Words: 497
Ethics are defined in today’s business communities as acceptable guidelines for behaviors within a group or company, and morals are defined as particular individual’s values of right and wrong (Dublin, 2010). So how can our company ensure that our leaders are being moral and ethical leaders? Well according to The quest for moral leaders: Essays on leadership ethics, we can start by ensuring that our leadership always abides by the principles of ethical and moral leaders (Calculi, Price, & Murphy, 2005).
There are five principles that an ethical leader should always abide by and they are: 1) always be honest and trustworthy; 2) be attentive to all of their stakeholders; 3) work to build community; 4) always respect each and every person; and 5) they should accomplish silent victories. Each of these principles provides a key element to having ethical and moral leadership as well as having a successful company since one must have the other. Principle one says leaders should always be honest and trustworthy.
This is a crucial quality of any successful leader since is it a key factor of acquiring additional employees as followers in ethical practices within any organization. It goes without saying that people will follow the lead of those they trust most. Principle two which says leaders should be attentive to their takeovers is vital because without stakeholders, the company could not grow and therefore would not thrive. Ethical and moral leaders will take into account how decisions will impact each of their stakeholders (customer, employees, end user, and society) before making a final decision.
This far-reaching vision is a key to maintaining an all-around honest and transparent company. Principle three states the ethical and moral leaders should work to build their community. This is significant because each and every community member has the potential to be a stakeholder within the organization. Which is why taking stakeholders into account is so important for the company. In order to build our community we must first get involved within community organizations and events.
These outreach efforts will give our leaders opportunities to stand out with in the community, but it also allows them to have the opportunity to develop a strong foundational structure within their own morals and ethics outside of the workplace. Principal four states that leader should respect each and every person. This is essential to all business and personal interaction because wowing respect to individuals also demonstrates integrity within one’s own moral standards and values set.
The goal should be to allow the company to show integrity and transparency towards anyone our leaders come in contact with thereby developing both the individuals that represent our company while at the same time, allowing our company to develop its own culture of ethical and moral standards. The fifth and final principle for ethical leaders is that they should accomplish silent victories. This principle is necessary to the development of any successful leader.