SLC 300 (601) Fall 2024 Leading with an Ethical Perspective

According to Scott Lichtenstein’s argument in “The Role of Values in Leadership: How Leaders’ Values Shape Value Creation,” “Leaders’ values shape their actions and decisions, ultimately determining the culture and value system within their organizations.” This has to do with Nelson Mandela’s leadership during the end of apartheid in South Africa. Mandela made decisions like forming the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which sought to mend the nation rather than exact revenge, based on his principles of equality, forgiveness, and togetherness. In addition to changing the political landscape, his values-driven leadership established the standard for racial harmony and peace in South Africa.On the other hand, other leaders in comparable circumstances have opted for vengeance, which has resulted in protracted strife. Mandela’s strategy is a prime example of Lichtenstein’s contention that values-driven leadership has a long-lasting effect that shapes a society’s culture. Mandela’s principles not only aided in South Africa’s recovery but also promoted harmony and respect amongst people.

The passage from Barry Posner’s paper that reads, “Deference to higher authority, risk-taking, celebration, and the like in one cultural context are likely to vary in another cultural setting” refers to how subordinates and colleagues are handled and how these cultural norms relate to the worldwide response to the 2008 financial crisis. Different nations responded to the crisis in different ways according to their cultural norms and beliefs, which had an impact on both the leadership style and the general results for their populations and economies.

The Borrie and Bigart (2021) article’s focus on adaptive management inside the Visitor Use Management Framework is an intriguing feature. Decision-making may be flexible using this technique, adapting quickly to shifts in visitor behavior and surrounding circumstances. Managers may better combine conservation efforts with recreational usage by monitoring and revising tactics on a regular basis. This helps to ensure that protected places remain robust to challenges from both the natural world and human activity.

Posner’s quotation highlights how different leadership styles work in different cultural contexts. While the leadership in Iceland encouraged a more regional recovery and held executives accountable, the leadership in the United States concentrated on stabilizing the financial markets. The celebration of success and recovery took on a distinct form as well; although stock market gains signaled the U.S. recovery, Iceland’s more modest and people-centered recovery was hailed as a victory of communal resilience. This incident serves as an example of how cultural context profoundly influences leadership and decision-making, as Posner explains, and how various strategies can produce different results in times of crisis.

Posner, B. Z. (2015). It’s how leaders behave that matters, not where they are from. The Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, 22(3), 285-292.

I read “The Role of Values in Leadership: How Leaders’ Values Shape Value Creation” by Scott Lichtenstein. One. of the quotes on I thought was interesting was in the very beginning of the article which it says, “If the “my way or the highway” school of leadership has been working for thousands of years, why is the subject of leadership under such scrutiny? If we know the tried and tested “my way or the highway” approach to leadership works, why are there approximately 3,000 books a year written on the topic? One major reason is due to changing employees’ values, and in the aggregate, societal values.” Which I agree that everyone’s values have changed from generation to generation. Not to reveal my coaches age, but he uses the my way or the highway method which for some of the team it’s hard for them to adjust to that because their values are different than his. That our opinions should be heard on certain things or being able to sit out when you’re hurt. My coach doesn’t really believe in injuries or that you should play through it which relates to the phrase that “if you ain’t bleeding or have a broken bone, then you’re ok. Which in this generation, we take care of ourselves more and have more of a voice than other generations when it comes to our values and beliefs in leadership.

While reading, “It’s How Leaders Behave that Matters, Not Where They’re From” by Barry Z. Posner, I thought it was interesting on the different takes on how leaders that have different cultural backgrounds behave. In the text it says, “In highly feminine cultures, where people strive to cooperate, maintain relationships, and express more compassion leaders might be expected to behave different than their counterparts in highly masculine cultures.” For example, in the sports broadcasting world, it’s dominated by men and not a lot of women were in this field for plenty of reasons, but comparing the famous male broadcasters like Stephen A. Smith and one of the most famous female sports broadcasters Andraya Carter, they both do things differently when it comes to their job and being a leader in their field. Stephen A. Smith is a more aggressive broadcaster that yells to get his points across and thinks he’s right all the time, which not all male broadcaster are like this. Andraya Carter uses more of her knowledge on the game and not her opinions and is more direct and not yelling to get a point across and not saying some women don’t do the opposite, these are just examples of what this text means

In Posner’s, It’s how leaders behave that matters, not where they are from, Posner studies leaders in India, Ethiopia, Pakistan, and the Philippines. The first thing that stuck out to me within this study is how he found similar results from leadership style success in every place he studied. Leadership qualities are cross cultural, in that it does not matter where you are from ethnically or socioeconomically, everyone has the ability to be a great leader. One aspect I found interesting about this study was that he studied both India and Pakistan and still found success to be similar between the two cultures. This is interesting to me because the two countries border one another and are cultural and even sometimes political foes (Brink). Although their differences, thought processes, and even actions towards one another could be argued as justified, in terms of the study, they found similarities. I think this speaks to humans in general when it comes to putting our differences aside. Even with two countries that have been in disagreements for years and years having similar leadership styles, we see that leadership stays the same. Another takeaway I had was from the encourage the heart leadership technique, which brings together a sense of community. I think these are cultures that intuitively have that quality within their culture, but we miss it within America. I hope that in the future, we can foster a way where we are more community centric, instead of individualistic. I think this is done by plugging into local community efforts, shortening the workweek, and having community centric spaces to encourage open discourse.

