Reflection on Learned from Ethics and Leadership - Essay Example

Reflection Paper The purpose of this reflection paper is to reflect on the lessons I have learned from ethics and leadership. I have observed that ethics and leadership has enabled me to learn a lot about certain issues pertaining leadership and ethics. The primary lessons I have learned include: Utilitarian perspective on ethics; Impartiality as an aspect of fairness and equality; ethical dilemma; open communication; and focus on processes rather than outcomes. I will apply these lessons in several ways. I will use utilitarian perspective to promote and manage cultural diversity in teams by appreciating the different views of all members. In terms of impartiality, I will treat everyone fairly and equally at work, e.g. providing equal opportunities of promotion and neutral mechanisms of rewarding and motivating employees at work. Ethical dilemma will be applied through implementation of practices that are legally and ethically right without considering their outcomes. Open communication will also be applied by communicating the vision and change within the organisation through open vertical and horizontal communication in order to achieve shared vision at work. Lastly, in will use the learning about ethics and leadership to focus on process over small goals in order to improve the value of products and achieve desirable outcomes. Top 5 Learnings from the Course Utilitarian perspective on ethics I learned that utilitarian view considers people to have different views. This perspective argues that ethical and religious beliefs define the cultural identity of people. Utilitarianism focuses on ethical consequences for most people; providing the greatest good and welfare for the most people in the society. Impartiality as an aspect of fairness and equality I have learned that impartiality is an important way of expressing fairness and equality. It means providing equal treatment to people without favoritism. It is ethical to be impartial in terms of moral obligation, and the impartiality of morality is based on absolute rights or wrong. Ethical Dilemma – Does the end justify the means? Ethical dilemma is seen through the movie Erin Brockovich. The participants in the movie violated ethical law through solicitation of employment and unauthorized practice of law (Brill, 2003). The ethical question was whether the end justified the means. I learned that the end justifies the means for an ordinary person because the unethical practices helped the community to fight for their rights. However, on a legal perspective the unethical practices mean that the end does not justify the means. Open communication is important for effective leadership Open and streamlined communication is important and relevant in leadership because it enables a successful implementation of strategies. Vertical and horizontal communication enables the leader to pass important messages and promote changes and shared vision within the organisation. Leaders should focus on process rather than the outcome I have also realized that leaders should focus on processes which show the path to achieve a desired outcome. It ensures that the manager realigns and readjusts his or her strategies to achieve the desired outcome. I also learned that people should stop focusing on minor issues and goals so that they can keep track with the larger picture. How Learning from Leadership and Ethics can be applied at Work The things that I have learned from the class of ethics and leadership can help me in significant ways at the workplace. The lessons learnt will affect the way I interact with my team, how I communicate with subordinates and superiors, and how I participate in processes and activities of the organisation. As a member of a team, I will be expected to share the vision and participate in the achievement of the organisation’s objectives, vision and mission (LaCombe, 2008). Therefore, lessons about ethics and leadership will guide me on how I play my roles and discharge my duties as a leader and a member of my team. Interacting with people at the workplace is also inevitable. Ethics and leadership lessons will enable me to relate well with this people in an ethical manner, and lead others to behave positively in order to enhance good performance at the workplace. The utilitarian view of ethics will be an important lesson for me at work. I will apply it as I interact with various stakeholders and members of the organisation in order to give everyone in the organisation an opportunity to enjoy equal and fair treatment. This promotes business ethics at the workplace so that the company can be legally relevant in the community (LaCombe, 2008). According to utilitarianism, people have different views. In this case, individuals should be tolerant of other people’s ideologies. This utilitarian perspective helps me to give people equal opportunities to express their views at the workplace. As a leader and/or as a member of my team, I will embrace team diversity and give people opportunities to share their ideas, values and experiences. Each individual in my team has his or her own preferences which define their welfare (LaCombe, 2008). I will use this opportunity as a leader to provide the best reward for the team members in order to motivate them to perform better. For example, a member of the team who values family can be rewarded by being given tickets to attend a concert or sponsored to go out on a weekend with family. This will motivate him or her to improve his or her performance at work. The lessons learnt about utilitarianism also help me to understand and manage cultural diversity at the workplace. Utilitarian