Why is Ethics So Central to

Leadership?

Leadership is essentially an influence

Ethical Leadership process
Leaders have more power and control
than followers and thus more responsibility
for how they use power and influence.
The conduct and character of the leader
have an impact on the organizations
integrity and ethics.

What happens when organizations are

unethical?
What is leadership?

Short run Leadership is foremost a relationship between

Long run leaders and followers. The foundation of these
Impact on shareholders? relationships is TRUST.
Impact on stakeholers? Without followers there is no such thing as
Employees
Customers
leadership.
Suppliers Leadership is a form of SERVICE to others, a
Small investors stewardship, a special trust, a duty, a
Government, Economy social responsibility.
Society
Natural Environment Leadership and ethics must be unified.

Leaderships Roles and

Legitimizing the Code of Conduct
Responsibilities
Set the tone at the top
Legitimize the value-based code of It is leaderships responsibility to ensure
conduct that the organizations core principles are:
Provide
P id th the ttools
l ffor principles-based
i i l b d clearly
l l articulated
ti l t d
decision-making effectively communicated
Model the behavior uniformly upheld
Encourage the behaviors

1
 Providing the Tools Modeling the Behaviors
Principles-based decision-making For leaders to be effective in a principles-
requires: based organization, they must routinely
clear standards make the ethical component of their own
a common decision
decision-making
making model decision-making
decision making explicit
explicit.
a common vocabulary Leaders must be able to point to key
mechanisms for clarification and interpretation organizational decisions and explain in
of principles detail how they uphold the organizations
mechanisms for reporting wrongdoing principles.

Encouraging the Behaviors

Decision-making employees must explain,
in detail, how the organizations principles
are upheld in any decision they advocate
or present.
present
Principles-based decisions must be
discussed and celebrated.
An Ethical Test
Is it legal?
Do my organisations Code of Ethics/Conduct and other
policies allow it?
Do my professional standards allow it?
What would my ethical role model do?
How would it look on the front page of tomorrows
newspaper?
How does it make me feel?
Would I be comfortable sharing my decision with my
closest family?
Does it pass the Golden Rule test?

Ethical Leadership

Always do right. This will gratify

some people and astonish the rest!

Mark Twain