Ethics are the foundation for successful leadership in business. It sets the tone for employee conduct or behavior in the organization whether it is a big corporation or a small business with only a few employees. Whether the leadership of a business is ethical or unethical will always be known from the employees’ behavior since it has a trickle-down effect that ultimately impacts the business’ reputation in the public eye.
Successful leaders constantly employ ethical practices in their day to day activities and this also sips into how the employees perform their work both within and outside the workplace. London & Mone (2012) highlight the behaviors of ethical leaders in an organization; e thical leaders create a culture of transparency in their decision making and communication; they also encourage this in their staff and hold them accountable for the various group and individual goals they are meant to achieve. The employees usually respond by being more accountable in their work and even in their personal lives. This accountability is seen in their service to the public building the company’s reputation. Ethical leaders also encourage and reward staff who exhibit high ethical standards giving them a boost of confidence. This ethical behavior can be felt by visitors who interact with the employees at their workplace since it creates an overall feel-good atmosphere where everyone is aware of their responsibilities and are accountable to them. This positive reputation builds a sense of trust and loyalty with the public (London & Mone, 2012)
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Unethical leadership also has its effects on the reputation of a company. The biggest indicator of unethical leadership as claimed by Lasakova and Remisova (2015) is when a leader deviates from laid-down ethical regulations or compliance systems. By not following regulations, the leader passively supports and encourages an unethical culture where staffs also do not follow ethical regulations. This is usually exhibited as absenteeism at the workplace or poor customer service. The leader does not notice these behaviors in employees or even he does he/ she cannot effectively deal with it since they are all following his example. Members of the public are usually the recipients of these poor services from the unethical employees resulting in a negative view of the company. This negative view means that the public do not think highly of the company and will easily shift their loyalty to another company offering the same services ( Lasakova & Remisova, 2015).
Reference
Lasakova, A & Remisova, A. (2015). Unethical Leadership: Current Theoretical Trends and Conceptualization. Procedia Economics and Finance. 34. 319-328. Elsevier. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/287310927_Unethical_Leadership_Current_Theoretical_Trends_and_Conceptualization
London, M., & Mone, E. (2012). Leadership for today and the future. Retrieved from https://content.ashford.edu
