Moral Judgments In America

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

“America’s… moral compass seems to no longer to have a true north. The needle pins crazily, looking for a direction on which to settle, a direction that can lead a nation on a path of integrity and morality.”- Dr. David Jeremiah. We are all looking for a direction to settle but sometimes our needle can go the wrong way. There are certain times where we will need to be unethical and immoral. Therefore, since many people cannot control what situation they’re in and because no one is perfect; i think it’s okay to be unethical and/or immoral.

Ciulla (1995), suggests that an ethical leader refers to an effective leader. However, in practice, there are both effective and unethical leaders. Furthermore, Yukl (2006), assert that, the relevant criteria for judging the ethical behaviour of a leader include individual values, conscious intentions, freedom of choice, stage of moral development, types of influence used, and use of ethical as well as unethical behaviour. In addition, Table 1 adopted from Yukl and Yukl, (2002), provides the criteria for evaluation of ethical leadership.

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.

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.

When reviewing the presented literature resources, it was very extensive in regards to the topic and discussions of good ethical leadership. However, the essential articles in this particular subject matter had concentrated and focuses on the effectiveness of leadership ability to change employee or follower behavior, rather than the motivation behind what make a good leader. Good leaders are capable to change and lead his or her organization without struggle and during time of crisis. He or she should always never stop proven him or herself through lead by good examples. However, he or she should focus on the critical decision to stay engage to help achieve business results. A people leader with character and personality, should focus on measures which behind the existing and current difficulties. This is what I believe why some of the literature sources failed a bit short and not enough information, but based on theories and perception of a good ethical leader. More resources to focus more as regarding the different question asked. Although, some articles and resources has different focuses would likely be included on this paper, but of all addresses certain

Leaders who are ethical are people-oriented, and also aware of how their decisions impact others, and use their social power to serve the greater good instead of self-serving interests.

“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.”

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