Current Challenges and Solutions to Ethical Leadership
Manz and Sims (1993), during their qualitative research, noted four shared strategic values of a successful ethical leadership within an organization. These four values are “to act with integrity, to be fair, to have fun, and to be socially responsible” (p. 15). The challenge arrives to determine what is fair. A solution proposed by the authors includes asking oneself, how would one feel if the roles were reversed and one was on the receiving end of the decision? The authors also challenge leaders within organizations to make ethics fun, as the authors found this increases organization morale.
Gini (1998) notes the tensions that occur when a leader tries to implement ethics. The central tension, the author writes, is that one is naturally egotistical during decision-making, and ethics requires one to shed that natural tendency. The ethical leader must take into account others’ consequences when making decisions. The author argues that the ethical decision will be the one that minimizes harm and maximizes the greatest outcome for all.
Enderle (1987) points out in the studies that ethics would be much simpler if organizations merely outputted products or services without concern to the well-being of employees. However, the author notes that business is just as much about relationships as it is transactions. A challenge is that an ethical leader must be concerned with producing quality profitable products, while protecting and promoting the well-being of employees. At times, these compete with one another. The right thing is not always the most profitable thing.
Walton (2008) identified forty-five traps within ethical leadership in the research. The author labeled these traps into three distinctive categories, primary, defensive, and personality. A primary trap is initiated from an external source, whereas, a personality trap is one that originates from within. The author poses a solution for leaders to identify the source of the trap and, in doing so, the leader will be better able to avoid ethical complications. However, the author acknowledges the difficulty leaders have avoiding these common ethical traps.
Ward (2006) examines the reason for ethical failures in leader. During the study, the author found that ethical failures do not occur because of selfishness, but rather out of ignorance. The author notes that often times an individual who holds a role of leadership may feel excused from moral requirements that others follow. The reasoning behind this is because the leader senses the role of leader separate from his or her self. When this occurs, a leader is more likely to excuse oneself from acting ethically in the role. The author’s solution for leaders is to gain more knowledge in the field of ethics.