Leadership And Culture : Ethical Leadership

The idea of injecting a servant leadership approach within a society riddled with thoughts and desires to be #1 is counterintuitive to not only the culture, but the very nature of man. We would all agree that modeling the behavior that Jesus exhibited in the upper room isn’t what we all aspire to do—at least on a very basic, natural level. However, this is the very idea and hallmark that author James Hunter is trying to instill in others in his book The Servant. That is, that we should lead people the way that we would want be lead ourselves—that the essence of ultimate leadership can only be expressed through love. Points such as others’ centered leadership, values for individual development as a leader and how these expressed

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.

Servant Leadership is “an approach to leadership with strong altruistic and ethical overtones that asks and requires leader to be attentive to the needs of their followers and empathize with them; they should take care of them by making sure they become healthier, wiser, freer and more autonomous, so that they too can become servant leaders” (Valeri, 2007). Although there is not many servant leaders in this world but the concept of servant is one of the most leadership approach leaders today struggles with. Servant leadership is mainly about the leader helping to grow their followers or members personally and professionally through empathy, listening skills and compassion. The concept of servant leadership which was proposed by Robert K. Greenleaf in his 1970 writing indicated that servant leadership is a theoretical framework that advocated a leader’s primary motivation and role as service to others.

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)

This paper is based on my personal philosophy the art of servant leadership within organizations, and in the community. According to the author Aubrey Malphurs, he asserts “that there are leaders who “have the ability to lead, influence others based on certain leadership characteristics, strengths and weakness.” It is within these leadership strengths and weaknesses, there are benefits and opportunities to empower others. However, there are good and great leaders, a great leader is much more desirable, in that great leaders are driven to lead and serve their followers. Great leaders have the characteristics to be effective and empower their followers, this is the art of Servant leadership, the art of knowing how to care for others in the most

A leader may exhibit the characteristics of an effective leader such as caring, openness, patience, honesty and trustworthiness, but being aware of ethical considerations is vital. In fact, unethical behavior of the leader derives from being unfamiliar with organizational standards, being incompetent in leading groups or properly

Servant leadership is also defined in contrast to the self-serving leader (Blanchard and Hodges, 2003). A self-serving leader is concerned with losing position and protecting status. A servant leader sees the very nature of leadership as a true act of service rather than a chore that is necessary to receive the desired level of recognition. Blanchard postulates that the self-serving leader is in direct contract to the servant leader because an addition to power may be the driving force behind their efforts (Blanchard,

The authors went on to state that research has been very limited on servant leadership until recently, for it is difficult to think of a servant who leads and a leader who serves, but it’s a theory with great future promise.

Leaders that demonstrate a commitment to behaving in an ethical manner are viewed as trustworthy and subordinates gravitate toward them. Ethical leaders have a foundational belief in honesty and trustworthiness and disseminating these principles throughout the organization. This paper will present ethical leadership models as tools for merging diverse cultures into the existing organizational culture. An overview of which leadership models, styles, and traits are most commonly accepted as ethical across the greatest array of social cultures will be discussed. The paper will culminate with a selection of a particular leadership model as a tool for shaping organizational culture and the rationale for selecting that model.

At the end of the day, the best explanation for fostering an ethical behavior is not a difficult one, but an encouraging approach by the leaders of the organization (Mullane 2009). Ethical behavior is essential and must be reflected in the leaders and shaped by those they led. Ethics-based approaches to leadership believes that the leader is not always the one with all the knowledge. Such an approach believes that the followers are just as important as the leader and that the followers should be the main focus and encouraged. Ethics-based approaches believe the leader should put aside his or her personal interests. The following pages will review some perspectives regarding ethical leadership.

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 involved in leading in a manner that respects the rights and dignity of others. As leaders are by nature in a position of social power, ethical leadership focuses on how leaders use their social power in the decisions they make, actions they engage in and ways they influence others. Leaders who are ethical demonstrate a level of integrity that is important for stimulating a sense of leader trustworthiness, which is important for followers to accept the vision of the leader.

Leadership styles and approaches vary from situation to situation, including the personality, knowledge, skills, and abilities of the leader and the followers. Employees teach the leader how to lead them. Their competence, ability, and willingness to complete a task are indicators, which assist the direction of leadership the leader takes. Keeping all of this in mind, we will describe and analyze the Situational and Style leadership approaches.

Some of the different leadership styles and approaches that have been discussed, as far as ethical content, are servant leadership, spiritual leadership, and transformational leadership. Servant leadership in known for drawing on the leader’s self- awareness, authentic behavior, positive modeling, conceptual skills, empowering, behaving

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.