DEJ 7

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In Moral Person and Moral Manager: How Executives Develop a Reputation for Ethical Leadership, Treviño, Hartman, and Brown emphasize that ethical leadership is built on two pillars: the moral person and the moral manager. A moral person is someone who consistently displays honesty, trustworthiness, and integrity. The moral manager, on the other hand, actively promotes ethical behavior in the organization by role modeling and establishing a clear ethical vision (Trevino, Hartman, & Brown, 2000, p. 128). The concept of a moral person and manager reminds me of The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner. Both texts emphasize the role of leadership in setting the ethical tone for the organization. However, Treviño et al. focus more on the distinction between internal ethical traits and external ethical actions, while The Leadership Challenge centers on inspiring and enabling others to act in a shared vision. The framework Treviño and colleagues describe can be seen in real-world ethical scandals, like the Volkswagen emissions case. In that instance, the lack of a “moral manager” who enforced ethical behavior throughout the organization led to widespread unethical practices. This reinforces the article’s point that ethical leadership must be both internal and actively managed to avoid moral lapses in large organizations. This discussion of ethical leadership reminds me of a coach who was transparent about their decisions and frequently discussed the importance of ethical practices in our team meetings. This aligned with the article’s notion of a leader who not only acts ethically but encourages others to do the same, creating an ethical work environment.

Trevino, L., Hartman, L., & Brown, M. (2000). Moral person and moral manager: How executives develop a reputation for ethical leadership. California Management Review, 42(4), 128.