Ethical Standers In Leadership

A leader must be able to connect with the people he or she is leading. It is the responsibility of a leader to bring together the people and resources needed to move forward or grow. Leadership is measured by its ability to generate and direct movement.

Leaders are expected to act consistently with their vision and the values they advocate to their team. If a leader’s words or actions are contrary to the values they expect in others, they will be faced with cynicism and contempt. Followers expect their leader to act in their best interests, putting their welfare before their own. An ethical leader is honest, open and truthful to their followers. When leaders lose this trust, their followers will quickly disregard them.

Mostly, how ethics produce effective leaders will stress how good leadership is impossible without ethics. Throughout this paper, the reader will develop an understanding of what is personally required to

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.

Plato once asked whether you would rather be "an unethical person with a good reputation or an ethical person with a reputation for injustice." Ethical leadership has long been a debate in regards to its importance and place in the universal business world.

“Ethical leadership is leadership that is directed by respect for ethical beliefs and values and for the dignity and rights of others. It is thus related to concepts such as trust, honesty, consideration, charisma and fairness.”

The five principles of ethical leadership are important because I recognize that “the values promoted by the leader have a significant impact on the values exhibited by the organization (Carlson & Perrewe, 1995; Schminke, Ambrose, & Noel, 1997; Revino, 1986). One of the five principles that I think is significant is building a community. According to Northhouse (2013) leadership is a process “whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal” (p. 436). One things that was highlighted by Northhouse was that a leader needs to consider their own and the followers purposes as they work toward goals (2013, p. 436).

In order for a leader to be a leader he/she must begin with the assumption that you are the one who matters most. As a leader you have to possess that level of confidence in yourself that you are capable of leading yourself “before you can lead others”. And when you develop this belief then you are better able of affirmative influence “on others”.

I. Define Leadership: According to the text, leadership is the exercise of influence in a group context; leaders are those who have the biggest influence on a group or organization, and they do this by furthering the needs, wants, and goals of the group as a whole (Johnson, 2015, P. XiX). The function of leaders and followers are cohesive in that they both work together towards their goals: leaders exert more of an influence and responsibility for the direction of the group, and followers are the ones who implement the plans and do most of the work (Johnson, 2015, P. XiX). II. Define Ethics: Ethics are defined as the systematic study of the principles of right and wrong behavior (Johnson, 2015, P. XiX).

In order to be a successful ethical leader there are many activities that can be promoted to encourage ethical behavior in one’s organization. An ethical leader will create programs that endorse integrity in business. Programs can include setting guidelines for dealing with ethical issues, open discussion on ethical issues, and establish a protocol for people to get advice (Yukl, 2010). By establishing programs an ethical leader is really changing and encouraging moral behavior which can affect an organizations work environment and improve moral. By empowering your employees to know how to handle ethical dilemmas you create a new found trust.

The topic that we choose is “The relationship between Leadership and Ethics”. The term ethics has been defined as inquiry into the nature and grounds of morality or a branch of philosophy of human conduct and determine right and wrong (Ferrell, Fraedrich & Ferrell, 2010). In the other words, it includes study of general nature of moral, specific moral choices, moral philosophy, and rules or standards of governing the conduct of the member of a profession (Ferrell et al., 2010).

The leader’s good attitude and their role will be their ethics which is very important for organization development, and performance. i understand that characteristics , roles, and motivation are very important to develop an organization performance. Also, leadership is a process that consist of communication, motivation, help, ethical principle, and cooperate between leaders and follower to develop organization and gain common goal.

The study of ethics is fundamental to leadership effectiveness. Human relationships, our being, and roles in society influence morality by right and wrong, good and evil, or just and unjust actions. As a human relationship, leadership hallmarks power, influence, vision, obligation, and responsibility (Ciulla, 2003). These attributes can undermine or contribute to the success of the ethical and effective leader in education.

In the ultimate analysis, organizational and leadership ethics is everybody’s responsibility, not just that of an elite few. This is because leadership is not a person or a position but rather a complex moral relationship between people, based on trust, obligation, commitment, emotion, and a shared vision of the good as cited in Johnstone, 2013).

I will examine the importance of personal ethics in leadership and how ethics produce effective leaders in organizations today. The importance of understanding ethics, motivation to act as a role model and developing a plan of action for an organization are discussed because of their importance regarding development of good leadership. These key points suggest personal ethics positively affect leadership and when made a priority for leaders will produce ethical and effective leadership. With so many definitions of leadership, the question evolved from “what is the definition of leadership?” to “what is good leadership” (Ciulla, 2004, p. 13). To develop a system of values one must compile a list of the most important instrumental values and terminal values. These lists are unique to every individual because they are determined by personal importance. Instrumental values, such as honest, helpful, ambitious, responsible, etc. should reinforce terminal values. Once a leader’s means are consistent with desired goals, their value system is unified and they have climbed the staircase from the lobby to the first level of values. The climb from the first floor to the second floor results in a person incorporating principles into their newly developed values. Although values act as the bedrock of ethics, principles are required because alone, “values are far too vague to have much meaning in ethical analysis” (Cooper, 1998, p. 12). Morals are ideals that help us decipher between right