Defining Ethical Leadership Practices

Leadership is an essential aspect of any institution for quality, efficiency, employee productivity, and success. Leadership competencies have been attributed to business growth and excellence in contemporary society. Ethics is one of the significant components of leadership that every leader should embrace for effective leadership. Ethics is a behavior that is generally appropriate and acceptable in society. An ethical leader creates an environment where there is respect of the needs and diversity of employees and ensures that they adhere to accepted principles (Alshammari, Almutairi, & Thuwaini, 2015). Ethical leaders are those who display behaviors such as honesty, trustworthy, integrity, concern for others, fairness, accountability, and transparency, among others. A moral leader ensures to behave all the time, including decision making, interactions with employees and stakeholders, and rewarding consistency ethical conduct ethically. However, for one reason or the other, organizations' leaders have always behaved unethically tainting the name of the organizations they lead and causing harm to the organization, employees, and the civilian. The scandal of unethical conduct in various organizations has been witnessed over recent years, thus prompting many inquiries into the phenomenon. This paper discusses the ethical leadership practices, their importance, and obstacles to effective implementation of the leadership style.

Ethical Leadership

Ethical leadership is the type of leadership that respects and adheres to ethical principles and rights and dignity of people. It is the illustration of proper conduct or behavior in the form of individual acts, relations and promoting such conduct to employees. Ethical leadership is concerned with practices such as trust, fairness, integrity, honesty, charisma, and concern for others (Zhang, Zhou, & Mao, 2018). As an organizational leader, one should be able to differentiate between wrong and right and adhere to behavior that is considered ethical. An ethical leader is a person with good practice and valid values. Ethical leadership, therefore, is the process where the leader influences his/her employees through believes and values that heavily rely on accepted norms and beliefs of the organizational behavior. Ethical leadership should be reflected in the leader and those led by him through their actions. Lack of ethical conduct and, thus, leadership in organizations can cause considerable harm to the organization. The morale of employees is affected, thus reducing productivity, thus hampering the success of the organization (Alshammari, Almutairi, & Thuwaini, 2015). Many organizations have incurred losses in the form of fines and lawsuits resulting from unethical behaviors, while some have been shut down. Concerns on ethical leadership have gained popularity over the years, necessitating the need for every organization to have and conform to a code of ethics.

Elements of Ethical Leadership

According to Hegarty & Moccia (2018), the following components of ethical leadership are generally agreed upon and applicable in all domains. Trust, integrity, transparency, respect, and integrity are at the core of ethical behavior, and for one to consider him or herself as moral, he/she must conform to the virtues. To lead organizations effectively, leaders need to possess and reinforce these virtues.

Trust

Trust requires that an organization's leader be reliable, trustworthy, and ready to admit mistakes (Zhang, Zhou, & Mao, 2018). Those working under him/her tend to be confident with his/her leadership and be motivated to work towards achieving their goals, thus the overall success of the organization. Once employees believe in their leader and his/her promises, they will be committed to their work and the organization's goals too. When trust prevails between the leader and the employees, individuals will work towards excelling in what they do, will not hesitate to ask for help when they need it, and problem-solving will be faster. Therefore, ethical leaders should lead by example by being trustworthy and instilling the same trust in his/her employees.

Integrity

Integrity is doing the right thing all the time, even when no one is watching. Being committed to principles is what defines an ethical leader. Honoring commitments is part of integrity, and ethical leaders are expected to honor commitments to employees, customers, and all the stakeholders. Integrity requires the leader to be loyal, apologetic, and taking responsibility for his/her actions. By conducting oneself with integrity, the people one interacts with will be inspired to behave well. Integrity boosts employee morale, increases loyalty, and improves job satisfaction. A leader with integrity is admired, respected, and readily accepted by employees, for they believe there will be fairness in all dealings. The integrity of a leader also improves the image and overall performance of an organization. An organization that values integrity created a conducive environment for its employees for more production, improved quality, customer satisfaction, and success. Leaders who lack integrity are corrupt, creating dysfunctional organizations and demoralized employees (Hegarty & Moccia, 2018).

