The article “Needed: Leaders Who Inspire and Listen” published in Bizjournals underlines how crucial it is for leaders to display empathy and adaptability in order to respond to the requirements of a diverse set of workers. Moreover, it underlines that great leaders should place listening and the design of tailored strategies to motivate their employees at the very top of their list of goals. This is because listening is the most effective way to motivate employees.My memory is brought back to a time when I was in control of a volunteer group for a length of time or more. The establishment of trust and cooperation, which finally resulted in better outcomes, was brought about as a consequence of listening to the concerns of all individuals. This is quite similar to the book “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” authored by Stephen Covey, notably the habit that states, “Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood.” There are numerous similarities between this and the book. Both of these papers highlight the significance of listening as an essential component of good leadership. Listening is a fundamental component of strong leadership. In conclusion, the essay underlines the significance of leadership that is centered on listening and values in a range of situations, including personal, textual, and global settings. This approach, which is both flexible and compassionate, is becoming an increasingly important component in the context of the fast-paced situations that exist in the modern world.

James Weber examines in “Identifying and Assessing Managerial Value Orientations,” how management values have evolved over time, emphasizing in middle-level and top managers the change from competence-based values to moral-based values. ” Values are what make people who they are,” Hegel stated. They influence the decisions individuals make, the people they believe, the messages they pay attention to, and their time and energy expenditure. Changes in the environment, organizations, and society are driving moral concerns to take front stage in importance. Thinking of the book Leadership in Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin, Weber’s speech inspires Past leaders in that book had to weigh strategic goals against moral responsibilities. Goodwin’s leaders displayed a growing moral orientation, much as those of Weber’s managers. This fit the demands of society for moral leadership at pivotal junctures. Weber’s studies complement reality as it is, including corporate social responsibility (CSR). Managers seem to regard morals more as businesses deal with ethical problems and growing public awareness. Values, according to Weber, define ethical environments and business culture. Two such are sustainability projects and the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. This study reveals how professional responsibilities and personal values are evolving with time, therefore indicating a greater cultural movement toward ethics in leadership. Knowing these influences will enable managers to decide more wisely on how to satisfy the demands of society and the company going forward.

Based on Thomas M. Jones’s “Ethical Decision Making by Individuals in Organizations: An Issue-Contingent Model,” the author suggests in this paper that ethical decision-making is influenced by moral intensity—that is, the traits of the ethical issue itself. Given my own background, I can relate to Jones’s thesis on moral proximity in light of a situation in which I had to make a difficult choice at employment. Whether or not to expose a close colleague for a minor policy infraction presented a dilemma. Though I knew the injustice was wrong, my relationship to this person affected my unwillingness to intervene. Jones names this phenomena as “proximity” changing moral assessments. The idea that moral closeness could influence ethical decisions emphasizes the reality that some interpersonal interactions can make objective assessment challenging to reach. Jones’s analysis of the pressures corporations confront and the reactions society has to ethics reminds me of the present corporate scandals including the Volkswagen emissions case. Jones’s theory holds that situational circumstances affect ethical behavior, so the executives of the company were under a lot of pressure to perform and hence engaged in immoral activities. The story shows how acts with great consequences in the actual world could be influenced by the moral intensity of employees of a corporation as well as by its culture. Finally, Jones’s approach provides insightful analysis of the difficulties in ethical decision-making. It implies that determining people’s moral behavior mostly depends on their personal relationships and the surroundings of the choice.

Emphasizing the need of ethical decision-making in professional environments, the UCSD article “Ethics Awareness” stresses the part that each person plays in preserving integrity and responsibility. The paper emphasizes that understanding of ethics goes beyond only following guidelines to include making decisions in line with moral values and so foster respect and trust in the workplace. The source exhorts experts to evaluate their choices carefully so as to guarantee they benefit society and organizational culture. The paper reminds me of my own experience working on a team project when ethical issues have to be given top priority over convenience. We had to make a choice that would have jeopardized our long-term image even if it would have helped the project momentarily. As the author notes, I can understand the difficulties in juggling ethical choices with pragmatic results. Like the focus in the UCSD tool, I discovered the need of following moral guidelines even if it would seem more convenient to cut short. The moral conundrums raised in the paper remind me of the Operation Varsity Blues affair, in which people acted unethically in order to get into colleges. Emphasizing the need of moral behavior to maintain justice and confidence, the piece parallels the social fallout from actual scandals. This narrative is a warning on the harm done when one ignores ethics in favor of selfish benefit. Still, the actual effects of such choices are usually more broad and detrimental than in organizational environments.

https://blink.ucsd.edu/finance/accountability/ethics-awareness.html

William D. Guth and Renato Tagiuchi explore in “Personal Values and Corporate Strategy” the part personal values of executives have in forming business strategy. They say that the “personal values of executives define the purpose, vision, and direction of the firm most importantly.” In this light, making smart decisions at work is connected to having strong personal beliefs. This makes me think of a movie about work experience where the CEO’s strong commitment to sustainability had an instant effect on the company’s long-term goals. Like the CEOs in Guth and Tagiuri’s work, this CEO made decisions based on his or her beliefs, such as investing in green technologies and putting environmental protection first. Personal values that were in line with business strategy helped create a harmonious work environment. This showed how important leadership is in establishing a company’s character and strategic goals. The article’s ideas are very clear in the business world today, especially at companies like Patagonia, whose founder’s commitment to environmental action has had a big impact on how the company works. In line with what Guth and Tagiiri have written, this fits with the idea that the personal beliefs of leaders can affect the direction of a company. Society’s values may change over time, but the idea that leadership values affect business actions is still important, since companies put profits and social responsibility at the top of their list of priorities.

