Ethics and Leadership - Essay Example

Ethics and Leadership Leadership and change are two essential aspects of any organization’s functioning. Considerable emphasis has been laid upon the association that exists between leadership and ethics. Leaderships aims to bring transformation in an organizations and successful leaders are able to modify their working pattern according to the working conditions of their organization (Yukl, 2010). Ethics are the guiding principles that guide the course of actions of leaders during implementation of change (Fluker, 2009).

In modern organizations, where sensationalism and scandals are commonplace, following strict ethical standards is the most suitable pathway for the leaders (Trevino & Nelson, 2010). For many organizations, the optimum approach is to follow the consequentialist approach of ethics, which ascertains that the outcomes of a leader’s actions minimize the bad outcomes, while enhancing good outcomes (Baggini & Fosl, 2007). In a diverse multi-cultural environment, the leadership of an organization is required to perform many additional roles.

Since such environment is more volatile and prone to conflicts, application of ethical principles becomes a central theme in matters of dispute (Harris, 2013). Additionally, harassment that can become a frequent problem in such settings needs to be dealt with in accordance to the ethical principles (Einarsen et al, 2010). Many more challenges like religious issues, differences in level of education, socioeconomic differences and the likes may be encountered by leaders of a multicultural organization.

For this reason it is safe to assert that leaders of multicultural organizations have no option other than to judge every daily-life situation on the basis of ethical criteria that are universally acceptable. References Baggini, J., & Fosl, P. S. (2007). The ethics toolkit: A compendium of ethical concepts and methods. Oxford: Blackwell. Einarsen, S., Hoel, H., Zapf, D., & Cooper, C. (Eds.). (2010). Bullying and harassment in the workplace: Developments in theory, research, and practice. Crc Press.

Fluker, W. E. (2009). Ethical leadership: the quest for character, civility, and community. Minneapolis, Fortress Press. Harris, A. (2013). Young people and everyday multiculturalism (Vol. 13). Routledge. Trevino, L. K., & Nelson, K. A. (2010). Managing business ethics. John Wiley & Sons Yukl, G. (2010).Leadership in organisations (7th ed.). Prentice Hall:Upper Saddle River, NJ.