Academic Work Showcase: Organizational and Leader Ethics

Introduction

            Recent history is littered with stories of various types of organizations that have felt the negative consequences of unethical behavior and actions by leaders and organizational members. From ethical scandals like the torture of prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq by U.S soldiers to fraudulent accounting practices leading to the collapse of energy company Enron, unethical practices by organizations and their people have profound impact on the credibility, trust, and success of organizations. Easily discernable questions of ethical behavior can seem simple for most people to differentiate between ethical and unethical practices such as lying, cheating, or stealing. Unfortunately, some questions regarding ethical behavior are seemingly more difficult for leaders and subordinates to differentiate between what is right or wrong. Leaders and subordinates through their actions or inaction help create the ethical environments that exist within their organizations. Organizations create ethical environments through organizational systems, culture, and values (Johnson, 2019). Ethical organizations can only exist when leaders, subordinates, and organizations are driven by strong values and ethical decision-making processes.

Ethics Defined

            There are several ethical perspectives that help define ethics. The foundation of understanding ethics starts with the knowledge that the word ethics is derived from the Greek word “ethos” which means customs, conduct or character. From the beginning, the theoretical development of ethical principles has been concerned with values and making right or wrong decisions based on what is considered appropriate within society (Northouse, 2016). Much of what people understand to be ethical guidance in developing acceptable customs or conduct comes from religion and upbringing. Even if individuals don’t adhere to religious principles, there are certain aspects of these principles that impact people’s understanding ethics/morals because of how society incorporates them into the fabric or foundations of that society. Most people for example learn about some variation of The Golden Rule in which we are taught to “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”. When we discuss upbringing as part of ethical guidance this includes family, school, friends, country, and community.  Although much of what we learn from these perspectives can be tied back to religious underpinnings, how we are influenced in adhering to these principles is impacted by the influence of our family and other “organizations” we are a part of (Howard & Korver, 2008). Making ethical decisions can be more complex though because different ethical perspectives provide different insight into what is the “right” decision from an ethical perspective.

Ethics: Duty or Results?

Utilitarianism is one ethical perspective in which the overall ethical guidance for decision making holds that ethical decisions are based on doing the greatest good for the greatest number of people. This ethical perspective focuses on the consequences of decision-making results. In essence, this perspective weighs decisions based on whether the benefit of a decision outweighs the cost of a decision. This type of perspective may allow for lying to not hurt someone’s feelings. By contrast, the categorical imperative perspective of ethics is concerned with doing what is right despite the consequences. This perspective focuses on the duty of individuals to follow moral universal truths without exception. Examples would be murder and lying because these are always unethical regardless of consequences (Johnson, 2019).

Utilitarianism and categorical imperative are just two examples of ethical decision-making perspectives that help to highlight two distinct approaches to guiding ethical decision making. Teleological perspectives, such as utilitarianism, account for the consequences of the ethical decision-making process. Doing the greatest good for the greatest number of people and promoting the best interests of others are key to decision making. Deontological perspectives, such as categorical imperative, focus on the duty of people to make ethical decisions regardless of consequences. This duty for ethical decision-making is based on what would be considered good and moral in the sense of universal standards such as telling the truth, not stealing, not harming others, etc. (Northouse, 2016).

Ethical Leadership

            Navigating the complexities of ethical decision making can be challenging based on different perspectives and complexity of ethical dilemmas encountered. In my opinion, one model or guide that can help this process is the principles of ethical leadership proposed by Northouse (2016). His principles of ethical leadership encompass five principles that incorporate different aspects of ethical decision-making perspectives. These five principles include serving others, showing justice, manifesting honesty, building community, and respecting others. I have found this to be a comprehensive and thorough guide for ensuring ethical decision making for myself as a leader. Collectively, these five principles allow for ethical decisions that value people and their rights, is altruistic in a leader’s approach, and provides equality when making decisions. It also holds leaders to a standard of being truthful and working towards a common good that is mutually beneficial. This type of approach to ethical leadership particularly appeals to me because it can help address one ethical leader/organizational dilemma that I have observed in my own professional career which is toxic/destructive leadership.

Toxic Leaders and Effects on Organizational Culture

Toxic leadership exists when leaders lack integrity, have insatiable ambition, and lack true concern for their followers. These types of leaders are more concerned with serving their own needs. They will use power and coercion for their own gains and recognition while showing little concern or consideration for the well-being of followers or the negative impact to their organization. These attributes and practices of toxic leadership are unethical and destructive to organizations. Toxic leaders subvert the ethical practices and processes of organizations and have a negative impact on how followers view their organizations (Johnson, 2013; Northouse, 2019).

In my own experiences with this type of unethical leader behavior, it was apparent that ego and a self-centered approach by leaders to promote themselves took precedent over any other concern. These behaviors manifested themselves in never acknowledging contributions to success by subordinates i.e. taking credit for anything positive. Conversely though, they would always blame subordinates for failures. In one instance when I and other subordinates completed a task by taking initiative because little guidance from our leader was provided, we were berated when that leader felt the product was not to their standard. This was only communicated at the last possible moment before it was to be used in a briefing to higher leadership. Our “incompetence” was even communicated to higher leadership in an effort by that leader to avert blame from himself.

Conclusion

Ethics is an important topic for leaders and organizations to understand and address if they want to foster a culture of honesty, commitment, and effectiveness. Developing and holding all organizational members accountable to values based on strong ethical/moral principles is part of that process. Clearly communicating those values is the other part. Ethical dilemmas can be seemingly apparent at times and the right decision clear. Other ethical dilemmas such as toxic leadership can be more opaque. Identifying it and addressing it can be more difficult. Regardless of the complexity or clarity of ethical dilemmas, strong leadership well versed in organizational ethical principles can help eliminate or at a minimum mitigate the negative impact of unethical practices within organizations.

References

Howard, R.A., & Korver, C.D. (2008). Ethics for the real world: Creating a personal code to 

            guide decisions in work and life. Harvard Business Review Press.

Johnson, C.E. (2013). Organizational ethics: A practical approach (4th ed). Sage Publishing.  

Northouse, P.G. (2019).  Leadership: Theory and practice (7th ed).  Sage Publishing.