Ethics in leadership
7.In your view, what is leadership? Why is it important and why is studying it filled with pitfall?
Leadership is an important and crucial part of any management operation. It is intrinsically the ability to lead others and to make them feel that authority is there not to be trifled with. It is obviously one of the most important methods of management in every sense and it cannot be felt enough especially when confronted with hard and difficult situations. Obviously leadership cannot be confined totally to one category or another but it is important to study also as it helps one assess the real characters of others and also assists in the de-compartmentalization of thoughts and problems. However it is also filled with a considerable number of pitfalls due to the fact that it cannot be properly bogged down or defined in this respect. Notwithstanding all these difficulties, leadership is intrinsically extremely interesting to study as it shows also that life cannot really go on without proper leadership in any department. The pitfalls are obviously many, as one cannot box in characters which may vary across different levels and different counts and this is intrinsically also quite dangerous when one is faced with these sorts of problems. Leadership can also offer challenges to role models who may appear to disappoint or not be in harmony with others but on the whole the study of leadership is important for any self respecting business manager.
8.What is "leading from the middle," and how does that influence your view of leadership?
Leading from the middle is an interesting and intriguing aspect of leadership as it shows that when one involves others, the success is usually greater. Leading from the middle actually involves someone who can place him/herself in the position of others to establish what needs to be done with the relevant work experience inserted into the equation. I can say that in my past experiences on the job, I was heavily influenced by leadership from the middle as this made me involve several other persons in the equation and as a result my leadership capabilities were considerably improved. It is also pretty obvious to note that leadership from the middle is a collective effort and all this makes life easier when faced with certain difficulties. However one must also factor in diverse problems which may appear from time to time such as character conflicts and other similar issues which may cause problems and issues which need to be resolved before certain decisions can be taken. However I would say that leadership from the middle is probably the most effective in this respect and should be the option practiced when faced with difficult situations to control.
9.Describe in detail ethical leadership theory. How do you practice it? How do you know if you are an ethical leader?
Ethical leadership theory focuses on the ability to base certain leadership decisions on ethics both in theory and in effective practice. Principally this means that ethics should form the basis of any decision which is effectively taken and which also demonstrates that if one diverts from an ethical standpoint then the results would most probably be pretty disastrous. Ethical leadership theory insists on the importance of taking ethics based decisions which cannot be frugalized by petty problems or financial gain just for the sake of it. This means that problems which require an ethical standpoint may be slightly easier to solve and that ethics is always an important position to take in this respect. When faced with leadership situations which were perhaps slightly problematic I always practiced ethical leadership, chiefly this was an attempt to assess a situation from the viewpoint of others and observing how all this could be brought together to make the final decision a much better one. Obviously one’s assessment of a situation is intrinsically important and this cannot be taken for granted so I knew I was an ethical leader when my peers or my subjects confirmed this to me. In a particular case where I applied ethical leadership theory, I was eventually congratulated by one of my juniors who felt that no one really understood her personal problems as much as I did and assisted her to solve her considerable personal situations.
10.Who are values-based leaders? Describe a value-based leader in terms of behaviors you have worked with or for.
Values based leaders are those who base their final decisions on their moral and spiritual values. This is also an important aspect of leadership as yet again it places a person in a situation which otherwise may not appear to be clear from the outset and which might interfere in the final decision making process. When I worked at a large financial institution I found several different styles of leadership but there was a manager who applied values based leadership and I found this to be extremely rewarding apart from being intrinsically successful as an end result. There was a particular situation when a financial transaction could have offered great rewards for the bank and for the manager in question but he decided that the risk was not worth taking as it would have meant the dismissal of some employees. Immediately, the manager who had strong moral values and who abhorred having to put other persons’ livelihood in peril decided that the transaction should not be taken up and his decision was based on his strong ethical and moral values. Although he personally suffered chastisement from his superiors he continually stuck to his guns on the issue and this meant that he upheld his moral values accordingly. Thus his leadership values were reinforced as it was eventually a win win situation for all.
11.How does amoral leadership theory help? Where does it fall short?
Amoral leadership theory means that leadership is not based on any sort of ethical or moral values at all and this means that a certain amount of brutality is involved in implementing decisions without care for the actual consequences. This is a rather despicable theory and it certainly does not ensure that people are happy at work as it means that leaders can impose any decisions of their own free will and without any particular considerations for the welfare of the employee in question. This obviously brings about a number of intrinsic problems such as issues where conflicts are more pronounced and several dependant persons who are affected by amoral leadership decisions may have their life ruined without any care or sympathy. Obviously one can immediately see that this type of leadership theory falls severely short of what is expected in this respect as the consequences are dire and without much hope for a smooth transition to eventual decisions. Amoral leadership theory falls short on practically every count, be it a problem where ethical considerations are paramount or also an issue where values need to be assessed before arriving at a proper decision. It is certainly not to be recommended in any respect.
References:
Wicks, A. C., Freeman, R. E., Werhane, P. H., and Martin, K.E., Business Ethics: A Managerial Approach (2010). Pearson/Prentice Hall Publishing.
Avolio, B. J., Sosik, J. J., Jung, D. I., & Berson, Y. (2003). Leadership models, methods, and applications. In W. C. Borman, D. R. Ilgen & R. J. *Klimoski (Eds.), Handbook of psychology: Industrial and organizational psychology, Vol. 12. (pp. 277–307): John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Avolio, B. J., Walumbwa, F., & Weber, T. J. (in press). Leadership: Current theories, research, and future directions. Annual Review of Psychology.
Bass, B.M. & Avolio, B.J. (1995). MLQ Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire for Research: Permission Set. Redwood City, CA: Mindgarden.
