Moral Judgments In America

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.

Ethical leadership is commonly connected with characteristics like fairness and honesty, that can enable a person within an organization to do the right thing. In responding to the lack of attention to the ethical dimensions of positive leadership Brown and colleagues designed a definition for ethical leadership. They would define it as “the demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct through personal actions and interpersonal relationships, and the promotion of such

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.

As a leader, one is able to grow by making mistakes and improving one’s ethical skills.

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.

The Mythical Norm is a set of attributes that are advantageous in what one seeks to have. These advantages vary in race, class, physical features, sex, sexual orientation, gender, age, and religion. Lorde (2001) describes these norms in America being “defined as white, thin, male, young, heterosexual, Christian, and finally secure” (p. 178). People who seek the Mythical Norm fail to recognize their privilege from those who lack them.

What would you do if you had a way to save the world, but in the process you destroyed the world? The year is 2120 and I don’t know what to do.

In the world, there are what seems like an infinite number of various peoples, cultures, and ideologies. One does not need to go far to find a person who has a different opinion from one’s self. Within these different societies, are different ways of thinking, and, of course, different values of what is acceptable (ethical) in each community. Western culture, for example, heavily promotes the idea of freedom of choice for an individual. The classic saying of the “American Way” truly personifies how many people in the U.S. and Europe believe that the freedom to be and do whatever we want is an essential part of humanity. With the ability to make so many decisions, however, humanity is left asking what decisions are right or wrong.

A moral issue that is facing society in the 21th century is terrorism to narrow that board topic down I will concentrate on the United States of America. And our battle against terrorism and terrorist organizations who bring a threat to the citizens of our country. The title might be America: The War on Terror. Furthermore, I will primarily focuses on five attack of terrorism on the American people. Those attack are 9/11, Beltway Sniper Attacks of 2002, Attempted Bombing of Time Square, Boston Marathon Bombing, and Chattanooga Recruiting Center Shootings. The sources for those are The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, and CNN. I will also focus on how terrorist attacks have impacted life in America. For instance, 9/11

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.

“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.”

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.

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