view suggests that all religious and ethical beliefs are related to cultural identity. Therefore, I will appreciate people from different cultural backgrounds and listen to their views in order to develop good relationship and avoid conflicts that may sabotage our teamwork. Appreciating different religious and ethical beliefs of other people enables the team to work together effectively in order to achieve team objectives and the overall organisational objectives (LaCombe, 2008). As a leader, the utilitarian perspective will be useful because it enables me to manage cultural diversity through training and encouraging team members to respect each other and appreciate their diversity for a better teamwork and team harmony. The lessons I learned about impartiality will also be important at work because it will enable me to act in a manner that will promote fairness and equality of people at the workplace. This means that I will not be able to discriminate against people on the basis of sex, age, race or ethnicity (LaCombe, 2008). Such discrimination would be against the rules of law and ethics, and may hinder productivity at work because it may limit the ideas and contributions of those who have been discriminated. It also demoralizes people and causes misunderstanding and conflicts within teams, leading to poor performance. The lesson will enhance neutral decisions regarding rewards, motivation, communication, promotion, delegation of duties and other issues regarding work performance and team dynamics. If a group of employees or individual employees feel left out or unfairly treated, conflict may arise and this will affect teamwork and individual work performance (Kouzes, J.M., Posner, 2012). The lesson about impartially has taught me to treat people equally and fairly so that they can be motivated to work together in an effective way in order to achieve organisation’s objectives. The lessons I have learned about ethical dilemma will also be important at work because it will be used to identify situations in which unethical practices can be tempting to achieve organisational objectives. Sometimes acting unethically can be beneficial to the organisation, and people will be faced with an ethical dilemma at work (LaCombe, 2008). The lesson on ethical dilemma will be necessary to decide when the end justifies the means and when it does not. With the knowledge of ethical dilemma, I will make decisions that will enhance legal actions no matter the outcome. Sometimes it may seem fruitful to ignore ethical principles and act unethically, just like in the movie Erin Brockovich where a lawyer got engaged in solicitation to help the community to fight for their rights (Brill, 2003). The lesson on ethical dilemma will enable me to know when such actions will be necessary in the workplace. I will be able to try in the best way I can to avoid violating the principles of business ethics for the sake of the organisation’s reputations, and find ways to avoid being in a situation of ethical dilemma. The learning from ethics and leadership will also enable me to communicate effectively at work as a member or leader of my team. I can be able to communicate horizontally and vertically to pass important information to different members of the organisation including subordinates and superior managers. As a leader, I have learned that I need to develop effective communication skills in order to communicate effectively and promote shared vision at work (Babcock & Morse, 2002). The learning of leadership will also enable me to communicate the strategic objectives and vision set by the top management through vertical communication to my subordinates. On a horizontal basis, communication will enhance collaboration across departments in order to promote effective work processes and integration. Communication will also lead to effective teamwork and team performance (Babcock & Morse, 2002). In case of conflict within the organisation, good communication will enable me to resolve the problem and convince the conflicting parties to come into understand and respect each other’s views. Communication also leads to a strong relationship between team members and between employees and customers (Brown, 2005). This is achieved through the use of courteous language and listening carefully to others before speaking. What I have learned about communication is also necessary for encouraging successful negotiation at the work. Good communication enables team members to be able to convince others during negotiation. Lastly, learning about ethics and leadership has encouraged me to value processes over small issues and outcomes. In order to achieve the best outcome at work, I will need to focus on processes that will transform products into outputs of greater value for customers. This lesson will enable me to focus on readjustment and realignment of processes. In this case, I will be able to implement changes effectively in order to achieve desired outcomes. References list Babcock, D.L., & Morse, L.C. (2002). Managing engineering and technology: An introduction to management for engineers. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Prentice Hall. Brill, H. (2003). Julia Roberts is Erin Brockovich. Retrieved from http://law.uark.edu/documents/Erin_Brockovich_PR_project.pdf. Brown, M.T. (2005). Corporate integrity: Rethinking organizational ethics, and leadership. New York: Cambridge University Press. Kouzes, J.M., Posner, B.Z. (2012). The leadership challenge. San Francisco, California: Pfeiffer. LaCombe, M.A. (2008). The Last Half Hour of the Day: An Anthology of Stories and Essays That Have Inspired Physicians. 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