Erin Brockovich

This paper will first discuss briefly what ethics are and provide the definition for an ethical issue. An ethical leadership issue is identified and explained for this author’s practice area. We will then identify and discuss key strategies for leadership that are pertinent to the ethical issue. Next, empirical evidence which supports the strategies discussed will be analyzed. Then, the impact and importance of the strategies will be stated. The final step will be to provide a conclusion to the reader that summarizes the content and strategies.

To me a leader needs to be responsible to be able to successfully complete their duties. The leader needs to take the initiative to get things done. They shouldn’t wait around to be told what to do. A leader needs to understand that being a leader means being responsible for your team’s actions, not just your

Leadership refers to the act of leading a considerable number of people within an establishment or the capacity to do this. Leadership has to do with coming up with a vision that is crystal clear and the ability to spreads that idea out in a manner that makes individuals, given the information, knowledge, and methods to understand, willing to follow. Subsequently, balancing and coordinating the conflicting interests of all stakeholders and members. It is typical for any good leader to step up in the event of a contingency, with the potential to imagine and act creatively in situations that prove to be difficult. Different from management, leadership can never be taught, in as much as it may be learned and bettered employing mentoring and coaching (Servant Leadership Based on Robert Greenleaf’s Writings, 2010).

This paper will respond to three questions, “Are all managers leaders?” (Phillips & Gully, 2014, p. 425) “What are some common barriers preventing leaders from behaving ethically and how can these barriers be overcome?” (Phillips & Gully, 2014, p. 450) And “Is it possible for leadership substitutes to be effective?” (Phillips & Gully, 2014, p. 450)

If he can't be responsible then he shouldn't have leadership.

There are several traits that make an effective leader and the leader must know when to engage these traits in order to be effective. These traits are integrity, sociability, determination, charisma, confidence and intelligence. Erin Brockovich was very effective at knowing when to engage these traits throughout the entire film. A couple examples are when she is gathering information and interviewing different people. She is determined to get the answers needed and everyone has different personalities causing her to engage her charisma and sociability. Even though she is under educated for this type of research she stays confident and stays on task.

The topic of leadership evokes curiosity about our leaders and their approaches in decision making, leadership styles and the effectiveness of their leadership. At time leaders are critiqued for their actions or views on different business affairs. In today’s working environment leaders set the tone, vision, and goals of any organization. Leadership has a huge impact on the culture of an organization and how people communicate within the organization (Northouse, 2009). The actions of leaders should inspire and positively impact their followers. The approach of leaders in handling adversities highlights many features of their character.

I agree with what the chapter suggests. In my opinion, leadership does have a moral dimension and as a leader, comes a responsibility that he or she uses their authority to advance the common good. I believe, that as a leader, there is an obligation to uphold our moral values and not use their authority for aggression, power, or getting ahead. Leaders should always use their resources to advance and promote those that need assistance or a greater cause. For example, a leader promoting needs to reduce poverty. In addition, leaders not only need to be effective but also must accept the moral dimension of leadership and as a leader; he or she becomes a role model for the community, employees, and all of the stakeholders. Consequently, leader’s actions influence those around them and therefore as a leader, we should use our available resources to help improve the lives of others.

From Mahatma Gandhi and Nelson Mandela’s charisma, to Winston Churchill and Martin Luther King’s intelligence and Steve Jobs’ analytical nature, there can be as numerous ways to lead as there are leaders (Crossman, 2010). Leadership is a hot debate both in the business world and other areas of the society. Throughout the world's, there have been as many leadership models as there have been their commentators (Burns & Peltason, 1966). Fortunately, psychologists and businesspersons have established useful frameworks that refer to the main ways of leadership.

Leadership is an organizational role that has an effect on every organizational matter. From the employees’ morale, customers’ satisfaction, and the organizational effectiveness, organizational leaders and their behaviors directly or indirectly affect everything. In addition to the leadership’s impact on the organization and its elements, leaders are often perceived as role models for the organizational members. Consequently, it is important that leaders are not only competent but also ethical in their everyday conduct, (Toor & Ofori, 2009). But, how can leader’s ethical behavior be distinguished? \ What are these ethical behaviors that affect the followers? And, how do we know when a leader is an ethical leader?

Over the years, a great deal of time, and research has been dedicate to the study of leadership. Even with extensive data on the topic, many still disagree on what leadership really means. Hence, leadership is a word that has many different meanings and different researched theories associated with it. On a basic level, leadership involves having and establishing a clear vision, sharing that vision with followers, respecting followers, and leading an organization with excellence while ensuring that everyone is part of the team. Leadership is also a method by which a leader uses his or her influence towards getting a group of followers to take ownership or buy into a vision.

“Accountability is an obligation or willingness to accept responsibility or to account for one 's actions (http://www.meriamwebster.com/dictionary/accountability)”. To be accountable you must learn to lead the way by evaluating yourself and asking questions such as: “What am I doing well?”, “What can I be doing better?”, “Are my priorities in place?”, “Are there some trainings that would be helpful for me in my development?” These evaluations must become a daily event in order to be accountable effectively. According to Covey, “there is no effectiveness without discipline and there is no discipline without character”. In addition he added, “Great leadership begins first with character”. There must be a foundation for everything leaders do. We may ask, “How does great leadership build?” First, in order to be a great leader you must build good character. In other words you have to learn to develop yourself. For a leader to be accountable they must be proactive by acting at the moment. They must expand their objective which will guide them. In addition, they must have a great vision and a purpose in life and for their Organization. A great leader must have missions that state exactly what their objectives are, which will align their behavior with goals and values into the organization.

As we all know, leadership is very important. However, its effects are not always visible. In crises, high quality leadership tends to be both visible and decisive for a positive outcome. Leadership requirements and expectations change over time, responsibilities and roles must be review at regular intervals. In all nations and countries today, good leadership is important on day-to-day bases. Leadership involves working together with employees, their organizations and other parties to achieve results. Most leadership functions and roles vary according to level, framework conditions, and type of responsibility, competence requirements, and degree of autonomy. After doing research we have come to realize that different cultures have

Leadership has been a topic that has been researched for a long time in many disciplines. Leadership as a personality focuses on the characteristics of an individual that gives them power to act as leaders. There is leadership as an attribution this approach views leadership as phenomenon that causes group of followers to have outcomes.(Wu et al, 2010, 90).Researchers have used the following approaches to study leadership; they are mainly trait, behavior, power influence, situation and integrative approaches. Trait approaches focuses on the characteristics, values, skill and personality of leaders. Behavior approaches is focused on the leaders behaviors, differentiating between the behavior of ineffective and effective leaders. Integrative approach combines all the approaches to have a holistic picture of the process, outcomes and determinants of leadership. The approach that this paper uses is situational approach that is not leader centered but more on the significance of the context as an influence of leadership. Leaders should be able to choose the leadership quality appropriate to a particular situation.

Responsibility – the leader must take responsibility and ownership of all actions and decisions made during the process. He is to be responsible to his followers and guide them ethically.