7.1: Characteristics of Ethical Leadership

An ethical leader is one who stays true to their core values and helps an organization stay true to its core values. Sometimes a desire to achieve a goal can lead people to forget about what they value and to engage in action where they “ends justify the means,” that is sometimes alright, but it can also lead a group astray. Sometimes people are so concerned not to make waves that they do not bring attention to what they know is wrong. A good ethical leader has the courage to bring a problem to the attention of others and to ensure that it gets dealt with. An ethical leader is someone who engages regularly in reflection and who sets up processes for people to challenge things in an organization, and these processes are transparent. 

Note

These reflections on Ethical Leadership come from Phil Rabinowitz

Ethical behavior, in its simplest terms, is knowing and doing what is right. The difficulty is in defining “right.” Different individuals, different cultures, and different religions define it in different ways. The accepted treatment of women and attitudes toward slavery in different cultures and at different times in history provide prime examples of how what’s “right” can vary.

For our purposes, Ethical behavior reflects a value system that grows out of a coherent view of the world, based on equity, justice, the needs and rights of others as well as oneself, a sense of obligation to others and to the society, and the legitimate needs and standards of the society.

Given that even the definition of ethics can be unclear, how do you ensure that your decisions and actions are ethical? One good set of answers takes the form of four questions to ask yourself about any decision or action you take:

• Kid on Your Shoulder: Would you do it if your kids were watching?
• Front Page of the Newspaper: Would you like to see it published on page 1 of your local newspaper?
• Golden Rule: Would you be happy being on the receiving end of the decision or action? (i.e., “Treat others as you would like them to treat you.”)
• Rule of universality: Would it be okay if everyone did it?

If you can honestly answer “yes” to all or most of these questions, then it’s likely that your decision or action is truly ethical.

Put the good of the organization and the general good before your own interests and ego.

One of the true tests of ethical leadership is making the decision that’s best for the organization even when it’s not in the leader’s self-interest to do so. (An organization’s director might cut her own salary in lean times, for instance, or, less drastically, expand others’ decision-making power at the expense of her own.)

Institutionalize ways for people to question your authority.

All should have some share in decision-making – at least in areas that affect them directly – and should have at least enough power to do their jobs well without interference.

Depending upon where you’re starting from and what’s necessary, this might include:

• Improving your understanding of nonverbal communication – body language, facial expression, tone and pitch of voice, etc..
• Using nonverbal communication to indicate attention and respect (or other attitudes when appropriate).
• Maintaining or improving active listening skills.
• Striving for clarity in all communication, spoken and written, so that there are no misunderstandings.
• Learning how you’re perceived by others and other groups, and using that learning to adjust your behavior if necessary.
• Increasing empathy.
• Constantly striving for a better understanding of interpersonal relationships.
• Constantly striving for a better understanding of yourself.

Ethical leadership requires from the leader a coherent ethical framework that will guide her decisions and actions all the time, not only in specific situations. Among the most important of the characteristics that define an ethical leader are openness and honesty; the willingness to make the discussion of ethical issues and decisions a regular part of the organizational or group conversation and culture; the urge to mentor others to lead; the drive to maintain and increase competence; the capacity to accept and seriously consider feedback, both positive and negative; the ability to put aside personal interest and ego in the interest of the cause or organization; the appropriate use of power, which is never abused or turned toward the leader’s own ends; and consciousness of the human beings behind the labels of “opponent,” “ally,” “staff member,” “participant,” etc..

Finally, and perhaps most important, an ethical leader never stops reexamining his own ethical assumptions and what it means to be an ethical leader. Like so many other important tasks, maintaining ethical leadership is ongoing; like only a few others, it can last a lifetime.

Activtiy \(\PageIndex{1}\)

Reading Response Questions

Please reflect on this reading by writing a short response to these questions. Your answer can include personal experience, and the writing does not need to be formal or polished. You are welcome to write as little as a sentence and as much as a paragraph. Think of it like journaling. 

1. What do you think of the four question to ask to decide if you are being ethical?
2. Pick a quote from the passage above and explain why it is meaningful to you.
3. In what ways do you exercise ethical leadership?
4. How have you seen the exercise or the lack of it cause  a problem?
5. What gets in the way of you exercising ethical leadership?
6. What can you do to strengthen your ethical leadership?

Attributions

https://ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/leadership/leadership-ideas/ethical-leadership/main

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0