Leadership Ethics Issues - Essay Example

Leadership ethics: how the observed actions of others at your work can be analyzed in terms of ethical dimensions Name Institutional affiliation Introduction To understand leadership, it is necessary to take a deep analysis into the ethical issues that come along with such positions. Ethics studies the relation between people in a given group or society. Ethics in our work places is all about how individuals in their areas of profession should behave given the different roles individuals play within an organization as well as the society in general. Ethical issues at various places of work include self-discipline, self-interest, challenges of authenticity, job competence, duty as well as greatest good. Ethical issues at workplaces are as diverse as the ethical issues present in the outside world. A good working environment can only be achieved if all the workers within a given organization follow the ethical guidelines established. This paper discusses how the actions and behaviors of individuals at our work place can be analyzed in terms of ethical dimension. It is important for ethical judgments to be made in the healthcare sector since the decisions made have an impact on the health and well-being of people in the society. The main aim of healthcare is to promote the well-being of people in the society and it thus follows that judgments made should be ethical. The work environment Ethical dilemmas in the healthcare profession occur from time to time to time. Healthcare leaders usually find themselves in conditions where they have to make hard decisions concerning the well-being of their staff, communities as well as patients. Ethics forms an important part of the healthcare profession and it thus follows that all organizations in the healthcare sector must have an ethical code that governs the behavior and the actions of its leaders and the staff in general. Squazzo (2011) points out that, ethical dilemmas usually prove hard to resolve and it is therefore necessary for organizations to establish a framework on which such issues can be tackled. In addition to that, he points out that it is upon healthcare leaders to model ethical behaviors within their organizations and instill a culture that will promote values envisioned by the organization. The performance of most healthcare organizations is directly connected to the ethics valued by the organizations. Most firms in the healthcare sector have been driven to success by the values and visions they uphold as opposed to profit margins. Murray (2010) argues that healthcare leaders respond to ethical dilemmas in two different ways. One section of the leaders responds by directly facing the problems while others respond by running away from the problem. Professionals in the healthcare sector face most of the ethical dilemmas other professional s face in their day to day work. Situations that have resulted to increased ethical dilemmas in the sector include shortage of staff members to provide clinical services, increasing costs of healthcare provision as well as ineffective leadership. Ethical issues in the healthcare sector may also culminate to legal matters. A patient or staff member who feels like the leader is not acting according to the set regulations that govern their behavior may go ahead to challenge their positions though legal channels. In the healthcare sector, simple actions such as discussing patients in discussions that are outside the important professional context amounts to unethical behavior. Ethics in healthcare plays an important role as it makes it possible for individuals to go on with their duties in a professional, decent, legal and morally correct way. Healthcare providers are governed by a number of codes of ethics. These codes include giving the public assurance that their needs would be met, that the healthcare service is provided in a safe way and that patients are accorded respect and dignity during the treatment process. Ethical theories that attempt to explain leadership can be broadly categorized into those that explain the conduct of leaders and those that explain the characters of the leaders. This paper takes into consideration the observed action of leaders. Rhode (2006) points out that moral leadership has in recent years started attracting a lot of systematic attention despite being in the society for centuries. As pointed out earlier, ethical theories fall under two broad categories with one focusing on the conduct of the leaders and the other focusing on the character of the leaders. The theories concerned with the conduct of leaders on the hand are divided into those that focus on the consequences of the leaders’ actions and those that focus on the duty or rules that govern the actions of the leaders. Conduct based theories are divided into teleological and deontological theories. Teleological theories are further categorized into ethical egoism and utilitarianism. Virtue based theories make up the theories that focus on the character of the leaders. All this theories can be utilized in analyzing the ethical dimension of the leaders’ observed actions. Example of specific situations demanding ethical thinking from a leader Ann, a nurse at a local clinic, is faced with an ethical dilemma. During her shift, there was a shortage in the number of nurses. It thus follows that she has to receive a workload that is beyond what she usually receives on a normal day. During her shift, a number of time consuming emergencies come up. She therefore has to prioritize which patients to attend to first. A number of patients who are around for regular treatment are delayed as Ann prioritizes the situations she has to deal with first. Ann is therefore left in a bigger ethical dilemma since delaying the patients who are around for regular treatment may culminate to legal issues if the patient’s condition develops into a major complication due to the delay. Ruth is a new nurse a hospital. The hospital has a serious shortage of qualified personnel. The nursing supervisor is under great pressure to ensure that all shifts are well balanced. During her shift, she notices the nursing supervisor falsify the records of the nurses who were still on orientation in order to make them start working earlier. His aim is to increase the number of nurses as soon as possible. Ruth realizes that this is a moral misconduct on the side of the supervisor and when she mentions this to other nurses, they point out that they can’t dare question that due to the retaliation they are likely to face. Ruth is therefore left in a dilemma