Leadership, Ethics, Integrity And Civility

Ethics is the guiding force in any respectable organization. With a moral compass, especially in the leadership of organization, a company can become compromised and fall into a quagmire of legal issues, a tarnished reputation, and devaluation of company stock if it is a publically traded company. In pursuit of examine my own ethical lens I will analyze the ethical traits of an admired leader, my own traits as exhibited in the Ethical Lens Inventory, and how I make a decision concerning a particular ethical dilemma.

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.

An ethical audit is important to establish the company’s current weaknesses and strengths concerning how it conducts itself in an ethical manner. An ethics audit will involve evaluating the company’s standard of ethic, it ethic climate, and how well the company’s employees follow ethical standards. One of the first things to evaluate in an ethics audit is if a company has a written code of ethics and how comprehensive it is. Moreover, the written code of ethics should apply to everyone in the company from the top down with a clear zero tolerance policy in place for ethics violations. Included in a comprehensive ethics code should be a method for

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)

My understanding of the seven tasks of the ethical leader in creating value for an organization’s stakeholders is that these seven tasks should lead as a guide to leaders. It is essential for leaders to be role models for their employees. A leader needs to not just think about themselves, but to consider how their actions will affect others, including the image of the company. Having a process for employees to address their concerns and feel they are being heard is very important for leading a team. This creates value and a feeling of belonging within a company. Developing key employees and utilizing their talents also gives them value as well as value for others. This raises the bar for them to step up and become role models as well. Always acting in the best interest of the company, even if it is letting someone go.

The purpose of this paper is to reflect on my thoughts on how I can utilize certain methods that will help shape the vision of the organization. I will explain how ethics play a role in leadership and decision making. This week I encountered multiple dilemmas which affected my actions at work, home, and school; in this paper I will exploit those dilemmas and how they are considered weakness that I incorporated in my IDP. Using last week 's assignment to start an IDP, I came up with certain actions (part 3) to take to further advance myself as a leader. The reasoning behind these actions will show how proper ethical actions define a leader, and the influence it holds with the organization’s culture.

In generally, ethical leadership means that the leaders organized their company to a better performance ethically. Ethical leader need both knowledge and strong knowledge. Strong ethical leader must have the right kind of integrity and can make decision and lead ethically. Ethical leader is able to make the consideration and discussion of ethics or ethical questions and issues part of the culture of the group, organizations and initiative. Besides, ethical leader are ethical all the time, they’re ethical over time, proving again and again that ethics are an integral part of the

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).

Ethical leadership encompasses the manner in which one leaders that respects the rights and dignity of other individuals. According to Preston (1996) “ethics is concerned about what is right, fair, just, or good; about what we ought to do, not just what is the case or what is most acceptable or expedient” (p.16). Ethical leadership calls for ethical leaders in the organization. However, although an organization’s beliefs, valves, customs and philosophies need to start from the chief executive, the managers and employees must be dedicated to the organization’s goals for a culture be shaped (Butts Ed.). In order for a strong organizational culture to be successful, components of key valves must be in place and followed. With the

Ethical leaders espouse moral values, altruism, civic virtue, good citizenship behavior and conscientiousness both in their personal and professional lives. They imbibe the same core values in their followers. They demonstrate moral judgement in their decision making process, influenced by the long term interest of the stake holders. Also ethical leaders hold their followers accountable for their conduct and establish a reward and vicarious learning process for ethical conducts

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.

This broader concept of ethical leadership empowers leaders to incorporate and be explicit about their own values and ethics. The following list provides a framework for developing ethical leadership. It is based on the observations of and conversations with a host of executives and students over the past 25 years, and on readings of both popular and scholarly business literature. Written from the perspective of the leader, these ten facets of ethical leaders offer a way to understand ethical leadership that is more complex and more useful than just a matter of “good character and values.”

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.

How do ethical values shape behavior in organizations? According to Saleem (2014), ethical values and behaviors of an organization are made up of organizations institutionalized philosophies along with the moral ideologies of its members. In addition, the codes of ethics help to enhance the moral reasoning of employees while shaping their behaviors towards morally questioning unethical situations. Organizational leaders are encouraged to build cultures of trust with leadership who establish concerning goals employees pursue y setting examples for others to follow (Crosbie, 2008). The leaders whom are able to build training and development throughout their organization helps design and build relationships characterized by collaborative behaviors those results in mutually beneficial outcomes (Crosbie, 2008).

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