morals

Danger in Charisma and Psuedotransformational Leadership

November 3, 2013 by dec5203

Transformation Leadership (Northouse, 2013) differentiates between two specific types of Leadership, transactional and transformational. Transactional leadership focuses on exchanges between leaders and followers; and transformational leadership is essentially the leader engages connects to and raises morality in the followers. I found myself very drawn to the concept of psuedotransformational leadership, defined as “leaders who are self-consumed, exploitive, and power oriented, with warped moral values (Bass & Riggio, 2006)” (Northouse, 2013, p. 187) and how that relates the characteristic of charisma that is also addressed as a part of the transactional leadership theory. I can recall early in the semester choosing a leader to write about in relation to the trait approach to leadership; aaccording the our text the five main leadership traits that were found to resurface in each of the studies done of Leadership Traits that were addressed (studies by Stogdill, 1948 & 1974; Mann, 1959; Lord, DeVader, and Alliger, 1986; Kirkpatrick and Locke, 1991; and Zaccaro, Kepm, and Bader, 2004) were Intelligence, Self-confidence, Determination, Integrity, Sociability. (Northouse, 2013). I chose an immoral leader, Charles Manson, where he fit all of the facets of that model except for integrity (as would be defined by your average person). I feel like addressing this type of leader (like Charles Manson) under the microscope of charisma and psuedotransformational leadership would fit in to helping us examine effective leadership in negative way.

Psuedotransformational leadership definition as given above, can describe numerous effective but not “good’ leaders that we have seen in history. We can start with Charles Manson, notoriously warped ideas, so warped and yet believably powerful that he was able to convince young people to commit heinous murders. In fact there is not one part of the definition that he does not fit. Cult leaders such as Manson are all fantastic examples of this definition. Marshall Herff Applewhite who started the Heaven’s Gate cult and convinced 39 people to commit a mass suicide. Some leaders in the work setting have trouble getting their subordinates to help other departments and these immoral leaders were able to lead people to death/killing, we can’t ignore the amount of charisma that had to be present for them to be this powerful.

When I hear the term charisma I always tend to think about it coming from a manipulative source. Perhaps I watch too many documentaries, but I think if someone is being purposely charismatic it is because whatever they are hoping to get people to do, is something that possibly shouldn’t be done. I feel like if a desired result is “right” there won’t be a need for that kind of charming of the follower. I am naturally very weary of the overly-charismatic. Serial killers like Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, Ed Gein among others have all been described as charismatic. It isn’t just limited to those types of immorality, we can look at political leaders who would fit the bill as well, Adolf Hitler’s charisma drew the Germans in. Cult leaders as mentioned above had to display an over-abundance of charisma. On the biography channels website they said it best; “Combine a charismatic personality with fringe beliefs and an appetite for violence, and you get some of history’s most notorious cult leaders” (Cult Leaders, 2013). The definition of charisma defined by House is “being dominant, having a strong desire to influence others, being self-confident, and having a strong sense of one’s own moral values” (Northouse, 2013, p. 188). Find any human being who was able to convince other people in wrong doing or was able to lead people even individually into dangerous situations because their charisma was enough to make them be seen as trustworthy, and I am pretty sure they will be described in the definitions here of charisma and psuedotransformational leadership.

I appreciate the fact that pseudotransformational leadership was pointed out and addressed because I think it is so important to see that not everyone who leads, is leading in the right direction. I also like the tie in to charisma and how the definition in the Northouse readings specifies that they “have a strong sense of one’s own moral values” (Northouse, 2013, p. 188) not moral values in general, but their own, whether society sees them as right or wrong. It is a dangerous thing when a personal as skewed morals, and the charisma to make other people lose their own judgment and follow them.

WORKS CITED

Northouse, P.G. (2013). Leadership: Theory and Practice. Los Angeles: Sage Publications

Cult Leaders. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 12:39, Nov 02, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/groups/cult-leaders

Marshall Herff Applewhite. (2013). The Biography Channel website. Retrieved 07:27, Nov 03, 2013, from http://www.biography.com/people/marshall-herff-applewhite-236006

Do You Have Morals or Ethics?

April 22, 2013 by kzh5149

A moral is an ethic but not all ethics are morals. Confused? Many of us are by what is right and what should be right. As defined in the dictionary, an ethic is a body of moral principles or values governing or distinctive of a particular culture or group while a moral is of, pertaining to , or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or distinction between right and wrong. (Dictionary.com) Ethics are determined individually. They are what are internal to us as what should be right or wrong.

