe has the skills for the position, and the skills that the president objectively has, making the skills approach a partially effecting description of leadership. Trump was not the first president to hold very little “credentials” of presidency, as seen in the graph below (Crockett, 2016).

(Photo cited from: Crockett, 2016)

The president of the United States holds a great deal of power and high status of leadership. Because there is such a large following, or lack thereof, of this type of leader, it is almost impossible to match just one leadership theory to explain what approach best matches the demands. Some voters value the traits over skills, or how their leader prioritizes goals, and their flexibility in handling certain situations. The best approach, based on the gathered information, helps conclude that there is no determination of one single theory that makes a president successful according to everyone. When dealing with such great numbers, this type of leadership position is unlike average workplaces in which the effectiveness and support of the leader may have bigger impact on them. In terms of presidency, the citizens are the ones who consider which candidate holds the best characteristics and styles to lead the country. The POTUS must acquire parts of each leadership theory, as they are expected to be flexible in their styles and abilities, making it unmatchable to one effective approach for all. Though there are numerous other approaches, the pattern of styles and needs of leaders is clear.

References 

Crockett, Z. (2016, November 11). Donald Trump is the only US president ever with no political or military experience. Vox. https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2016/11/11/13587532/donald-trump-no-experience.

Lindsay, J. M. (2020, December 15). The 2020 Election by the Numbers. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/blog/2020-election-numbers. 

Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and practice (Eighth Edition). SAGE Publications 

Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2021). PSYCH 485 Lesson 2: Trait Approach. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2137573/modules 

Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2021). PSYCH 485 Lesson 4: Skills Approach. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2137573/modules   

Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2021). PSYCH 485 Lesson 5: Style and Situational Approaches. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2137573/modules 

Followership and Its Effects on Leadership

by

     Leadership has four main components: process, influence, group context, and goal attainment (PSU WC, 2021, L. 3). From these components we can see that for a leader to influence or attain a group context, there must be a group of followers for these constructs to be appropriately applied. The act of followership has been studied and broken into two theoretical frameworks: the role-based approach and the constructionist approach (Uhl-Bien, Riggio, Lowe, & Carsten, 2014). While there has been much research and consideration into the phenomenon of leadership, followership as well holds a significant amount of importance, and it is necessary to treat the subject equally to better our understanding of these phenomenon. 

     Is a leader truly a leader if they have no followers? This question is not only thought provoking and seemingly obvious, but it is necessary to consider. Qualities of a leader add up to one main job, and that is to lead. Would it be fair to say that an individual’s followers contribute to the success, failure, and behaviors of a leader (Uhl-Bien, et al., 2014, as cited in PSU WC, 2021, L. 3)? Uhl-Bien, et al. (2014) states that leadership is a co-created process, and in order to understand one we must understand the other (Fairhurst & Uhl-Bien, 2012, as cited in Uhl-Bien, et al., 2014). This idea means leaders and followers share and work towards the goal together, learning from and building off each other throughout the process. 

The role-based approach, known as reversing the lens, looks at the impact followers have on the outcome of leadership and focusing on this reversed impact (PSU WC, 2021, L. 3). The image below presents a visual demonstration of the theoretical model of the role-based approach.

cited from: (Northouse, 2018, p. 304, as cited in PSU WC, 2021, L. 1)

     The constructionalist approach, or the relational-based approach, looks at how the interaction between leader and follower influence the leadership outcome rather than how the behaviors affect it (PSU WC, 2021, L. 3). The image below depicts the different, relational-based perspective of followership.

cited from: (Northouse, 2018, p. 305, as cited in PSU WC, 2021, L. 3)

    In blatant terms, Uhl-Bien, et al. (2014) explains role-based followership being the “leader as recipient or moderator of follower influence in producing outcomes” and constructionist followership being the “followers as co-creators with leaders of leadership” (Uhl-Bien, et al., 2014).

The next question is, how exactly do these two theoretical approaches of followership help us understand its effects on leadership and how we define it? With more information being gathered we can begin to make significant connections between leadership and followership, and all the ways they work with or against each other. Followers are important in the leadership process because they are the ones assigned to carry out the tasks working in favor of the leader and group, they both support and challenge the leader, and they also learn from the leader (PSU WC, 2021, L. 3). Since followers play such a large role in the outcome of the leader’s and group goals, it is understandable that researchers are interested in the influences followership has. When defining leadership it is important to take in account that it is not only the leader that guides the group to its goals, but also the followers guiding the leader.

There are many powerful influences and components of leadership that are often overlooked upon initial observation. Researchers and theorists have been making strides to make more connections on how followers affect leaders and vice versa. “Focusing on followership helps us recognize the value of followers and their contribution to leadership” (PSU WC, 2021, L. 3). When we are able to value followership, we will be better able to value and define leadership.

References

Fairhurst, G. T., & Uhl-Bien, M. (2012). Organizational discourse analysis (ODA): Examining leadership as a relational process. The    Leadership Quarterly, 23(6), 1043–1062. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2012.10.005 

Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and practice (Eighth Edition). Los Angeles: SAGE Publications 

Pennsylvania State University World Campus (2021). PSYCH 485 Lesson 3: Followership. Retrieved from https://psu.instructure.com/courses/2137573/modules 

Uhl-Bien, M., Riggio, R. E., Lowe, K. B., & Carsten, M. K. (2014). Followership theory: A review and research agenda. The Leadership Quarterly, 25(1), 83–104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.leaqua.2013.11.007 

Skip to toolbar