75 years on, India and Pakistan remain enemies. (2022, August 16). BRINK – Conversations and Insights on Global Business. https://www.brinknews.com/75-years-on-india-and-pakistan-remain-enemies/

In the article, Moral Person and Moral Manager: How Executives Develop a Reputation for Ethical Leadership, I started to think about how I could improve both of these aspects. I see myself now as someone who can is a moral person, but where can I improve on that and how can I apply that within a leadership position that I will find myself in one day. First the article spoke about two pillars being present within both entities. The traits of a moral person are things like integrity, honesty, and trustworthiness. The behaviors that come of this are concern for other people, being open, etc. This is someone that holds to values in decision-making. I feel as though I could do better when it comes to concern for other people within decision-making. I think it can be easy for myself to think about what I get out of a situation and have a quick answer around that instead of getting input from other stakeholders first. Within a leadership sense, they then use these said traits and behaviors to their advantage. They apply them through being a role model, thinking about rewards and discipline, and communicating about ethics. I think in a leadership sense, it would be easy for me to be someone who communicates expectations for our team as we think about communicating ethics. However, one that I see myself struggling with in the future is within rewards. I think that articulating my encouragement for others or even receiving that encouragement is a difficult thing for me. I believe this is because it can be easy to get in the mindset that we are all just doing what we are supposed to do. But, when you get out of the business or efficiency mindset and really think about people, who they are, and what they come from, it will be much easier to be able to articulate a rewarding compliment or tangible benefit to appreciate who is on your team.

By: Maggie Pohl

The article highlights how changing societal values throughout history change employee and employer expectations, changing leadership styles. In my opinion, the most prevalent time of societal change when it came to employee rights was during the industrial revolution. Before this time, leadership was rigid, and decisions about worker rights were left to individual leaders, often to the detriment of employees. The industrial revolution marked a shift, with growing public concern over issues like child labor, working hours, and safety, leading to laws and regulations. I hypothesize that this shift in societal values was driven by the increasing number of people working, regardless of their class, and by the more dangerous working conditions. Despite these changes, many industries still resisted adopting these new standards, revealing the gap between evolving societal values and leadership practices. 

As mentioned in the article, historically leadership has been a “my way or the highway” approach, while in modern times there is a focus on team goals and commitments. Many of the tycoons of the industrial era were hesitant to move from a leader based workplace to an employee one. Giving employees rights slowed down production and applied rules to the way employers lead their employees. While today, we do not often think about how these laws and regulations revolutionized leadership styles, during the industrial revolution this was a prevalent concept. The focus shift from employer comfort to employee comfort is an important aspect to analyze when we look at leadership throughout history. 

My favorite article from this module was Tom Huddletons article on Fyre Festivle. The reason for this is I watched the documentary on Netlfix about Fyre Festvile. This article also is a prime example of a poor CEO and his affect on a company and his employees, For context the Fyre Festivle was branded as an exclusive and luxurious music festival located on a private island in the Bahamas. Festival goers paid thousands of dollars for this festival with the hopes of having a once in a lifetime experience. However, once they landed in the Bahamas they soon came to realize that there dream had quickly turned into a nightmare. Everything that was promised when they purchased tickets was all a lie. This incident is one of the largest public scams in recent history. The CEO Billy McFarland was the mastermind behind this festival. He is a perfect example of what not to do when you are a CEO. He lured in festival goers promising them things that were not even remotely accurate to the actual event. Instead of being upfront he tried to cover his tracks but social media exposed him for the crook that he is. He walked away from the festival with millions of dollars in his pocket due to his con. However, it would later come back to haunt him because he got charged and spent six years in prison. This article provides a great example of poor leadership and how it is more common than people think in todays world.

Published by: Encyclopedia of Business Ethics and Society

Ethical Decision-Making Framework (Cavanagh) vs. “Thinking Ethically”

By Maggie Pohl

In the article “Ethical Role of the Manager” they cite Gerald Cavanagh’s ethical framework as a method that leaders should take when analyzing moral conflicts. Gerald Cavanagh’s framework outlines four key methods of ethical reasoning: rights and duties, utilitarianism, justice, and care ethics. The main difference that I found was that Cavanagh’s interpretation of care ethics suggests prioritizing long-term employees because of their deeper organizational ties, which can lead to decisions favoring some groups over others. The approach from “Thinking Ethically”, however, emphasizes an equal standard of care across all employees, avoiding bias based on personal relationships. I feel as if this can be misleading in Cavanagh’s framework and potentially open the door to favoritism.

I feel that a solution to this issue, found not only in Cavanagh’s framework but also in “Thinking Ethically,” would be solved with a more participative ethical decision-making process. This would be where managers actively engage and have their teams participate in the moral reasoning behind decisions. I value the ethical framework presented by Cavanagh but want to emphasize the need for constant analysis and reflection to ensure fair and inclusive outcomes. While I feel that Cavanagh’s framework is comprehensive, it may benefit from a broader application or additional team input more closely aligned with the approach discussed in “Thinking Ethically”.

In today’s world, I believe that a company is as only as strong and successful as its CEO. The CEO of a company is an extremely difficult job to have due to the fact that every decision you possibly make can have either a positive or negative impact on a company that employs thousands of people and is trying to make a profit. These decisions can alter the company, affect the workforce’s livelihoods, and alter the surrounding environment. This can be a lot so most companies would want to hire a CEO that they believe would lead the company down the best path. In the article, I read by Forbes on the most reputable CEOs of 2019 many of the candidates shared very similar traits. One of these traits is having a strong moral compass. In my opinion, having a strong moral compass is necessary for someone if they want to lead a company that can greatly impact the surrounding community. Too often we see articles in the news of companies taking advantage or breaking the law in order to boost profits.  Having a leader who is able to steer his employees away from these decisions is key to running a successful company. By having someone at the very top who has a moral compass the company will experience a trickle-down effect directly from the top. This will show managers and normal employees that it is not ok to act in a non-moral way when working for said company.