on whether to report the issue to the senior leaders or ignore the issue all together due to the fear of retaliation from the supervisor. Ethical dimensions of analyzing the above behaviors Leaders face a number of challenges in their attempts to balance different sets of demands as well as ethical issues that arise in the places of work. Not all decisions that are made by the leaders within an organization are agreeable. Ethical principles such as integrity, commitment and perspective govern the behaviors of leaders. In Ann’s case, she is divided on which set of patients to attend to, her situation calls for critical thinking as well as integrity as it will be bad if she completely ignores some patients while at the same time direct her attention to another set of patients. No one patient is greater than another one, but the seriousness of their needs vary from patients to patent. It would be wise if Ann chooses to start with patients with most serious needs. This can be done by utilizing the teleological theories which focuses on whether the behavior or conduct of a person will result to positive or negative consequences. The possible results of her action will determine which option she goes with. Utilitarianism, which is of the view that actions that result to the greatest good to the greatest number of people are the ones that are morally right, could be applied in Ann’s case. By choosing to attend to patients with most serious needs while at the same time informing the other patients about the situation on the ground, she would have acted in a manner that would result to greater good to most people. Such actions minimize social costs and increase social benefits. Ruth’s supervisor, on the other hand, utilizes ethical egoism to guide his actions. This approach argues that the morally right action is that which promotes the greatest good for an individual (Nor house, 2013). By falsifying the records, the number of approved nurses in the hospital will go up. This in turn will make his work easier since he will be able to allocate shifts quicker and without much stress. Northhouse (2013) points out that a leader who takes this approach aims at making his team members the best in the entire organization. This approach is common to most organizations that aim at maximizing profits by making decisions that will eventually enable them achieve this objective. Its application in healthcare raises a number of moral issues since the main aim of healthcare is to ensure the well-being of individuals in the society. Altruism on the other hand argues that actions can be regarded as morally right if they their main purpose is to promote the others best interests. The actions of the supervisor in Ruth’s case do not promote the interests of the patients since nurses who fail the probation stage may jeopardize the quality of healthcare provided by the institution. If Ruth decides to report the issues to senior officials, she would have acted in a manner that promotes the interests of the hospital, the patients as well as other nurses. A leader who is willing to act on the interest of others is said to have an altruism approach of leadership. Such a leader is selfless, kind and devoted to his profession. . The principle of ethical leadership requires leaders to act in a just, honest and fair way. In addition to that, ethical leaders should serve others, show respect to others and should build communities (Northouse, 2013). The supervisor fails to exhibit these traits and therefore fails to qualify as an ethical leader. Ruth’s decision to report the matter to her seniors will prove that she is an ethical leader since she would have risked her position for the interests of others. Deontological approach on the other hand stresses the action as well as the responsibility and the moral obligation of an individual to do the right thing. It goes beyond the consequences of an action and puts into consideration whether the action is good or bad. The supervisor’s actions, when analyzed using the deontological approach, is unethical because it is an act of dishonesty. Dishonesty, regardless of the consequences it has, is an unethical behavior. It is important to note that virtue based theories focus on an individual’s personality. The theories are of the view that moral abilities as well as virtues are acquired. The actions and behaviors of leaders play an important role in establishing values in an organization. The observed actions of a leader impact the value that a firm or an organization exhibits (Northouse, 2013). Ethical leadership according to Heift’z perspective authority should be utilized by leaders in helping those below them to cope up with the changing values in the work environment that is rapidly and continuously changing (Northouse, 2013). Authority must be utilized by leaders to bring together workers so that they can tackle the tough issues that arise at the work place. Issues such as decision making, conflict resolution, and making the workers in an organization pay attention to certain issues require an authoritative leader. Burn’s perspective emphasizes the moral, needs and values of the followers. This view points out that leaders should help their subordinates and subjects in resolving conflicts of values. Burns is of the view that leaders should act in way that will help others assess their needs and values Conclusion Leaders face a number of challenges in their attempts to balance different sets of demands as well as ethical issues that arise in the places of work. Not all decisions that are made by the leaders within an organization are agreeable. Integrity, commitment and perspective should be utilized by leaders to govern their actions and behaviors. Such actions and behaviors can be analyzed using ethical theories. Ethical issues have been of great concern in the healthcare sector. This paper analyzed two different situations and utilized ethical theories to find out the approaches the different individuals took. Ethical leaders have to act in an honest way and should promote values that would also benefit their followers References Murray, J. (2010). Moral Courage in Healthcare: Acting Ethically Even in the Presence of Risk. Online Journal of Issues in Nursing, 15(3). Northouse, P. (2013). Leadership: theory and practice. Sage Publications. Rhode, D. L. (2006). Moral leadership. San Fransisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Squazzo, J. D (2011). Ethical Wisdom: Doing the right thing, every day, everywhere in the organization. Retrieved from http://www.ache.org/abt_ache/MJ11_F3_reprint.pdf Read More