Leadership Ethics and Values

 “Leadership cannot just go along to get along… Leadership

must meet the moral challenge of the day.”
 ~Jesse Jackson

 Lecture 4
 Introduction
 Personal values may be one of the most important
determinants of how power is exercised or
constrained.

 Mere possession of power leads to ethical questions

about usage of power.

 The challenge of leadership becomes complex in a

diverse and global environment.
 Leadership and “Doing the Right Things”

 Leaders face dilemmas that require choices between

competing sets of values and priorities.

 Leaders set a moral example that becomes the model for an

entire group or organization.

 Leaders should internalize a strong set of ethics, principles

of right conduct, or a system of moral values.

 Good leaders tend to align the values of their followers with

those of the organization or movement.
Leadership and “Doing the Right Things”
 Four qualities of leadership that engenders trust:

 Vision – bring people together around shared beliefs and a common organizational
purpose thus creating a sense of belonging.
 Empathy – demonstrate an understanding of the followers’ reality and how they
experience the world.
 Consistency – being consistent but also able to evolve with new information and data.
 Integrity – congruent with their espoused values and demonstrate a commitment to a
higher set of values than their own personal advancement
 Two contrasting sets of assumptions people make about human
nature:
 Theory X
 Reflects that most people need extrinsic motivation.
 Theory Y
 Reflects that most people are intrinsically motivated.
What Are Values?
 Values: “Constructs representing generalized behaviors or
states of affairs that are considered by the individual to be
important.”

 They play a fairly central role in one’s overall psychological

makeup.
 They can affect behavior in a variety of situations.
 Individuals in the same work unit can have considerably
different values.

 We can only make inferences about people’s values based

on their behavior.
 Are there Generational
Differences in Values?
 Pervasive influences of broad forces at a particular time tend to
create common value systems.
 This may contribute to misunderstandings and tension between older
leaders and younger followers.
 Each generation is molded by distinctive experiences at their critical
developmental periods:

 The Veterans (1922-1943) – core values: stability and tradition.

 The Baby Boomers (1942-1960) – core values: participation, spirit, heart, humanity and the
level-playing field.
 The Gen-Xers (1960-1980) – core values: work-life balance, free agency, committed to
vocation (not organization), entrepreneurial, embrace change, skeptical of institutions and
hierarchy.
 The Nexters (1980+) – core values: optimism, respect leadership competence and not
position
 Researchhas also found that there is little evidence
of a generation gap in basic values.
 Researchhas looked at how GenXers impact
leadership:
 Define leadership as removing obstacles and giving
followers what they need
 Believeleaders have to “earn their stripes” rather than
advance by seniority
Moral Reasoning
 An important consideration is how one thinks about value-laden
issues or ethical dilemmas.
 Moral reasoning: Process leaders use to make decisions about
ethical and unethical behaviors.
 Manner by which leaders solve moral problems.
 Value differences often result in different judgments regarding
ethical and unethical behavior.
 Kohlberg offers that although the development of moral
reasoning is invariant, not all individuals actually achieve the
highest stages.
Biases Affecting Moral Decisions
Research has identified 4 biases that affect our
moral decision making:
 Implicit prejudice – subconscious prejudices
that affect our decisions without us being aware
of them
 In-group favoritism – doing acts of kindness and
favors for those who are like us
 Overclaiming credit – overrating the quality of
our own work and contributions
 Conflicts of interest – we often discount the
effects of a conflict of interest
Examples of Rushworth Kidder’s Four Ethical
Dilemmas
 Truth versus loyalty – when honestly answering
a question may compromise confidentiality.
 Individual versus community – compromising
the rights of an individual for the good of the
community.
 Short-term versus long-term – balancing time
with children verses on career.
 Justice versus mercy – for ex excusing a
person’s behavior due to extenuating
circumstances
Kidder’s Principles for Resolving Ethical
Dilemmas
 Ends-based thinking – “Do what’s best for the
greatest number of people.” Also known as
utilitarianism.

