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What is ethical leadership?Ethical leadership means that individuals behave according to a set of principles and values that are recognized by the majority as a sound basis for the common good. These include integrity, respect, trust, fairness, transparency, and honesty. Ethical leadership must be a conscious decision. As Fred Kofman writes in his book Conscious Business, “To be conscious means to be awake, mindful. To live consciously means to be open to perceiving the world around and within us, to understand our circumstances, and to decide how to respond to them in ways that honor our needs, values, and goals.” He continues, “To be unconscious is to be asleep, mindless… Consciousness enables us to face our circumstances and pursue our goals in alignment with our values. When we lose consciousness, we are swept away by instincts and habits that may not serve us. We pursue goals that are not conducive to our health and happiness, we act in ways that we later regret, and we produce results that hurt us and those we care about.” Why is it essential to be an ethical leader?There are many good reasons to be an ethical leader. From a collective perspective, leaders can inspire those around them to behave ethically. By setting an example and giving the direction for ethical behavior, others will observe and act similarly. In this way, ethical leaders can positively influence many others, presenting them with a set of actions that they can adopt for the greater good. On a personal level, being an ethical leader is essential for credibility and reputation. If one aims to be a leader, it is a long game. Behaving unethically can automatically take a leader out of the A-league and may heavily damage their personal or company brand. Moreover, unethical behaviors often deteriorate one's self-esteem, leading to a suboptimal outcome and a missed opportunity to express one’s full potential. 6 elements that define ethical leadershipEthical leadership encompasses many things but ultimately boils down to these six main elements.
Which are the traits of an ethical leader?“The best way to do is to be.” – Lao Tzu Leaders play a crucial role in corporations, as they have been chosen to guide others. What do great ethical leaders do, and what ethical traits do they have in common?
7 ways ethical leadership can affect an organizationEthical leadership provides enormous benefits to organizations, in many ways.
How to improve your ethical leadership skills?Great leaders know there is always room for improvement. Here are some ways you can become a better ethical leader.
Examples of good ethical leadershipWant to see what ethical leadership looks like in action? These ethical leadership examples will demonstrate some real-world scenarios.
An ethical leadership example in actionImagine you’re on a call with your biggest customer, alongside your boss, and the customer is extremely dissatisfied. Your product had an outage that severely impacted their business and they want to make sure it doesn’t happen again. Your boss assures them this is a one-time occurrence, and that it won’t be a problem in the future. When you hang up, you remind your boss that this issue has been occurring among customers with increasing frequency and that a fix is still in the works. Your boss nods and says, “Yes, but they don’t need to know that just before their contract renewal.” Fast forward a couple of months, and your customer calls to cancel their contract following another outage. Your boss again gets on the line to say how sorry they are and that this is a rare occurrence, but that they can’t cancel their contract without ample notice. Is that the kind of person you want to work for? Or do business with? They knowingly put their customer in a bad position, so they could get credit for a contract renewal. This not only creates a strained relationship with your customer, but it also demonstrates to everyone on your team that this sort of behavior is expected. As others emulate this behavior, your company begins to get a bad reputation, lose customers, and struggle to find new customers. Now imagine if your boss had owned up to the outages, promised to keep the customer in the loop about fixes, and sincerely asked the customer to stay onboard. The customer may or may not renew, but they wouldn’t be leaving with bad blood. They may even come back at a later date or refer other potential customers. That’s the difference ethical leadership can make. It may literally be the difference between survival and failure. Final thoughts on ethical leadershipEthics and leadership go hand-in-hand. While some tend to think there is a choice to make between being profitable and successful, or behaving ethically, That’s simply not the case. Ethical people and leaders are necessary drivers for success. What if we give ethical leadership a chance? Published April 9, 2021 Read NextStay connected with BetterUpGet our newsletter, event invites, plus product insights and research.What are four characteristics of an organization that encourages ethical behavior?Ethical behavior includes honesty, fairness, integrity and understanding. There are several ways to encourage an ethical workplace culture, including establishing a company-wide code of ethics.
Which are characteristics of ethics quizlet?Five main characteristics of good reasoning in ethics are relevance, evidence, truth, validity, and consistency (1-2).
Which qualities are required for behaving ethically?Ethical behaviour is characterized by honesty, fairness and equity in interpersonal, professional and academic relationships and in research and scholarly activities. Ethical behaviour respects the dignity, diversity and rights of individuals and groups of people.
What is probably the most effective way for a company to encourage ethical behavior?What is probably the most effective way for a company to encourage ethical behavior? Develop and enforce a written code of ethics for the organization.
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