Individual Traits of Ethical Leadership - Term Paper Example

Individual Traits of Ethical Leadership Abstract In order for a leader to produce top results in his or her organization, it is important to be morally good. Just like any other relationship, a leader should portray ethics between his team members and other stakeholders. In this regard, this paper is going to articulate on the importance of ethics and effectiveness of leaders. Introduction Ethical leadership can be termed as individual traits such as integrity. Just like any other relationship, leadership is also another form of relationship. “It’s all about right, wrong, good, evil and the relationship of humans to each other and living things; the hallmarks of which are power and/or influence, obligation, and responsibility” (Bandura, 1977, 105). The key issues in leadership include self-interest, self discipline and moral obligations of justice (Bass, 1985). In this regard, leaders are supposed to demonstrate high level of leadership traits in order to produce top results to their organizations. In fact, the actions of leaders determine the actions of their followers and the outcomes of their actions. Literature review Honest leaders in the workplace are good role models and set good examples which trickle down to the employees. An organization where all are honest is likely to be successful as even the employees produce great results (Bandura, 1977). If the leaders perceive that their leader respects their opinions, they get encouraged and will always be willing to air their views (Bass, 1985). These opinions may be very vital to the success of the organization because even those great leaders do not always have the best ideas. Leaders should be in a position to make tough ideas when need be because these decisions determine whether there will be progress or not. If the above assertions are anything to by, then it can argued that there are some strategies that leader should practice. As a leader one should be able to help his or her team to attain its goals (Bass, 1985). The leader should strive to make his team the best and encourage the members with motivational words. In the case of criticism it should be put in a way that team members do not feel discouraged to work more. One should have excellent communication skills so as to pass on the desired message effectively (Bass, 1985). It is also important to encourage the team members to have trust in you by a way of leading from the front and using desirable leadership styles. The leader should also be a good friend towards the team members (Frey, 2000). Where the leader cannot be approached by the members, he will be creating a barrier between him and the team members therefore there will be lack of proper communication. The leader should come up with a reward system where the employees are rewarded accordingly upon achievement of something. When the entire group successfully completes a project be sure to reward them as this increases their level of motivation. An effective leader should also be in a position to respect the opinion of other people (Frey, 2000). Leaders should seek and consider the opinion of others before making large or small decisions in the organization. Ignoring the opinion of others will lead hatred and rivalry thus affecting the attitude of the group. An effective leader should also be confident and enthusiastic. The leader should always be in high spirits so as to increase the morale of the employees (Frey, 2000). Leaders should be able to work hard and meet the set targets. Another trait is presence of mind and decision taking abilities. Many hindrances emerge in the organization and the leader should be able to set his mind straight and make brave decisions for the success of the organization (Bandura, 1977). Methodology Research Design This research utilizes a synthesis of the descriptive and case study research designs in ascertaining ways of improving organization as it applies to honesty of employees. To note, it is a descriptive research due to the aim of the research to qualitatively determine the business ethical climate. In descriptive research, the researcher needs only to record the data as they occur. In this particular research, data were obtained by conducting interviews on ways of improving organization as it applies to honesty of employees. That is, the subject and data taken have been highly regarded that no amount of influence on the part of the researcher was made. Sampling design This research has adopted the purposive sampling technique in choosing the interviewees for the research, since there are certain characteristics that must be present for information to be valid. Purposive sampling is a sub-type of non-probability sampling and is characteristic of a method where the prospective members of a sample group possess certain traits. The latter makes them either the focus of the study or makes them the best source of the information for the research. Data Analysis The method that was employed in the present study is the hermeneutic-phenomenological analysis of data, in reference to the necessity of interpreting data in various stages in order to bring about the emergence of certain patterns. The information given by correspondents was well articulated on. Given the current conditions, the process of interpretation is best handled through conducting an in-depth analysis of data needed to support the study. Results and data analysis 1. What are the most important ways for you to improve your organization as it applies to honesty of employees? “Two things come to mind. The first is to lead by example. Management (including myself) should be above reproach in this area. If we have an honesty breakdown, we must treat it seriously and respond appropriately, which I think in most cases would be termination.” Going by the above response, it is evident that leadership styles play a key role in improvement of an organization. One of the most important traits of a leader is leading by example. However, it depends with which direction a leader leads his team. For example, if a leader is dishonest, it is obvious that some of his team members would be dishonest while carrying out their duties, hence deterioration of the organization. “By practicing the first action, the second would be to set high expectations of honesty for all within the company. We cannot tolerate an employee misrepresenting our company or its services. Also, we can respond to and help correct mistakes, as long as they are admitted honestly. A cover-up is not acceptable and would be grounds for termination.” Leadership ethics are part of leadership styles. Leaders who employ correct leadership ethics would always have effective running of their organization. In any given organization, mistakes always happen. However, the way to address these mistakes is all what matters. An honest employee would find it easy to rectify his mistakes if only he becomes honest. 