Leadership Ethics
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Very little research has been published on the theoretical foundations of
leadership ethics.
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There has been many studies on leadership, but little has been related to
leadership.
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One of the first leadership ethics writings appeared in 1996 by W.K. Kellogg
Ethics defined
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Development of ethics theory dates back to Plato and Aristotle.
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It is concerned with the kinds of values and morals an individual or society
finds desirable.
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These are rules and principles that provide the basis for understanding what it
means to be a morally decent human being.
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The choices that leaders make and how they respond to a given circumstance are
informed and directed by their ethics.
Ethical theories
Ethical leadership theories fall into two categories
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Leader's conduct (Their actions)
i.
Consequences (Theological theories) - Focus on what is right and what is wrong.
1.
Ethical Egoism
- An individual should act to create the greatest good for themselves. A leaders
should take a career that they would selfishly enjoy (Avolio & Locke, 2002).
This is closely related to transactional leadership theories. For example, a
middle-level manager who wants their team to be the best in the company is
acting out of ethical egoism.
2.
Utilitarianism
- We should act to create he greatest good for the greatest number. Maximize the
social benefits while minimizing the social costs (Shumann, 2001). Example: when
the US government allocates a large portion of the federal budget to the health
care instead of catastrophic illness, it is acting out of the utilitarian
ethics.
3.
Altruism
- This is the opposite of Ethical
Egoism and is concerned with showing the best interest for others even when it
runs contrary to self-interest. Authentic transformational leadership is based
on altruistic behavior (Bass, Steidlmeier, 1999).
ii.
Duty (Deontological Theories)
§
This is telling the truth, keeping promises, being fair, independent of the
consequences.
§
Actions should not infringe on others' rights and should not further the moral
rights of others.
Leader's character (Who they are)
Virtue-based theories -
1.
These are not innate, but can be acquired.
2.
They are rooted in heart of the individual and in their disposition.
3.
It focuses on telling people "what
to be" as opposed of "what to do"
4.
Examples include courage, temperance, generosity, self-control, honesty,
sociability, modesty, fairness, and justice.
5.
This theory is about being and
becoming a worthy human being.
Centrality of ethics to leadership
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The influence dimension of a leader requires that they have an impact on the
lives of those they lead. To make a change in other people carries with it an
enormous amount of ethical burden and responsibility.
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Leaders have an ethical responsibility to treat followers with dignity, respect,
as a human being with unique identities.
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The "respect for people" demands that a leader be sensitive to follower's own
interests, needs, and conscientious concerns.
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Leaders play an important role in establishing the ethical climate of the their
organizations.
Heifetz's Perspective on Ethical leadership
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A psychiatrist who observed world leaders.
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His approach emphasizes how leaders help followers confront conflict and effect
changes from conflict. It is about helping followers deal with conflicting
values that emerge in rapidly changing work environments and social cultures.
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His approach deals with values.
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Leaders must utilize authority to immobilize people to face tough issues.
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The leader provides the holding environment in which there is trust, nurturance,
and empathy.
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The leader's duty is to assist followers in struggling with change and personal
growth.
Burns's Perspective on Ethical leadership
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Transformational leadership places a strong emphasis on followers' needs,
values, and morals.
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It involves attempts by leaders to move followers to higher standards of
responsibility.
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It is the responsibility of the leader to help followers assess their own values
and needs in order to raise them to a higher level of functioning, to a level
that will stress values such a liberty, justice, and equality.
Greenleaf's Perspective on Ethical leadership
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He developed a paradoxical approach to leadership called "Servant leadership" in
1970s
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It gained increased popularity in recent years.
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It has a strong altruistic ethical overtone and emphasizes that leaders should
be attentive to concerns or their followers.
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He argued that leadership was bestowed on a person who is by nature a servant.
The way an individual becomes a leader is by first being a servant.
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A servant leader focuses on the needs of the followers and helps them become
more knowledgeable, more free, more autonomous and more like servants
themselves.
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Servant leader has a social responsibility to be concerned with the have-nots
and to recognize them as equal stakeholders in the organization.
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Greenleaf places a great deal of emphasis on listening, empathy, and
unconditional acceptance of others.
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Many of these ethical theories emphasis that the relationship between
leader-follower is an "ethical" one and it s related to the "caring
principle"(Gilligan, 1982).