Good Working Relationships

Ethical leadership builds and maintains a safe working environment where employees are treated with respect and dignity irrespective of their gender, culture, race, or level in the company or organization. Ethical leaders should ensure fair and equal treatment of employees regarding promotions and rewards without discrimination based on gender age or ethnic affiliations (Hegarty & Moccia, 2018). Employees are given opportunities to learn, be trained, and grow their careers, thus giving meaning to their work. Ethical leadership is also concerned with the health of its employees through physical, mental, and social health support.

Transparency

Ethical leadership provides for transparency in all operations of a leader. A leader should realize that they are the face of the organizations and that employees look up to them, thus the need to be open in all their endeavors. Ethical leadership encourages employees to participate in the decision-making process and matters affecting their wellbeing in the company (Zhang, Zhou, and Mao, 2018).

Gratitude

Gratitude being thankful and showing kindness and appreciation to a gift or reward. Ethical leadership requires a leader to show gratitude to the good deeds and efforts of employees to encourage them and boost their morale. Lack of appreciation makes employees feel disconnected from the organization, thus affecting their productivity. Gratitude builds a sense of community in employees, therefore, working together as a team to achieve the goals of the organization (Hegarty & Moccia, 2018). It cultivates happiness and encourages employees to work even order knowing that their efforts will be appreciated, thus improving the performance and overall success of the organization. Employees become more committed to each other and work in harmony with each other. The relationships and loyalty between employees and customers are greatly improved. Leaders who lack this attribute have narcissism, thus unable to appreciate the effort for they consider themselves unique and superior.

Humility

To build trust in the employees, and ethical leader needs to understand that individual have their limitations and thus give them hope and make them feel that their effort is much appreciated. Being humble can never be mistaken for weakness but instead is being quiet, calm, and confident, lacking arrogance, and not aggressive. Humble leaders, therefore, accept their shortcomings and work towards correcting them (Hegarty & Moccia, 2018). Ethical leadership requires that leaders behave humbly rather than seeking prominence. Humility is a useful tool of efficiency and success and empowers employees to improve productivity.

Justice

Being able to recognize and respect the rights of others is what defines justice. Ethical leadership dictates that there exists truth among employees by recognizing the efforts and contributions of each of the employees (Hegarty & Moccia, 2018). Employees will be motivated to work better when they know that they are treated equally and that their efforts will be rewarded without favoritism. An ethical leader should administer justice evenly and with fairness. Unfair treatment by the leader may force employees into engaging in deviant or harmful behavior, thus affecting the performance and overall success of the organization.

Mercy and Compassion

The ability of a leader to understand challenges and difficulties employees and subordinates encounter in the process of executing their duties is what qualifies one to be an ethical leader. Mercy and compassion are very fundamental values in the organization. A moral leader is warm-hearted to his/her subordinates and concerned for the wellbeing of individuals and groups while meeting the goals of the organization. Compassion refers to showing concern to the suffering of others rather than ignoring them. Kindness in workplaces creates a conducive environment for employees, thus improving performance (Hegarty & Moccia, 2018). The opposite of compassion and mercy is apathy, which is the lack of sympathy and concern for others.  Apathy leads to a disconnect of employees from the organization, thus affecting performance and commitment to the organization.

Prudence and Objectivity

Prudence is defined as careful thinking before acting. A prudent leader thinks of the consequences of his/her actions and the actions of stakeholders before engaging in any activity. It involves taking time in the decision-making process before exact and deliberate actions. Prudence requires patience, intelligence, critical thinking, and insight. Prudence goes hand in hand with objectivity in assessing various perspectives. A prudent leader is not quick to judge or biased in their decisions, and actions for that will may lead to losses and wastage of resources (Hegarty & Moccia, 2018).

Magnanimity

Ethical leadership is leading by example, that is, being role models. Employees need to see and emulate desired behavior in their leaders. A noble leader sets a standard and expectations of employees by displaying realistic vision, is ready to forgive, builds trust, recognizes, and rewards efforts by employees, and is generous with time (Hegarty & Moccia, 2018). The leader creates a culture and develops behavior that is acceptable in the organization. Even when the leader is physically absent, the culture he/she has already created keeps the subordinates focused on the goals, thus striving towards achieving them. Lack of magnanimity by a leader confusion on the organizational vision and purpose by employees.