As a whole, we are inherently taught what is morally right or wrong by society. This definitely does not mean that we follow that same thought process within our own beliefs. Valasquez (1992) says that managers should have the following ethical virtues: perseverance, public-spiritedness, integrity, truthfulness, fidelity, benevolence, and humility. What skew these virtues for an individual to be unethical are their own ego, greed and selfishness. They take advantage of their position of power to get everything they can. They act on this feeling of entitlement as if it was owed to them. Leadership involves values, including showing respect for followers, being fair to others, and building a community. (Northhouse, 2013)

I think most people lean towards finger pointing at politicians when they think of unethical leaders but these types of unethical leaders are in all employment fields. From blue collar workers, white collar workers, government officials, politicians, leaders in the army, retail store managers, etc, the list can go on. Sometimes it makes you even question your own circle of friends. As this exist in all types of relationships. There can be a leader per say within your circle of friends that use the others for their own personal betterment. I know that may be a silly comparison but when it comes down to it, you have to call it for what it is worth. Some people in your life don’t share the same ethical values even if you hope that they do. Most unethical leaders and individuals have a hidden agenda and it will not come to light until another “scandal” comes to light.

Works Cited:

“Moral.” Def. 1. Dictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. <www.dictionary.com>.

“Ethic.” Def. 1. Dictionary.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 Apr. 2013. <www.dictionary.com>.

Northouse, Peter Guy. “Chapter 16: Leadership Ethics.” Leadership: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks: SAGE, 2013. 438. Print.

The Right Way, The Ethical Way.

December 5, 2012 by cms5820

For my last blog relating specifically to this leadership, I want to turn back to my involvement in scouting. This time around I want to look at ethics in scouting. More recently, the Boy Scouts of America had to recently release files regarding child abuse by adult leaders. As an active participant in scouting, one who has been involved as a youth as well, I want to share my opinion on such files. I am one of the youngest leaders in my Philadelphia Area Council (at only age 21), so my take on these files and the morality in Boy Scouts is what I would consider to be unique.

When these files were first released I was stunned by the number of adult leaders who were identified as child abusers. It’s embarrassing to know that over a long period of time National Scout officials actively hid these files from law enforcement. I feel for all those effected, but my position is now to defend the goal of the scouting today. The majority of those cases were filed prior to the consistent enforcement of a program the Boy Scouts call Youth Protection Training. Before I continue, though, I want to reiterate that I am angered by the past actions of National Scout officials, but I am in favor of the programs put in place by the organization today. Youth Protection Training is required every two years by all adults involved in scouting. They must take an online course and show that they actually paid attention by taking a quiz at the end of the course. If they do not pass the course, they cannot be registered as a leader, and therefore, cannot be allowed to come in contact with any youth through the scouting program. In addition to that, they have recently (just this past year) revised their application for adult leaders and it now requires multiple background checks to ensure that convicted child abusers are not allowed into the program. I have never even heard of any abuse occurring in my area, so I do not have any personal knowledge of it going on. However, when you have a program involving both young males (and females) and tens of thousands adult volunteers, it’s sad to say it, but there is almost always going to be one that slips through the system. The difference between the time most these instances occurred and now, is that there are now people in place and policies in place to prevent such cases.

Like I said before, it’s a shame, but there is only so much screening that this organization can put in place to look at prospective volunteers. The other addition to Youth Protection involves adults

already involved. I have undergone extensive training to become the rank of Assistant Scoutmaster and in every one of those training programs the safety of the youth involved is the top priority. After having a lesson on ethics, I couldn’t help but relate Aristotle’s view on the virtue theories (PSU, 2012). Aristotle (shown to the right) says that a moral person demonstrates the following virtues (PSU, 2012):

– Courage

– Temperance

– Generosity

– Self-Control

– Honesty

– Sociability

– Modesty

– Fairness

– Justice

In scouting today, I honestly can say that I believe all of these values are an embedded in the program. Both youth and adult scouters have to be courageous in some way shape or form. Whether it be hiking in the woods with all sorts of animals around, or presenting your case to be voted into a senior leadership position, such as Senior Patrol Leader. Temperance and self-control are also crucial components. Leaders have to make sure that they are showing a good example in front of youth, and likewise for older youth in front of younger youth. It teaches the participants to be respectful and use restraint in situations that may aggravate them. Scouting is all about generosity, whether it be raising money for a local charity or giving back through Scouting for Food, where they collect canned goods for the less fortunate. Honesty is a major part that is reflected through everything that we do. Being social is a critical component because we are always doing something in the community, and with that comes being modest. We know who we are and society knows who we are, and we need to reflect our values through everything we do. Lastly, I want to examine fairness and justice, since they fit into what this blog started out as. Scouting is more open now than ever before with not allowing those into the program that can be danger to the other participants (youth and/or adults). However, we are also unbiased towards race, gender, etc. Both men and women are allowed in scouting and programs have been established even more female youth. In an ever changing world, where equality and high morals are more important now than ever before, Boy Scouts of America is an excellent example of honestly and opening serving society.

References

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.html