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READING
How to Be an Ethical Leader: 4 Tips for Success
By Kiely Kuligowski, Writer June 13, 2019 08:30 am EST
As a manager, there is a clear difference between being just a boss and being a leader. Where a boss orders, a leader guides; a boss manages, a leader inspires. The difference lies in how you make your employees feel and how you view your relationship with them. A good leader sees it as their responsibility to inspire, guide, and nurture their employees to help them improve; they lead by example.
“In today’s transparent social-media-driven world, senior executives, especially those with a high profile, will be tested and called to task over their morals and ethics in how they do business,” said Shane Green, author of Culture Hacker (Links to an external site.) (Wiley, 2017). “This used to be more focused on business practices but is now shifting [to] leadership practices. Businesses, and their leaders, are under a microscope. How they act and interact with those around them professionally will have a significant impact on their ability to attract new talent and, ultimately, their bottom lines.”
Ethical leadership is defined as (Links to an external site.) “leadership that is directed by respect for ethical beliefs and values and the dignity and rights of others.” It is mainly concerned with moral development and virtuous behavior.
Or, as Heather R. Younger, founder of Customer Fanatix (Links to an external site.), put it, “an ethical leader is someone who lives and dies for integrity. Doing the right thing, even when it hurts, is the ethical leader’s mantra.”
And while this all may sound lofty, it’s more attainable than you might think. Here’s how to become an ethical leader.
Define and align your values.
Consider the morals you were raised with: Treat others how you want to be treated, always say “thank you,” help those who are struggling, etc. But as you grow, and as society progresses, conventions change, often causing values to shift.
“This is the biggest challenge ethics face in our culture and at work and is the biggest challenge ethical leadership faces,” said Matthew Kelly, founder, and CEO of FLOYD Consulting (Links to an external site.) and author of The Culture Solution (Links to an external site.) (Blue Sparrow Books, 2019). “What used to be universally accepted as good and true, right and just, is now up for considerable debate. This environment of relativism makes it very difficult for values-based leaders.”
Kelly added that to find success in ethical leadership, demonstrate how adhering to specific values benefits the mission of the organization.
“Culture is not a collection of personal preferences,” he said. “Mission is king. When that ceases to be true, an organization has begun its journey toward the mediocre middle.”
Ask yourself what matters to you as an individual and then align that with your priorities as a leader. Defining your values not only expresses your authenticity, but it also encourages your team to do the same, creating a shared vision for all workers.
Hire people with similar values.
While your values don’t need to be identical with those of your workers, you should be able to establish common ground with them. This often starts with the hiring process and is maintained through a vision statement (Links to an external site.).
“I do not believe that every person is a fit for every company, and that is OK,” said Green. “Companies need to do a better job ensuring they find people who are aligned with their values rather than just hiring for the experience.”
Kelly believes it’s valuable to hire employees who have different experiences and perspectives because they each offer their solutions to challenges.
“But when it comes to values, I think having and hiring people who share your values is critical,” Kelly added. “Nobody wants to work for somebody who doesn’t share their values … Without mutual respect, it is very difficult to form a dynamic team, and most people find it very difficult to respect someone who doesn’t share their values.”
Promote open communication.
Every employee is different, even if they share similarities. With each decision you make, be transparent, and encourage feedback from your team. This helps you become a better leader and helps your workers feel more confident in sharing their ideas or concerns.
“I believe that one of the important responsibilities for the modern company is to create an environment where open communication is encouraged and that, more importantly, people are listened to,” said Green. “We are seeing a lot of employees calling on their companies to change policies, drop customers, or take a stand on current issues. Companies cannot bend to every employee’s demand, but what they do need to start executing is creating forums where employees can raise their viewpoints, feel they are listened to, and receive follow-up explaining why certain things can or cannot happen.”
Gathering feedback from your team helps you improve as a leader and propels your business forward.
“Management is all about the people,” said Alain Gazaui, CEO of inteliKINECT (Links to an external site.). “Understanding where they come from is crucial.”
Beware of bias.
As humans, many of us have beliefs, subconscious or otherwise, that are outdated or erroneous. No leader wants to admit to their flaws, but not practicing self-awareness can lead to detrimental consequences.
“Everyone has a bias, but for the longest time, you were not called out on it because you were never really challenged,” said Green. “Now that the workforce is more diverse … some unexposed biases are being called out. Managers need to … look at themselves and be honest that they do have biases that may impinge on another person feeling comfortable at work.”
If you are an open-minded leader, you will build and maintain better relationships with your workers.
Lead by example.
To build an ethical company, you must start from the top down. Your employees will see your behavior, choices, and values and will adopt them in their practices.
