Leading in a changing world (Blog 1)

Blog 1: Leadership and Ethics

Introduction

Ethic is a system of moral principles, it provided moral map for people when we are dealing with difficult issues. Leadership becomes an important factor that drives success of company. Ethical Leadership is defined as “the demonstration of normatively appropriate conduct through personal actions and interpersonal relationships, and the promotion of such conduct to followers through two-way communication, reinforcement, and decision-making” (Brown, Trevino, & Harrison, 2005). Ethical leadership is one of the key drivers leading successful organization, it relates to being good and bad, or right and wrong, also about understanding of what make thing to be good or bad. (Mullins, 2016) In this Blog, it will discuss two principal of ethics, which are deontological and teleological, also 4V model will be applied to define the concept of ethical leadership, finally, Enron will be used as an case to understand the importance of leadership in an organization.

Deontological and Teleological Ethics

The first Deontological principles was introduced by Immanuel Kant, he is the German Founder of critical philosophy in 18^th century. The word ‘deontological’ comes from the Greek word deon, which means “duty”. Duty based ethics are usually concern the “principle of the thing’ (BBC, 2014). In deontological ethics, an action is considered morally good because of some characteristic of the action itself, not because the result of the action is good. (Duignan, 2015) Deontologists live in a universe of moral rules, for example, it is wrong to kill innocent people or it is right to give up seats to disable people.

Teleological ethics, which is also known as consequentialist ethics, it holds that the judgments for moral behavior will depend on the outcomes of a decision or an action. If the outcomes of an action are good, then it is held to be morally right; however, if the result of an action is bad, then it is considered to be morally wrong. The judgment of action to be right or bad will depends on the consequence of the action cause, not the characteristic of action.

4V Model

4V model was crested by Dr. Bill Grace and developed it base on his formal leadership research and personal passions around faith and ethics. (Kar, 2010)

The 4 elements of this model are:

Value: The start point of Ethical Leadership is understanding of and commitment to each individual core values.

Vision: Vision is the ability to frame our actions, especially in service to others, have a clear plan of what ought to be.

Voice: Voice is the process of showing your vision to others in a convincing way that could motivate people to action.

Virtue: Virtue can be fostered by practicing virtuous behavior, people should do what is right and good, understand that we become what we practice.

Values and Vision identify the group. They set the purpose and direction for the group. Values and vision are the most fundamental dimensions of leadership. Giving voice to values and vision brings group its dynamic. The articulation of vision and values can help group moving toward the realization of its vision. (Ethical Leadership Center, 2016)

Bad Ethical Leadership (Enron Case)

Enron scandal is a case of bad ethical leadership, Enron was the seventh largest company in the US, however it went bankrupt because it lied about its profits and stands accused of a range of shady dealings, including hiding their debt so it did not show in their company’s accounts to make investor and creditor believe that they performed well. After the facts been explored to public, company was forcing into bankruptcy in December in 2002 (BBC News, 2002) Enron is a case of moral failure, due to its unethical practices of its executives. The former chief executive, Jeffrey Skilling, and Former chairman Ken Lay were tried to concealing debt from company account, the company leader did not have ethical behavior when they are in trouble.

However, good leadership also affects organization in a sustainable way. For instance, Bill Gates, he founded the world’s largest software business, Microsoft, and subsequently became one of the richest men in the world. He is a successful ethical leadership in the world. He and his wife founded Bill & Melinda Gats Foundation to help with heath care, education. His success still impact a lot of people, there is no doubt that his ethics is key driver of his success. (Rampton, 2016)

Conclusion

In conclusion, leadership is considered as a process of influencing others. Leadership involves understanding the values of individual, showing respect for followers, being fair to others. A successful leader should establish their own ethical behavior and influence their employee. As we mention above, Enron executives that knowingly act as their own interest by compromise their morals and values in favor of achieving greatest good for themselves. Enron is an excellent case to drive public attention to ethical leadership. I would say that if Enron’s executives have ethical leadership, they would not go bankrupt. We should now realize that ethical leadership for organization is a key factor to drive success of organization. What do you think? Do you think unethical leadership could lead a organization failure?

 

Reference

• BBC (2014) Duty-based ethics, Available at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/duty_1.shtml (Accessed: 10 Feb 2017).
• BBC News (2002) Enron scandal at-a-glance, Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/1780075.stm (Accessed: 11th Feb 2017).
• Brown, M. E., Treviño, L. K., & Harrison, D. (2005). Ethical leadership: A social learning perspective for construct development and testing. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 97, 117−134.
• Center for Ethical Leadership (2016) 4V Model, Available at: http://www.ethicalleadership.org/concepts-and-philosophies.html (Accessed: 11 Feb 2017).
• Duignan, B. (2015) Deontological ethics, Available at: https://www.britannica.com/topic/deontological-ethics (Accessed: 10 Feb 2017).
• Kar, S. (2010) ‘Ethical Leadership: Best Practice for Success’, IOSR-JBM, (), pp. 112-116.
• Mullins, L, J. (2016) Management & Organisational Behaviour, 11th edn. Harlow: Pearson.
• Rampton, J. (2016) How Bill Gates Became a Leadership Legend, Available at: https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/250607 (Accessed: 11 Feb 2017).