Chapter 5: Ethics and Leadership Flashcards
Leadership ethics
the study of ethics applied to organizational leaders, examines the goals of organizations, organizational values, and the behaviour and misbehaviour of leaders.
we need to recognize the two clear schools of thought surrounding the notion of ethical leadership.
The first is steeped in philosophy whereby the notion of the leaders, who are imbued with ethics, act as a driver of ethical conduct in the organization (This view is about ‘having’ ethics)
The other notion of ethical leadership is more transactional in nature and derived from the behavioural sciences whereby ethical leadership’s sole purpose is to provide conditions for organizational success (This view is about managing ethics.)
Some of the primary philosophical approaches to ethics
1) utilitarianism,
2) deontology,
3) philosophical egoism,
4) ethics of virtue and
6) ethics of responsibility
Utilitarianism (aka ‘consequentialism’)
forward looking
Under the banner of utilitarianism, the right or wrong of actions and behaviours are directly assessed against potential consequences and whether those consequences prescribe to the basic consequentialist principles of the greatest good for the greatest number, or the ends justify the means
Deontology (aka Kantianism)
backward or present looking
To this point, it is not the consequences of an action that make it ethical, but whether the action was simply the right thing to do. Actions that mislead, conceal fraudulent behaviours or misinform are unable to be morally justified by their motivations
Philosophical egoism
focuses on the beliefs of reality through a social lens. Where leadership is constructed through social rules, people will follow if it avoids punishment (Dion, 2012). Social acceptability of behaviour is paramount to achieving one’s self-interest, and therefore social approval directs the moral path
Virtue ethics:
it is the system of beliefs that take precedence, rather than behaviours. Virtues may be moral (courage, justice and prudence) or intellectual (i.e. wisdom)
Ethics of responsibility:
while there are some differences between exact viewpoints surrounding this framework, the key understanding is that everyone is responsible for themselves through an open set of possibilities . It is right to assume that others also have their own self-responsibility orientating their conduct according to their own parameters of truth.
Reflecting on these brief definitions of primary philosophical approaches, it can be seen that ethics concern
the morality of outcomes, the morality of process, social expectations, self-expectations and the ‘truth’ according to the decision maker.
leadership models to capture those components that promote ethical behaviour
Mainstream models include authentic leadership, transformational leadership, charismatic leadership and servant leadership
application of an ‘ethical prism’ to authentic leadership traits
whereby authenticity refers to integrity and sincerity, which are considered virtuous and by implication connected to virtue ethics
transformational leadership
include influence or charisma, inspiration and stimulation of others in their definition
Servant leadership
reported to have evolved through ethics and altruism in response to a recognized need for communal leadership
authentic leader criticism
may be true to their own values, these values may be inclined toward selfish or bad behaviour
The potential for destructive outcomes for those whose values do not align with the leaders
transformational and charismatic leaders criticism
may certainly have ethical, virtuous or moralistic drivers, the association with ethical leadership must be questioned in all leadership models on a case-by-case basis
Resick et al. (2006) and DuBrin (2015)
identified the dimensions of ethical leadership to include ‘character and integrity’, ‘ethical awareness’, ‘people orientation’ (including altruism), ‘motivating’, ‘empowering’ and ‘accountable’.
along with many others, included integrity, trustworthiness, honesty and empathy in the mix
For Engelbrecht et al. (2017),
trust and integrity constructs act to influence followers, leading to higher levels of engagement and outcomes for the organization
As for leadership ethics, Ciulla and Forsyth argue that
‘The moral foible people fear most in leaders is personal immorality accompanied by abuse of power’
organization’s culture
defined by the actions, behaviours and values of senior leaders.
An ethical leader
promotes the confidence of employees, leading not only to improved worker engagement as an outcome of a leader trust relationship
corporate social responsibility (CSR)
defined as a self-regulating business model that helps an organization be socially accountable to its employees, shareholders and society.
‘millennials’
(born between the 1980s and early 2000s)