“To effectively lead, the ethical leader walks the line he or she wants others to follow,” said Younger. “Leading by example is the best way to ensure ethical business.”
It instills respect and lets your employees see that you truly believe in them and trust them to work.
Find your role models.
“There are many leaders throughout history,” said Mike Sheety, director of ThatShirt (Links to an external site.). “Do a little research of good, powerful leaders and try to identify what they do [well]. Then implement it into your leadership style.”
Care for yourself so you can care for others.
You cannot pour from an empty cup, as the saying goes.
“Having a calm and capable demeanor is the foundation for strong leadership,” said Christine Matzen, founder of Oak Street Strategies (Links to an external site.). “This can be accomplished by making sure that you, as a leader, are focused on meeting your own needs [like] sleep, nutrition, [and] true connection with loved ones.”
Matzen said that devoting time to self-care can seem simple, but, ultimately, it’s critical in supporting your capabilities as a leader.
“The leader that is happy and content in life wants happiness and contentment for those they lead,” she said.
A Framework for Ethical Decision Making
A Framework for Ethical Decision Making
This document is designed as an introduction to thinking ethically. It is also available as an app (Links to an external site.).
We all have an image of our better selves — of how we are when we act ethically or are “at our best.” We probably also have an image of what an ethical community, an ethical business, an ethical government, or an ethical society should be. Ethics has to do with all these levels — acting ethically as individuals, creating ethical organizations and governments, and making our society as a whole ethical in the way it treats everyone.
What is Ethics?
Simply stated, ethics refers to standards of behavior that tell us how human beings ought to act in the many situations in which they find themselves-as friends, parents, children, citizens, businesspeople, teachers, professionals, and so on.
It is helpful to identify what ethics is NOT:
Ethics is not the same as feelings. Feelings provide important information for our ethical choices. Some people have highly developed habits that make them feel bad when they do something wrong, but many people feel good even though they are doing something wrong. And often our feelings will tell us it is uncomfortable to do the right thing if it is hard.
Ethics is not a religion. Many people are not religious, but ethics applies to everyone. Most religions do advocate high ethical standards but sometimes do not address all the types of problems we face.
Ethics is not following the law. A good system of law does incorporate many ethical standards, but the law can deviate from what is ethical. Law can become ethically corrupt, as some totalitarian regimes have made it. Law can be a function of power alone and designed to serve the interests of narrow groups. Law may have a difficult time designing or enforcing standards in some important areas and may be slow to address new problems.
Ethics is not following culturally accepted norms. Some cultures are quite ethical, but others become corrupt -or blind to certain ethical concerns (as the United States was to slavery before the Civil War). “When in Rome, do as the Romans do” is not a satisfactory ethical standard.
Ethics is not science. Social and natural science can provide important data to help us make better ethical choices. But science alone does not tell us what we ought to do. Science may explain what humans are like. But ethics provides reasons for how humans ought to act. And just because something is scientifically or technologically possible, it may not be ethical to do it.
Why Identifying Ethical Standards is Hard
There are two fundamental problems in identifying the ethical standards we are to follow:
On what do we base our ethical standards?
How do those standards get applied to specific situations we face?
If our ethics are not based on feelings, religion, law, accepted social practice, or science, what are they based on? Many philosophers and ethicists have helped us answer this critical question. They have suggested at least five different sources of ethical standards we should use.
Five Sources of Ethical Standards
The Utilitarian Approach
Some ethicists emphasize that ethical action is the one that provides the most good or does the least harm, or, to put it another way, produces the greatest balance of good over harm. The ethical corporate action, then, is the one that produces the greatest good and does the least harm for all who are affected — customers, employees, shareholders, the community, and the environment. Ethical warfare balances the good achieved in ending terrorism with the harm done to all parties through death, injuries, and destruction. The utilitarian approach deals with consequences; it tries both to increase the good done and to reduce the harm done.
The Rights Approach
Other philosophers and ethicists suggest that ethical action is the one that best protects and respects the moral rights of those affected. This approach starts from the belief that humans have dignity based on their human nature per se or on their ability to choose freely what they do with their lives. Based on such dignity, they have a right to be treated as ends and not merely as means to other ends. The list of moral rights — including the rights to make one’s own choices about what kind of life to lead, to be told the truth, not to be injured, to a degree of privacy, and so on — is widely debated; some now argue that non-humans have rights, too. Also, it is often said that rights imply duties — in particular, the duty to respect others’ rights.
