Ethical leadership exhibits conduct that is acceptable and suitable in every aspect of life. An ethical leader is about understanding the accepted values or showing a strong trait that leads by actions with a determination to accomplish a goal (Martin, 2019). In history, there have been good leaders, bad leaders, and leaders with questionable intentions and actions. There are those leaders that influenced, encouraged, and impacted significantly, but there exist leaders with a distinct aspect of the dark side. These leaders will show both positive and negative characteristics, skills and conduct that demonstrate their type of leadership. It would be prudent to analyze a dark and light leader in history to help understand their choice of leadership and their overall effects on those they led.
By defining ethical leaders, the most significant character is how leaders respect their followers. Therefore, ethical leaders respect their supporters by listening to them responsively, valuing their efforts, being generous, and compassionate while considering contrasting viewpoints. On the other hand, unethical leadership has leaders displaying dark traits in making decisions and behavior that are considered illegal and violate the moral standards and those that encourage unethical behavior in their followers
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Light leader
George Washington Biography
George Washington, the United States founding father, was a plantation owner in Virginia and served in the colonial armies as their commander-in-chief and general during the War of the American Revolution. He later became the first United States president in 1789 and served until 1797 (George Washington Biography 2020). At 20, he was the head of large estates of land that their family-owned in Mount Vernon.
He was appointed and ranked as a major in the Virginia militia army in the early 1750s. In 1753, he was sent with a small troop to attach French post at Fort Duquesne, where he defeated them by killing their leader and other officers and taking others as captives. He was also made commander of the Virginia army in 1755 at the age of 23. He led a patrol and protection frontier border of about 400 miles with some 700 undisciplined colonial troops for two years. He retired from all commissions and entered into politics, where he was chosen to House of Burgesses in Virginia in 1758. He fought against the British army as the commander-in-chief and major general of the colonial troops from 1775. He rallied his army during the most challenging times of winter in the Valley Forge from 1777 to 1778. He led the troops in the fight for independence until 1783 and resigned his commission as the army’s commander in chief. Lastly, he was chosen as head of state of America in 1789.
George Washington Leadership Style
Washington was a great leader who believed in his men. He treated them with the utmost respect and dignity. He was a man who held his men accountable; he appreciated his troops' efforts in the militia. More so, the welfare of his countrymen was his top priority. He demonstrated why he was willing to help them because they looked up to him and trusted them. As a general, he invested all his efforts in the cause; he led attacks and won many battles in the field. George was against the tyranny and valued freedom of people with great vigor. He understood the cost of independence for people and used quality skills to achieve it.
All in all, George wanted peace; his intentions were not to retire from the militia, or live in his estate or become a leader, all he wanted is a country filled with peace, and that meant no bloodshed, slavery or imprisonments.
According to STU Online (2018), a charismatic leadership style rely on how a leader is persuasive and charming. Charismatic leaders are motivated by commitment and conviction to their cause. The leader is always willing to change to the people they are leading and have an engaging trait. They have a clear goal and engages a broad audience with ease and portray an exceptional devotion to their area of expertise. They speak of moral passion instead of the existing way of doing things. George Washington was a charismatic leader who showed more skills that are emulated today by most leaders.
George Washington was an ethical leader; he held himself with a high moral standard and expected the same from the people he led. He led and served as a militia army, led them as the general and the commander-in-chief. He lived an honest life among his friends. He was the pinnacle for both the political and military leaders because of his unwavering trait and devotion to his country. He executed his leadership with great honor and ethics.
According to Knott (n.d.), Washington led to Americans during the Revolution. He led the colonial militia to victory against the British. He was chosen twice as the head of state of the United States and influenced the presidency path to continue advancing, setting values in all facets that include politics, military, and economic policy. He advised the Americans to change and modify powers through constitutional amendments.
Dark Leader
Joseph Stalin Biography
Stalin Joseph led a labor strike and detained and banished to Siberia during the Russian Revolution. He gained fame when he participated in the robbery of 1907 Tiflis bank, which ended with the death of many people, a loss of 250,000 rubles that approximated $ 3.4 million U.S. dollars. He rose to power as the General Secretary of Russia's Communist Party in 1922 (Joseph Stalin Biography 2019 and Real 2016). He became a dictator in Soviet after Lenin Vladimir’s Death.
During his tenure, he forced rapid industrialization and land collectivization. His actions resulted in the deaths of millions of people who suffered famine and hunger while other people were forced into labor camps between the 1920s and 1930s. Using his army, he defeated Nazi Germany during World War II. In 1943, he was able to defeat the Germans and turned them back at the Battle of Stalingrad. He also established Communist regimes in many parts of Eastern European nations between 1945 and 1948. He ordered blockage of the economy for Berlin City in Germany to gain full control of the city.