Principles of ethical leadership
Northouse has listed five principles of ethical leadership. Actually the origins
of these
can be traced back
to Aristotle.
These principles provide a
foundation for the
development of
sound ethical leadership. According to these principles ethical leaders respect
others, serve others,
are just, are honest and build community. To be an
ethical leader, we must be
sensitive to the
needs of others, treat others in ways that are just and care for others.
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1.
Ethical leaders respect others
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Immanuel Kant argues that it is our duty to treat others with respect. One
should treat others as ends in itself and never as means to an end.
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Beauchamp and Bowie (1988) pointed out that "Persons must be treated as having
their autonomously established goals and must never be treated purely as the
means to another person's goals."
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Leaders who respect also allow others to be themselves. They approach others with a sense of
unconditional worth and value individual differences (Kitchener, 1984)
o
Respect means giving credence to others' ideas and confirming them as human
beings.
o
A leader should nurture followers in becoming aware of their own needs, values,
and purposes.
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Respect means that a leader listens closely to their subordinates, is
empathetic, and tolerant to opposing views.
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When a leader exhibits respect, subordinates feel competent about their work.
2.
Ethical leaders serve others
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This is based on the concern for others (Ethical egoism)
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This is an example of altruism.
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An example of this is observed in mentoring, empowerment, behaviors, and team
building.
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Very similar concept to the "Beneficence" that is taught to health
professionals.
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Senge contended that one of the important tasks of leaders in learning
organizations is to be a steward (servant) of the vision within the organization
and highlights the importance of not being self-centered, but integrating one's
self or vision with the vision of the organization.
3.
Ethical leaders are Just
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Justice demands that leaders place the issue of just at the center of their
decision making.
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No one should be treated differently unless their particular situation demands
it and if that is the case, then the rules for differential treatment should be
made clear.
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Good coaches are those who never have favorites and those who make a point of
playing everyone in the team.
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The golden rule (Rawls, 1971) is to "Do unto others as you would have them do
unto you."
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The principles of distributive justice includes:
i.
To each person, and equal share.
ii.
According to individual needs
iii.
According to that person's rights
iv.
According to individual efforts
v.
According to societal contribution
vi.
According to merit.
4.
Ethical leaders are honest
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Being honest is not just about telling the truth. It has to do with being open
with others, representing reality as fully and a completely as possible.
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There are times of course where telling the complete truth can be destructive
and counter productive. The challenge is to strike a balance.
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It is important for leaders to be authentic, but sensitive to the attitudes And
feelings of others.
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Dala Costa (1998) made a point in the Ethical Imperative book. "Do not promise
what you can't deliver, do not misrepresent, do not hide behind spin-doctored
evasions, do not suppress obligations, do not evade accountability, do not
accept the 'survival of the
fittest' pressures"
5.
Ethical leaders build community
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Leadership is often defined as the "process of influencing others to reach a
common or communal goal." This definition has a clear ethical dimension. The common goal implies that leaders
and followers agree on the directions of the group.
o
Authentic transformation means that a leader cannot impose their will on other.
They need to search for goals that are compatible with everyone.
o
Ethical leadership demands attention to civic virtue (Rost, 1991). This means
that both leaders and followers need to attend to community goals and not just
their mutually determined goals.
Maybe the most important thing is to realize that leadership involves values;
one cannot be a leader
without being aware of and concerned about one’s own values. We can say also that rather than
telling people what to do, we should tell them what to be and help them to
become more virtuous.
When practiced over time good values become habitual and a part of the persons
themselves.
Strengths
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It provides some direction in how to think about ethical leadership and how to
practice it.
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It reminds us that leadership is a moral process. Other than the
transformational theory of Burns, no other theory considered or highlighted
ethics.
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It describes some basic principles that we can use in developing real-world
ethical leadership. These ethics have bee present for over 2000 years.
Weaknesses
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It is still in an early stage of
development. It lacks a strong body of traditional research.
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This area of research relies on the writing of a few individuals, whose work has
been primarily descriptive and anecdotal.
Leadership instrument
Craig and Gustafson (1998) developed the Perceived Leader Integrity Scale (PLIS). It is based on the Utilitarian ethical theory. It evaluates leaders' ethics by measuring the degree to which subordinates see them as acting in ways that produce the greatest good for the greatest number of people.
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