The Fairness or Justice Approach
Aristotle and other Greek philosophers have contributed the idea that all equals should be treated equally. Today we use this idea to say that ethical actions treat all human beings equally-or if unequally, then fairly based on some defensible standard. We pay people more based on their harder work or the greater amount that they contribute to an organization, and say that it is fair. But there is a debate over CEO salaries that are hundreds of times larger than the pay of others; many ask whether the huge disparity is based on a defensible standard or whether it is the result of an imbalance of power and hence is unfair.
The Common Good Approach
The Greek philosophers have also contributed the notion that life in a community is good in itself and our actions should contribute to that life. This approach suggests that the interlocking relationships of society are the basis of ethical reasoning and that respect and compassion for all others — especially the vulnerable — are requirements of such reasoning. This approach also calls attention to the common conditions that are important to the welfare of everyone. This may be a system of laws, effective police and fire departments, health care, a public educational system, or even public recreational areas.
The Virtue Approach
A very ancient approach to ethics is that ethical actions ought to be consistent with certain ideal virtues that provide for the full development of our humanity. These virtues are dispositions and habits that enable us to act according to the highest potential of our character and on behalf of values like truth and beauty. Honesty, courage, compassion, generosity, tolerance, love, fidelity, integrity, fairness, self-control, and prudence are all examples of virtues. Virtue ethics asks of any action, “What kind of person will I become if I do this?” or “Is this action consistent with my acting at my best?”
Putting the Approaches Together
Each of the approaches helps us determine what standards of behavior can be considered ethical. There are still problems to be solved, however.
The first problem is that we may not agree on the content of some of these specific approaches. We may not all agree to the same set of human and civil rights.
We may not agree on what constitutes the common good. We may not even agree on what is good and what is harmful.
The second problem is that the different approaches may not all answer the question “What is ethical?” in the same way. Nonetheless, each approach gives us important information with which to determine what is ethical in a particular circumstance. And much more often than not, the different approaches do lead to similar answers.
Making Decisions
Making good ethical decisions requires a trained sensitivity to ethical issues and a practiced method for exploring the ethical aspects of a decision and weighing the considerations that should impact our choice of a course of action. Having a method for ethical decision making is essential. When practiced regularly, the method becomes so familiar that we work through it automatically without consulting the specific steps.
The more novel and difficult the ethical choice we face, the more we need to rely on discussion and dialogue with others about the dilemma. Only by careful exploration of the problem, aided by the insights and different perspectives of others, can we make good ethical choices in such situations.
We have found the following framework for ethical decision making a useful method for exploring ethical dilemmas and identifying ethical courses of action.
A Framework for Ethical Decision Making
Recognize an Ethical Issue
Could this decision or situation be damaging to someone or some group? Does this decision involve a choice between a good and bad alternative, or perhaps between two “goods” or between two “bads”?
Is this issue about more than what is legal or what is most efficient? If so, how?
Get the Facts
What are the relevant facts of the case? What facts are not known? Can I learn more about the situation? Do I know enough to make a decision?
What individuals and groups have an important stake in the outcome? Are some concerns more important? Why?
What are the options for acting? Have all the relevant persons and groups been consulted? Have I identified creative options?
Evaluate Alternative Actions
Evaluate the options by asking the following questions:
Which option will produce the most good and do the least harm? (The Utilitarian Approach)
Which option best respects the rights of all who have a stake? (The Rights Approach)
Which option treats people equally or proportionately? (The Justice Approach)
Which option best serves the community as a whole, not just some members? (The Common Good Approach)
Which option leads me to act as the sort of person I want to be? (The Virtue Approach)
Make a Decision and Test It
Considering all these approaches, which option best addresses the situation?
If I told someone I respect — or told a television audience — which option I have chosen, what would they say?
Act and Reflect on the Outcome
How can my decision be implemented with the greatest care and attention to the concerns of all stakeholders?
How did my decision turn out and what have I learned from this specific situation?
This framework for thinking ethically is the product of dialogue and debate at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics at Santa Clara University. Primary contributors include Manuel Velasquez, Dennis Moberg, Michael J. Meyer, Thomas Shanks, Margaret R. McLean, David DeCosse, Claire André, and Kirk O. Hanson. It was last revised in May 2009.
Question Prompt: A leader is defined as a person who guides or directs other people. He/She is a person who influences people. Yet many celebrities and music makers influence people in ways that are not good and can actually be harmful. Are they still leaders?
1. When you think of leaders you know, can you identify which, of the five ethical approaches, that each seems to use most often.
2. Which of the five ethical approaches is suitable for small groups?
3. To what extent can individuals take different ethical approaches within a larger organization and still be effective?
4. To what degree are ethics situational?