 Rule-based thinking – “Following the highest

principle or duty.”-

 Care-based thinking – “Do what you want others

to do to you.” Also known as The Golden Rule.
Ways people avoid feeling guilty
Good people sometimes do bad things. Here are some ways
people avoid guilty feelings associated with those actions:
 Moral justification
 Euphemistic labeling
 Advantageous comparison
 Displacement of diffusion of responsibility
 Disregard or distortion of consequences
 Dehumanization
 Attribution of blame
Ethics and value based approaches to
leadership
Authentic Leadership
 Founded in Greek philosophical notion of “to thine
own self be true.”
 Strong ethical convictions that guide behavior
 Not so much avoiding doing what is “wrong” as much
as trying to do what is “right”
 Has gained momentum recently because
 of beliefs that
 enhancing self-awareness can help people in organizations
find more meaning and connection at work
 Promoting transparency and openness in relationships builds
trust and commitment
 fostering more inclusive structures and practices can help
build more positive ethical climates
Servant Leadership
Leadership role is serving others ; Stems in part from the teachings
of Jesus
10 characteristics describe servant leaders:
 Listening
 Empathy
 Healing
 Awareness
 Persuasion
 Conceptualization
 Foresight:
 Stewardship
 Commitment to others’ growth
 Building community:
Leading by example…
 One of the most quoted “principles of good
leadership”
 Research shows that ethical role models are
characterized by four general categories of
attitudes and behaviors:
 Interpersonal behaviors : show care, concern, and compassion for
others.
 Basic fairness : fairness shown to others
 Ethical actions and self-expectations: hold themselves to high
ethical standards
 Articulating ethical standards: articulate a consistent ethical vision
and are uncompromising toward it
Formal Leadership Roles
Formal leadership roles impose unique ethical
responsibilities and challenges.
Leaders more than followers:
 Possess unique degrees of both legitimate and
coercive power
 Enjoy greater privileges
 Have access to more information
 Have greater authority and responsibility
 Interact with a broader range of stakeholders who
expect equitable treatment
 Must balance sometimes competing loyalties when
making decisions
 Creating and sustaining an ethical climate
5 “fronts” of leadership action are required to create an ethical
climate:
 Formal ethics policies and procedures – formal statements of ethical
standards and policies, reporting mechanisms, disciplinary procedures,
penalties for ethical violations
 Core ideology – organization’s purpose, guiding principles, basic identity,
and most important values have to have an ethical focus
 Integrity – can’t be just plaques, posters or declarations… ethics has to
be enacted through personal integrity
 Structural reinforcement – organization’s structure and systems should
encourage higher ethical performance and discourage unethical
performance
 Process focus – how goals are achieved is as important as achievement
 Principle–centered Leadership
Fundamental interdependence between the personal, interpersonal,
managerial, and organizational levels of leadership
Unique roles of each are:
 Personal – be a trustworthy person in terms of both character and competence.

 Interpersonal – a lack of trust leads to self-protective efforts to control and

verify each other’s behavior.

 Managerial – empowering others requires a trusting relationship and requires

team building, delegation, communication, negotiation, and self-management.

 Organizational – creativity requires the organization’s structure, systems (e.g.

training, communication, reward), strategy, and vision be aligned and mutually
supportive.
Summary
 There is a relationship between ethics, values and
leadership
 More than just the content of what one believes is
right and wrong, how one makes ethical decisions
is critical.
 Ethical dilemmas often involve a choice between
two “rights” rather than right and wrong.
 Recent research has explored the
interdependencies between effective leadership
and particular value systems
 Thank You !

Thushara Asuramanna
ACMA-UK, CGMA-UK, MBA (PIM-USJ), Bsc Eng (Hons), Dip in Mgmt (OUSL), BMS – OUSL,
AM (IESL), M (IET-UK), Certified Expert in SME Finance

asuramanna.t@gmail.com.