Joseph Stalin’s Leadership Style
Joseph Stalin was an autocratic leader. His countrymen didn't know he was an authoritarian leader until he rose to power in 1928. He launched forced industrialization and land collectivization throughout the country. These resulted in the death of millions of people and the deportation of others into forced labor camps. Hundreds of thousands of peasant farmers were killed, and others forced into labor camps (Real, 2016). Forced land collectivization and industrialization led to a shortage of goods and food across the country. He manipulated all leaders and fired those who tried to oppose his rule.
According to Real (2016), through his leadership, Russia was converted from an equal rights (egalitarian) nation to an authoritarian (autocratic) country, type of a bureaucratic system of government. Although he turned Russia into a great industrialized country of the time and defeated Hitler in WWII, he institutionalized fear and caused the death of millions of Russian people. All these people trusted in him, but he enforced a ruthless rule that heightened his control and damaged the country. He was accounted for the famine that killed about 8 million people. Conclusively, he was a lousy leader and mass-murderer.
Autocratic leadership is a type of leadership style where the leaders tell their followers how they would like their projects to be carried out, and their decision is final. An autocratic leader does not rely on the followers to contribute to his rule and does not give them the freedom to choose how they would like to perform the projects ( STU Online, 2018) . This leadership is also referred to as authoritarian leadership because it is highly structured and directive and does not allow participation nor democracy. Stalin's leadership was authorities; he decided for the whole country without the input of others.
Joseph Stalin was an unethical leader who according to his actions, he did not respect human rights and made decisions that deliberately harmed the people of Russia. Stalin did not promote national peace and unity; he was an incredibly peaceful dictator who acted with force and took anything by or no force. In his reign, he murdered anyone who opposed his rule and manipulated his followers to follow his rule. In his early, he was a thief and a murderer who took everything he wanted by force. His lack of respect for human rights led people to live in fear of execution and forced labor. Through forced land collectivization and industrialization, millions of people were killed while others were deported. Others about 8 million people died of famine due to a shortage of food.
According to Zhukov and Talibova (2017), Stalin ruled Russia with terror as a dictator; the whole country feared him. He punished by death, whoever opposed his leadership. Most of those who assisted him to rise to power were jailed or killed. He was responsible for the deaths of millions of Russian peasants who opposed the collective agriculture program. He changed the country by making it the most industrialized and high military power. Generally, he left a deep scar of terror and fear to the Soviets.
The above leaders have shown essential ways to lead others, how they lead impacts a lot of people. This is a lesson to many people that a leader is someone who is looked up upon and should show good leadership qualities such as honesty, positive attitude, confidence, high moral standards, and inspiring followers. Leaders should lead by example not just words.
Ethical leadership allows individuals to exhibit conduct that is good for society and is acceptable and suitable in every aspect of life. There are those leaders that influenced, encouraged, and impacted significantly, but there exist leaders with a distinct element of the dark side. George Washington was an ethical and charismatic leader; he held himself with a high moral standard and expected the same from the people he led. On the other hand, Joseph Stalin was believed an unethical leader, reflecting on his actions; he did not respect human rights and made decisions that deliberately harmed Russia's people.
References
Biography (Updated 2020, February). George Washington. https://www.biography.com/us-president/george-washington
Biography, (updated 2019) Joseph Stalin Biography (1878–1953). https://www.biography.com/dictator/joseph-stalin
Kabeyi Moses (2018, October). Ethical and unethical leadership issues, cases, and dilemmas with case studies. http:// DOI: 10.22271/allresearch.2018.v4.i7f.5153
Knott Stephen. George Washington: Impact and Legacy. https://millercenter.org/president/washington/impact-and-legacy
Martin Anna (2019, October). The Importance of Ethics in Leadership. http://www.leadershipexpert.co.uk/importance-ethics-leadership.html
Real A. Claire Mary (2016). Stalin's Leadership of the Soviet Union. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/301564538_Stalin%27s_Leadership_of_the_Soviet_Union
STU Online (Updated, 2018). What is Autocratic Leadership? How Procedures Can Improve Efficiency. https://online.stu.edu/articles/education/autocratic-leadership.aspx
STU Online (Updated, 2018). What is Charismatic Leadership? Leading Through Personal Conviction. https://online.stu.edu/articles/education/what-is-charismatic-leadership.aspx
Zhukov Yuri, Talibova Roya (2017). Stalin’s Terror and the Long-Term Political Effects of Mass Repression. https://scholar.harvard.edu/files/zhukov/files/stalin_v23.pdf