Obstacles to Ethical Leadership

According to Barkhordari-Sharifabad et al. (2017), organizations are increasingly behaving unethically for various reasons, including greed, ignorance, pressure from shareholders, lack of a clear code of conduct, lack of commitment to code of ethics, and striving to meet set goals. Even with a well-structured code of ethics, organizations repeatedly engage in unethical behavior. Lack of commitment to these well-structured codes of conduct is a matter that is raising concerns globally. Sometimes a disconnect between senior management and employees leads to unethical behavior. Equally, if senior managers do not adhere to the codes of conduct, it is most likely that the subordinates will ignore it too. Wrong leadership has caused severe financial implications in terms of fines and loss of business to organizations, with some being forced to shut down completely. Unethical practices are recently witnessed in every industry, raising concerns about whether society or individual failure. Obstacles to ethical leadership are further into:

Ethical Problems

Ethical problems include doubts about what is considered moral and what is unethical. It also involves conflict between the values of leaders and those of the organization. Uncertainties on how to handle the needs of the staff may lead to conducts that are considered unethical. Employees' needs may conflict with their expectations, thus raising ethical concerns. Leaders may also be faced with the dilemma of meeting similar needs and expectations of employees, thus ending up consciously or unconsciously being unethical. Working conditions such as long hours of work, poor hygiene, sick pay may lead to dissatisfaction among employees, thus leading to unethical behavior (Barkhordari-Sharifabad et al. 2017). Some leaders and employees may be uncomfortable with the laid rules and regulations, while others may not be willing to perform specific tasks forcing them to be unethical.

Cultural Problems

Organizational culture and social cultures may be obstacles to ethical leadership. Corporate cultures that do not promote democracy may encourage unethical conduct. Equally, the absence of an appropriate or unclear culture may be an obstacle to moral leadership (Barkhordari-Sharifabad et al. 2017). Negative attitudes ad perceptions among the employees may hinder ethical leadership. When introducing a role model, if there is no proper culture may be unethical. The conflict between employees' beliefs and values and the organizational culture may be an impediment to ethical leadership.

Managerial Problems

Managerial problems include lack of transparency in the recruitment procedures, low regard for employees, poor condition of the working environment, lack of or inadequate facilities and equipment, abuse and bullying of employees, unfair treatment of employees, speaking ill of employees and peers (Barkhordari-Sharifabad et al. 2017).  The inability to appreciate the diversity and differences of employees, lack of respect for employees and a feeling of injustice may be an obstacle to ethical leadership. Greed, corruption, and lack of accountability are also managerial problems hampering ethical leadership.

To sum up, it is essential to note that ethical leadership is very critical in improving the performance of organizations. Ethics is conduct that is considered appropriate and generally acceptable in a particular setting. It is ethics that guides conduct in any given organization. Ethical leaders need to possess qualities such as transparency, compassion, trust, integrity, honesty, compassion, accountability, humility, concern for others, gratitude, among others. Ethical leadership builds confidence and improves the morale of employees, enhancing productivity and commitment to organizational goals. Ethical leaders need to lead by example by respecting the laid down rules and regulations and ensuring compliance by employees. Even with the emphasis placed on the value of moral leadership, there are various obstacles to the effective implementation of the leadership style. Problems such as ethical, managerial, and cultural problems are some of the hindrances to moral leadership.

References

Alshammari, A., Almutairi, N., & Thuwaini, S. (2015).  Ethical leadership: The effect on employees. International Journal of Business and Management; Vol. 10, No. 3.

Barkhordari-Sharifabad, M., Ashktorab, T., & Atashzadeh-Shoorideh, F. (2017). Obstacles and problems of ethical leadership from the perspective of nursing leaders: a qualitative content analysis. J Med Ethics Hist Med 10: 1,

Hegarty, N. & Moccia, S. (2018). Components of ethical leadership and their importance in sustaining organizations over the long term. The Journal of Value-Based Leadership: vol.11, Iss. 1, Article 7.

Zhang, Y., Zhou, F., and Mao, J. (2018). ethical leadership and follower moral actions: Investigating an emotional linkage. Front. Psychol. 9:1881.