The concept of leadership dates back to as early as the dawn of man on earth. However, studies on the topic gained increased momentum from the early 20th century but focused on the Great Man and Trait theories that proposed that certain men were born to lead and whenever crises erupt, they step up and occupy natural space. The study of leadership has since then developed to one of the most important business and organization related topics, especially in the modern business world. Leadership is the act of an individual heading a group of people or an organization or the ability to do it. There are numerous issues relating to leadership that play a critical role in the performance of people in an organization and thus determine the organizational effectiveness. Ethical leadership is one of the essential elements of leadership and that influences the overall performance of every organization.
Explanation of Ethical Leadership
Ethics are the appropriate and desirable morals and values according to a person or the entire society. They deal with an individual’s intentions and purity that govern how they behave and relate to other people. When it comes to leadership, ethical theories address the character and personality of leaders as well as their actions and behaviour. Ethical leaders lead their subordinates in building healthy relationships that are based on both respect and trust (Nubert et al., 2009). Various traits are synonymous with an ethical leader; fundamentally, an ethical leader believes that acting with honesty, integrity, equity, justice, compassion and fairness results in sustainable success while harnessing growth and developments.
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Ethical Leadership Positive and Negative Traits
Leaders who demonstrate ethical traits are the ethical leaders while those with negative traits are termed as unethical leaders. Both ethical and unethical leaders have an impact on an organization where ethical leaders impact the organization positively as the unethical ones impact it negatively. Leadership should be ethical to yield success and effectiveness in the long term.
Positive Ethical Traits
The way a leader talks and acts in their daily errands indicates whether they are ethical or unethical. In addition to having the highest level of moral standards, an ethical leader is governed by several other traits that lack in an unethical leader (Nubert et al., 2009). Some of the positive traits if an ethical leader include the following;
Integrity
An ethical leader is one who honours the commitments they have the same way they expect their subordinates to honor theirs. Other than taking responsibility, an ethical leader does not shy off from apologizing to anyone when it is necessary to do so. They maintain loyalty and inspires their subordinates to behave the same way in their line of duty. A long-term and improved ethical leadership has a positive impact on the organizational financial aspects and plays a vital role in increasing the employee morale, loyalty and job satisfaction. Based on integrity, an ethical leader acts not only on a local but also on a global responsibility level (Toor and Ofori, 2002). For instance, they ensure that the working environment is safe for their employees and that the salaries and wages they offer them are worth the tasks they execute.
Relationships
Leadership revolves around healthy relationships between the management and the organization’s workforce. They lead by example and are role models to their employees (Sims and Brinkman, 2002). The employees, on the other hand, are at liberty to air their views on various issues since they are treated and handled with respect and dignity irrespective of the position they hold in the organization. Employees depending on their performance and capabilities are offered equal and fair opportunities for promotion. An organization that has ethical leaders are strictly against discrimination based on either race, gender, age or any other factor that people use in making others feel inferior and mistreat them. With a healthy relationship between the management and the employees, the leaders are concerned about the welfare of their employees and provide them with mental and physical health support thus helping them maintain both healthy life and work balance (Sims and Brinkman, 2002). Ethical leadership advocates for the personal and professional development of employees thus increasing the expertise of its workforce for sustainable growth and development.
Transparency
Effective leadership has to be governed by transparency. Ethical leaders are aware that their junior employees keep watch of them to know how to conduct themselves. She is open to all her group or team members and gives room for their active participation when making critical decisions. Ethical leaders accept the input of the subordinates and is sensitive of how his or her actions may distract the employees from executing their duties diligently. She is keen when handling sensitive issues such as policy adjustments, leadership changes, the strategic goal modifications and other transformative activities that may be perceived in different ways by the employees (Sims and Brinkman, 2002). They prepare them for any oncoming changes and involve them in the decision making process.
Trust
When a leader proves to be reliable, trustworthy and admits when they go wrong, their subordinates have confidence in them and leadership as a whole. The employees are assured that any promise made by their leaders has to be fulfilled and if something goes wrong and risks affecting its fulfilment, the leaders will definitely inform and explain to them. The employees equally become trustworthy and are happy to offer their advice and skills for the sake of the organization growth (Tor and Ofori, 2009). Leading by example is an effective way of creating a healthy environment that fosters maximum productivity. Job scandals, corruption and employee turnover rates are limited.