https://hbr.org/1965/09/personal-values-and-corporate-strategy

When talking about leadership, Chapter 7 of Do the Kind Thing stresses how important it is to be open and honest. Lubetzky says, “Authenticity means staying true to your values, even when it’s hard, and making sure that other people know what you stand for.” From this point of view, honest communication builds trust, especially when things are uncomfortable. This focus on authenticity hits home for me because I’ve worked in teams before and seen how openly talking about problems makes teams work better. For example, when I was in charge of a project with a tight schedule, I found that communicating openly with my team about the problems we were having helped us work together to find solutions. This fits with Lubetzky’s ideas about how being honest can help build trust and relationship, even when it’s hard to tell the truth. The issues brought up in this chapter are especially important to think about in the modern business world, where openness is expected as a minimum. While the COVID-19 pandemic was going on, for example, some companies were criticized for not being open about the safety measures they were taking or the money problems they were having. This is an example of Lubetzky’s claim that fakeness can make connections weaken. It also shows how important honest communication is for making sure that an organization can handle tough times. Leaders and companies are inspired by Lubetzky’s ideas to be honest above all else by understanding the power of being genuine and open. This makes sure that their actions are in line with the values they have publicly stated.

https://moodle-courses2425.wolfware.ncsu.edu/mod/resource/view.php?id=468629

In It’s How Leaders Behave That Matters, Not Where They Are From by Barry Z. Posner, the author explores how leadership behaviors rather than geographical or cultural origins influence a leader’s effectiveness. According to Posner, “leadership practices varied across countries but within countries, their impact was the same” (Posner, 2013, p. 574). This shows that while leadership styles may look different due to cultural nuances, effective leadership behaviors are universally impactful. This article reminds me of experiences working with diverse teams across different cultures. I’ve noticed that good leaders, regardless of their background, inspire trust by their actions rather than their origin. This discussion reminds me of the ideas presented in The Leadership Challenge by Kouzes and Posner, where they also stress the universality of leadership behaviors through their “Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership.” Both texts underscore the importance of actions like modeling the way and enabling others to act, which transcends cultural boundaries. The article connects with the global leadership trends seen in multinational corporations like IBM or Microsoft. Leaders in these organizations succeed because they focus on universally respected traits like transparency and collaboration. For example, in a globalized world, an effective leader in the U.S. can use the same principles to lead teams in India or Europe with minimal adaptation, just as Posner suggests. 

Posner, B.Z. (2013). It’s How Leaders Behave That Matters, Not Where They Are From. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 34(6), 573-587.​

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.

The article “A Framework for Ethical Decision Making” offers a structured approach to making ethical choices by outlining five key methods: utilitarianism, rights, fairness, common good, and virtue ethics. The framework emphasizes considering consequences and moral principles when evaluating the ethics of a decision, stating, “The utilitarian approach deals with consequences; it tries both to increase the good done and to reduce the harm done.” This framework resonates with my personal experiences, especially when making a tough decision about switching careers. I found myself leaning on the practical approach, weighing the benefits my career change could bring me in terms of fulfillment, while also considering the potential downsides, such as leaving peers behind. The framework’s focus on maximizing good while minimizing harm mirrors how I approached that decision. This article reminds me of the ethical dilemmas posed in Daniel Quinn’s Ishmael. In Ishmael, the tension between “taker” and “leaver” societies can be analyzed through the lens of utilitarianism and common good approaches. While “takers” focus on domination and progress, often at the cost of ecological damage, “leavers” maintain practices that support the common good, emphasizing sustainability and harmony. Both texts address the complex balancing act between doing what benefits the individual versus what is best for the collective. On a broader scale, the ethical frameworks outlined in the article remind me of current debates around artificial intelligence and its development. The utilitarian approach is often invoked when discussing AI’s potential to improve lives, while the rights and fairness approaches are cited when addressing concerns about data privacy, job displacement, and bias. This ongoing debate mirrors the ethical concerns discussed in the text, as the world grapples with ensuring new technology benefits everyone while reducing harm.

Markkula Center for Applied Ethics. (n.d.). A framework for ethical decision making. Santa Clara University. https://www.scu.edu/ethics/ethics-resources/a-framework-for-ethical-decision-making/

DEJ 5:

The resource Frameworks for Ethical Analysis provides a structured approach to evaluating ethical dilemmas through diverse frameworks such as consequentialism, rights and responsibilities, and virtue ethics. According to the text, “The framework that people use to guide their ethical thinking will influence their decision-making” (Frameworks for Ethical Analysis, Science Learning Hub). This resource helps us understand how different approaches shape our perspectives and decisions in everyday life. This resource reminds me of times when I’ve faced ethical dilemmas at work. For example, when handling sensitive client information, I often weighed the consequences of sharing versus withholding certain details. I leaned on both professional responsibilities and the potential impact on others to make these decisions. This article helped me realize that I had been unconsciously using a blend of these ethical frameworks all along. The ethical frameworks outlined in the article reflect debates on AI ethics and data privacy, such as the ongoing discussions about companies using customer data. Consequentialism in the real world can be seen in corporate decisions where firms balance the benefits of data use against the potential harm to privacy. This article resonates with how real-world ethical concerns are analyzed and addressed in public policy and business. 

https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/resources/2146-frameworks-for-ethical-analysis