2. What can you do to further foster an environment of trust at your organization? “I am a firm believer in giving employees latitude to make good decisions and thereby instill a sense of trust in them as individuals and as competent members of our team. Management needs to respond quickly when a team member has demonstrated trustworthiness. This may mean an incentive, a promotion, or at least a public acknowledgement of success in this area.” For a company to ensure top performance in its operations, it is important to recognize the efforts made by its employees. For example, when an employee demonstrates trustworthiness, it is important for the management to acknowledge such an employee by a way of using some incentives like promotion in order to motivate him or her as they encourage them to continue with the same spirit (Giacalone & Greenberg, 1997). 3. What steps are being taken in your organization to strengthen and improve accountability in employees? “We spend a great deal of time, effort and resources on systems analysis. By this I mean we track every aspect of each process for effectiveness, quality, timeliness and profitability. With this in place, each employee has to document the details of their involvement both with the product and the client. Anomalies also need to be documented which provides for a high level of accountability.” Individual accountability is very important when it comes to performance of a company. As a leader, one is supposed to highlight the main objectives and goals of a company to his or her team members (Giacalone & Greenberg, 1997). All members should be encouraged to work hard in order to accomplish the mission of the company. One and most effective way is by ensuring that the members document their performance accordingly. As a leader, one is supposed to keenly monitor the performance of all team members. 4. What is being done at your organization to make personal and professional integrity a priority? “Two years ago we put into place a “self-enrichment” process. Management team members are encouraged to develop their own customized process of self-improvement/enrichment. It may include lifestyle change, education, community service, or internal activities of service for the benefit of other employees and their families. We are beginning to see positive results with this process. First in terms of the retention of team members; length of stay is growing. This is positive. But perhaps more important, team members exhibit a greater sense of well-being, and, to the degree the self-enrichment program is visible, a greater level of respect within our company family.” In order to grow in any line of professionalism, it is important to ensure that as a leader, your team members are up to date. This can be done by subjecting members into training programs, community service programs and any other service with an aim of maintaining and enriching professional integrity. 5. What considerations are being made in the best interests of your employees? How? Why? “We constantly evaluate our benefits package. One reason is because of fiscal tightening company-wide. The other is to offer the best package we can, even with “challenged” resources. We have had to ask employees to pay more of their health care package. But to offset that, we offer family YMCA memberships to encourage greater well-being. We also offer a more flexible use of personal time off so our employees can adapt it to their family needs and schedules.” Good working conditions are part of great motivation to employees. A well paid employee would tend to be more loyal to the company as opposed to a poorly paid employee. In fact, this reduces cases of corruption and impunity in the company. It is also important to subsidize some of their expenses. This can be done by increasing their allowances. 6. Are there programs in your organization to further communicate the importance continual communication about ethics? How can these be improved? “In our weekly employee newsletter, we feature examples of people “getting caught doing something right.” It’s a way of rewarding ethical behavior. We also run informational programs with slogans, pictures, statistics, etc. of an ethical nature. These feature quotes from well-known people that we hope can be influential. We have also developed a video project of various scenarios that end with, “What’s the right thing do so.” These are shown in various employee meetings allowing time for follow up discussion.” Although ethics can be instilled through use of rules and regulations in an organization, it is always important to ensure that other influential factors are employed (Giacalone & Greenberg, 1997). For example, rewarding members caught doing something right could be used to encourage others follow the suit. Inviting guests who happens to be a role model and of high integrity could also act as a stimuli and challenge to members. Recommendations: In order to ensure the company improves its performance, I recommend the following; All the employees follow the company rules and regulations. The company management should lead by example. They team leaders should ensure that they follow leadership ethics in carrying out their duties. For there all members to ensure accountability, the team leaders should monitor the progress of every member and ensure that they are accountable for their own actions. An evaluation criteria needs to be introduced where all members are evaluated depending on their performance. It is also important to reward the most effective members who portray good conduct. This way, other members would be encouraged to have good conduct and morals. References: Bandura, A. (1977). Social learning theory. Englewood CliVs, NJ: Prentice–Hall. Bass, B. M. (1985). Leadership and performance beyond expectations. New York: Basic Books. Frey, B. F. (2000). The impact of moral intensity on decision making in a business context. Journal of Business Ethics, 26, 181−195. Giacalone, R., & Greenberg, J. (1997). Antisocial behavior in organizations. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications Read More