1. Lecture 7 Dr. Robert L. Afutu-Kotey
Ethical Leadership
Lecture 7
Dr. Robert L. Afutu-Kotey

2. What is Ethics
The most common way of defining "ethics": norms for conduct that distinguish between acceptable and unacceptable behavior
Ethical behavior, in its simplest terms, is knowing and doing what is right. The difficulty is in defining “right.” Different individuals, different cultures, and different religions define it in different ways.
Many people would define ethics and morality as identical, but it is helpful to view them somewhat differently.
Ethics is based on a set of social norms and/or logically coherent philosophical principles or standards of behaviour, and
Morality is based on a (usually broader) set of beliefs, religious and cultural values, and other principles which may or may not be logically coherent.

3. Ethical Leadership
Ethical leadership has two elements. First, ethical leaders must act and make decisions ethically, as must ethical people in general.
Secondly, ethical leaders must also lead ethically – in the ways they treat people in everyday interaction, in their attitudes, in the ways they encourage, and in the directions in which they steer their groups or institutions or initiatives.

4. Ethical Leadership
Ethical leadership is both visible and invisible. The visible part is in the way the leader works with and treats others, in his behavior in public, in his statements and his actions.
The invisible aspects of ethical leadership lie in the leader’s character, in his decision-making process, in his mindset, in the set of values and principles on which he relies on to make his decisions, and in his courage to make ethical decisions in tough situations.

5. Principles of Ethical Leadership
Northouse identifies 5 principles of ethical leadership
Ethical Leaders Respect others
Beauchamp and Bowie (1988) pointed out that "Persons must be treated as having their individually established goals and must never be treated purely as the means to another person's goals."
Leaders who respect also allow others to be themselves. They approach others with a sense of unconditional worth and value individual differences (Kitchener, 1984)
Respect means giving credence to others' ideas and confirming them as human beings. Respect means that a leader listens closely to their subordinates, is empathetic, and tolerant to opposing views.
A leader should nurture followers in becoming aware of their own needs, values, and purposes.

6. 2. Ethical Leaders serve others
This principle is based on the concern for others.
An important task of ethical leaders is to be a steward (servant) of the vision within the organization and highlight the importance of not being self-centered, but integrating one's self or vision with the vision of the organization.
An example of ethical leadership is demonstrated in mentoring, empowerment, coaching, and team building.

7. 3. Ethical Leaders are Just
Justice demands that leaders place the issue of fairness at the center of their decision making.
No one should be treated differently unless their particular situation demands it and if that is the case, then the rules for differential treatment should be made clear.
"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
Good coaches are those who never have favorites and those who make a point of playing everyone in the team.
The principles of distributive justice includes:
To each person, an equal share.
According to individual needs
According to that person's rights
According to individual effort
According to societal contribution
According to merit.

8. 4. Ethical Leaders are Honest
Being honest is not just about telling the truth. It has to do with being open with others, representing reality as fully and a completely as possible.
There are times of course where telling the complete truth can be destructive and counter productive. The challenge is to strike a balance.
It is important for leaders to be authentic, but sensitive to the attitudes and feelings of others.
Dala Costa (1998) made a point in the Ethical Imperative book. "Do not promise what you can't deliver, do not misrepresent, do not hide behind spin-doctored evasions, do not suppress obligations, do not evade accountability, do not accept the 'survival of the fittest' pressures"

9. 5. Ethical Leaders build Community
Leadership is often defined as the "process of influencing others to reach a common or communal goal." This definition has a clear ethical dimension. The common goal implies that leaders and followers agree on the directions of the group.
Genuine transformation means that a leaders cannot impose their will on others. They need to search for goals that are compatible with everyone.
Ethical leadership demands attention to civic virtue (Rost, 1991). This means that both leaders and followers need to attend to community goals and not just their mutually determined goals

10. Ethical Decision-making
The foundation of ethical decision-making involves choice and balance.
It is a guide to discard bad choices in favor of good ones.
Therefore, in making ethical decisions, one of the first questions to consider is 'what would a reasonable man do in this situation?

11. Ethical Decision-making
For tougher decisions, three rules of management may be helpful (Hojnacki, 2004).
The Rule of Private Gain. If you are the only one personally gaining from the situation, is it at the expense of another?  If so, you may benefit from questioning your ethics in advance of the decision.
If Everyone Does It. Who would be hurt? What would the world be like? These questions can help identify unethical behavior.
Benefits vs. Burden. If benefits do result, do they outweigh the burden?

12. Ethics and Values
Values are what we: as a group, or profession, judge to be right.
Individually or organizationally, values determine what is right and what is wrong, and doing what is right or wrong is what we mean by ethics.
 Values are the embodiment of what an organization stands for, and should be the basis for the behavior of its leader and members.
To behave ethically is to behave in a manner consistent with what is right or moral.

13. Ethics and Values
Values provide the basis for judgments about what is important for the organization to succeed in its core business.
To behave ethically is to behave in a manner that is consistent with what is generally considered to be right or moral.
Shared values by leader and followers is the bedrock of mutual trust and ethical leadership.
One of the imperatives for organizational vision is that it must be based on and consistent with the organization's core values.