Unethical Behaviour

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.

There has been increasing numbers of concerns with the ethical leadership of organizations due to historical problems with company’s downfalls due to management. The unethical conduct of leadership is typically found when the organization does not enforce the ethical climate once determined as important. The paper focuses on different approaches for strengthening the leadership for the organization and enforcing the ethical climate. In addition, the important factors for a strong ethical climate are derived based on a solid foundation for an the organization’s policies and procedures and code of conduct. Organizations can accomplish ethical leadership and behaviors by enforcing and practicing the code of conduct and having a high level or integrity in the leaders that run the organization.

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

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)

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).

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.

Ethics are significant for all people, especially for someone in a leadership role. Frequently, some leaders turn to immoral and unethical behaviors and decisions. Defining and applying an ethical decision to a difficult situation can make a huge difference between positive and negative consequences for organizations (University of Oklahoma College of Liberal Arts, n.d.). Ethics in Leadership offers a general idea of applied ethics related to leadership situations in society and organizations. For a leader, it is a challenge to exercise power wisely, without unnecessary selfishness and keeping moral integrity. The study of ethics allows individuals to examine and view ethical issues from several prospectives, identify the problem for a better understanding, and to practice ethical thinking in developing a useful solution (University of Oklahoma College of Liberal Arts,

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.

It is only during moral lapses and corporate scandals that interest groups and the broader public ask themselves the fundamental ethical questions, who are the managers of the organization and were they acting with the ethical guidelines. For a long time, the issue of ethics was largely ignored, with organizations focusing on profit maximization. However, this has changed, and much attention is now focused on ethics management by researchers and leaders. The issue of ethics has arisen at a time when public trust on corporate governance is low, and the legitimacy of leadership is being questioned. Leaders are expected to be the source of moral development and ethical guidance to their employees.

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 the past, the term “authentic leadership” is used to define ethical leadership. Researches examine authentic leadership as an attempt to discover more about ethical leadership. Researchers argue that authentic leadership is concerned with self-awareness, relational transparency, internalized moral perspective, and balanced processing (Gardner et al., 2005; Walumbwa et al., 2008). Although Authenticity is an important aspect of ethical leadership and the above definition creates a good list of behaviors, it doesn’t solely define all aspects of ethical leadership. It has also been argued that Influence processes used by leaders are driven by the underlying ethical values (Groves et al., 2011). Therefore, another approach to inspect ethical intent would be to examine the influence process used by leaders. Since leader’s influence processes are very much linked to her leadership styles, it’s appropriate to look at some leadership styles and the compatible influence processes.

Leadership is by all means a special talent that not all people possess. A leader must also have ethics to be effective for the long term in the corporate world. These leaders generally implement ethical programs in order to influence an organizations climate (Yukl, 2010). I will evaluate the importance of ethical leadership and the role it plays into today’s organizations. In addition, I will discuss the repercussions a company may have when its leadership allows and even rewards unethical business practices. Lastly, I will apply my personal leadership perspective. My perspective will include the path-goal theory and ethical practices that I find important to

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