Negative Unethical traits
A type of leadership that lacks ethical conduct is not only dangerous but also destructive and toxic. Unethical leaders abuse their power and may use it to discriminate against the people they dislike while favouring the ones they like or denying the employees some deserved rights and opportunities. The results in such an organization are job dissatisfaction, high employee turnover rates, poor performance and low profitability (Toor and Ofori, 2002). Some of the traits that an unethical leader demonstrates include the following;
Failure to Honor Commitments
When a leader makes a commitment and fails to honour it, the employees lack a role model and are not motivated to honor theirs either. For instance, is a sales manager promises that the sales representatives who hit a certain margin will be rewarded with a day off, the employees are motivated to improve and increase their sales. If they eventually achieve the goal but the manager fails to honour the commitment he made and fails to give any of them a day off, the employees lose their trust in the leadership (Mayer, Kuenzi and Greenbaum, 2010). Their motivation to make record more sales is also affected, and they may become reluctant in their duties bearing in mind that however hard they work and make big sales, they will not be appreciated.
Unlawful Conduct
Modern businesses have witnessed unlawful conduct in some organizational leaders who engage in bad behaviour and trigger the same in their subordinates. For instance, a department manager who is found taking office equipment and stationaries home for their personal uses is a bad example to employees. Such leaders have also been found to handle some counterfeit software as they tried to save costs and ended up losing their jobs or damaging their relationship with their business partners and stakeholders. Leaders should teach their employees that stealing the company’s property is unethical and lack of courtesy. However, if it is the leaders who are engaging in such behaviour, most employees will end up looking for means of having something out of the company as well (Mayer, Kuenzi and Greenbaum, 2010). Leaders influence the conduct of employees.
Discriminatory
An unethical leader discriminates the workers and has a favourite group that is favoured while another n mistreated. In a modern organizational culture that experiences workforce diversity, the leader may favor by promoting and offering incentives to the employees of their race or ethnicity while discriminating those of other races (Eisenbeiss and Brodbeck, 2014). This behavior spreads to the employees who also relate to one another depending on their affiliations. The employees from the minority groups end up demotivated, some leave the employment while the remaining ones do not offer their best. The leader denies skilled and differently abled employees to unleash their potential for the benefit of the organization thus negatively affecting their overall performance.
Ethical Leadership Effects on an Organizational Productivity
Both ethical and unethical leadership affects the organizational productivity and effectiveness. Ethical leadership yields strong, creative, loyal, motivated and hardworking employees who increase its productivity. They unleash their potential and with the support of their leaders can harness creativity and innovation. Eventually, the organization can come up with new products, services and processes that give it a competitive advantage in the market (Brown and Mitchell, 2010). Unethical leadership, on the other hand, triggers employee turnover, dissatisfaction thus affecting the customer or consumer satisfaction which influences their behaviour such as switching brands.
Conclusion
Following the effects that both ethical and unethical leadership have in an organization, every organization should invest in ethical leadership. Leaders should be taken through training and mentorship programs that will equip them with the necessary skills, traits and qualities of ethical leaders. Leaders, on the other hand, should put in mind the manner in which their behaviour affects their subordinates and end up reflecting in the overall organizational performance. This way, organizations will be better positioned to compete healthily and achieve sustainable growth and development.
References
Brown, M., & Mitchell, M. (2010). Ethical and Unethical Leadership: Exploring New Avenues for Future Research. Business Ethics Quarterly, 20 (4), 583-616. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/25763039
Eisenbeiss, S. A., & Brodbeck, F. (2014). Ethical and unethical leadership: A cross-cultural and cross-sectoral analysis . Journal of Business Ethics, 122 (2), 343-359.
Mayer, D. M., Kuenzi, M., & Greenbaum, R. L. (2010). Examining the link between ethical leadership and employee misconduct: The mediating role of ethical climate . Journal of Business Ethics, 95 , 7-16.
Neubert, M., Carlson, D., Kacmar, K., Roberts, J., & Chonko, L. (2009). The Virtuous Influence of Ethical Leadership Behavior: Evidence from the Field. Journal of Business Ethics, 90( 2), 157-170. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27735234
Sims, R. R., & Brinkman, J. (2002). Leaders as moral role models: The case of John Gutfreund at Salomon Brothers. Journal of Business Ethics, 35(4), 327-339.
Toor, S., & Ofori, G. (2009). Ethical Leadership: Examining the Relationships with Full Range Leadership Model, Employee Outcomes, and Organizational Culture. Journal of Business Ethics, 90( 4), 533-547. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/27735264
