leadership and team dynamics- lecturer 3

Early Childhood Development Leadership and Team Dynamics

Course Code: LSD/T/B/3

Year of Study: Year 2No of Credits: 2Mode of Tuition: LectureTeaching Hours: 30 hrsCategory in Major Programme: Core UnitPrerequisite: Nil

LEADERSHIP ETHICS DESCRIPTION

Ethics

– Is a derivative of the Greek word ethos, meaning customs, conduct, or character

– Is concerned with the kinds of values and morals an individual or society ascribes as desirable or appropriate

– Focuses on the virtuousness of individuals and their motives

Ethical Theory

– Provides a system of rules or principles as a guide in making decisions about what is right/wrong and good/bad in a specific situation

– Provides a basis for understanding what it means to be a morally decent human being


ETHICS AND LEADERSHIP

Ethics refers to the desirable and appropriate values and morals according to an individual or the society at large. Ethics deal with the purity of individuals and their intentions. Ethics serve as guidelines for analyzing “what is good or bad” in a specific scenario. Correlating ethics with leadership, we find that ethics is all about the leader’s identity and the leader’s role.

Ethical theories on leadership talk about two main things: (a) The actions and behaviour of leaders; and (b) the personality and character of leaders. It is essential to note that “Ethics are an essential to leadership”. A leader drives and influences the subordinates / followers to achieve a common goal, be it in case of team work, organizational quest, or any project. It is an ethical job of the leader to treat his subordinates with respect as each of them has a unique personality. The ethical environment in an organization is built and developed by a leader as they have an influential role in the organization and due to the fact that leaders have an influence in developing the organizational values.

ETHICAL LEADERSHIP

What is ethical leadership?

The term ethical leadership refers to the basic principle that true leaders are concerned with "doing the right thing" and not merely "doing things right."

Why practice ethical leadership?

• Ethical leadership models ethical behaviour to the organization and the community.

• Ethical leadership builds trust.

• Ethical leadership brings credibility and respect, both for you and for the organization.


• Ethical leadership can lead to collaboration.

• Ethical leadership creates a good climate within the organization.

• If you have opposition, or are strongly supporting a position, ethical leadership allows you to occupy the moral high ground.

• Ethical leadership is simply the right way to go.

• Ethical leadership affords self-respect.

When and by whom should ethical leadership be practiced?

Ethical leadership should be practiced all the time by anyone in a formal or informal leadership position.

How do you practice ethical leadership?

General guidelines:

• Ethical leadership requires a clear and coherent ethical framework on which the leader can draw in making decisions and taking action.

• Your ethical framework should agree with the ethical framework, vision, and mission of the organization or initiative.

• Ethics should be a topic of discussion.

• Ethics should be out in the open.

• Ethical thought must be connected to action.

• Ethical leadership is a shared process.


Specific components of ethical leadership

• Put the good of the organization and the general good before your own interests and ego.

• Encourage the discussion of ethics in general and of the ethical choices involved in specific situations and decisions as an ongoing feature of the organizational culture.

• Institutionalize ways for people to question your authority.

• Don’t take yourself too seriously.

• Consider the consequences to others of your decisions, and look for ways to minimize harm.

• Treat everyone with fairness, honesty, and respect all the time.

• Treat other organizations in the same way you treat other people – with fairness, honesty, and respect.

• Collaborate inside and outside the organization.

• Communicate.

• Work to become increasingly culturally and interpersonally competent.

• Take cultural sensitivity and cultural competence seriously.

• Work to be inclusive.

• Take your leadership responsibility seriously, and be accountable for fulfilling it.

• Constantly strive to increase your competence.

• Don’t outstay your usefulness.

• Never stop reexamining your ethics and your leadership.


CHARACTERISTICS OF AN ETHICAL LEADER

An effective and ethical leader has the following traits / characteristics:

Dignity and respectfulness: He respects others. An ethical leader should not use his followers as a medium to achieve his personal goals. He should respect their feelings, decision and values. Respecting the followers implies listening effectively to them, being compassionate to them, as well as being liberal in hearing opposing viewpoints. In short, it implies treating the followers in a manner that authenticate their values and beliefs.

Serving others: He serves others. An ethical leader should place his follower’s interests ahead of his interests. He should be humane. He must act in a manner that is always fruitful for his followers.

Justice: He is fair and just. An ethical leader must treat all his followers equally. There should be no personal bias. Wherever some followers are treated differently, the ground for differential treatment should be fair, clear, and built on morality.

Community building: He develops community. An ethical leader considers his own purpose as well as his followers’ purpose, while making efforts to achieve the goals suitable to both of them. He is considerate to the community interests. He does not overlook the followers’ intentions. He works harder for the community goals.

Honesty: He is loyal and honest. Honesty is essential to be an ethical and effective leader. Honest leaders can be always relied upon and depended upon. They always earn respect of their followers. An honest leader presents the fact and circumstances truly and completely, no matter how critical and harmful the fact may be. He does not misrepresent any fact.

It is essential to note that leadership is all about values, and it is impossible to be a leader if you lack the awareness and concern for your own personal values. Leadership has a moral and ethical aspect. These ethics define leadership. Leaders can use the above mentioned traits as yardsticks for influencing their own behaviour.


ETHICAL THEORIES

Teleological Theories: focus on consequences of leaders’ actions, results

Three different approaches to making decisions regarding moral conduct -

– Ethical egoism (create greatest good for the leader)

Closely related to transactional leadership theories

Example: leader takes a political stand on an issue for no other reason than to get re-elected

– Utilitarianism (create greatest good for greatest number)

Example: leader distributes scarce resources so as to maximize benefit to everyone, while hurting the fewest; preventive healthcare vs. catastrophic illnesses

– Altruism (show concern for best interests of others)

Authentic transformational leadership is based on altruistic principles

Example: the work of Mother Theresa, who gave her entire life to help the poor

Deontological Theories: duty driven, for example, relates not only to consequences but also to whether action itself is good

– Focuses on the actions of the leader and his/her moral obligation and responsibilities to do the right thing

Example: telling the truth, keeping promises, being fair

Virtue-based Theories: about leader’s character


– Focus on who people are as people

Rather than tell people what to do, tell people what to be

Help people become more virtuous through training and development

Virtues present within person’s disposition, and practice makes good values habitual

• Examples: courage, honesty, fairness, justice, integrity, humility

CENTRALITY OF ETHICS TO LEADERSHIP

Influence dimension of leadership requires the leader to have an impact on the lives of followers

Power and control differences create enormous ethical responsibility for leader’s

Respect for persons – sensitive to followers’ own interests, and needs

Leaders help to establish and reinforce organizational values – an ethical climate

DIVERSE PERSPECTIVES OF LEADERSHIP

Heifetz’s Perspective

Emphasizes how:

– Leaders use authority to mobilize followers to

Get people focused on issues


Act as a reality test regarding information

Manage and frame issues

Orchestrate conflicting perspectives

Facilitate the decision-making process

– Leader provides a holding environment, a supportive context in which there is –

Trust, nurturance & empathy

– Leaders duties –

Assist the follower in struggling with change and personal growth

Burn’s Perspective

Theory of Transformational Leadership

– Strong emphasis on followers’ needs, values & morals

– Leaders help followers in their personal struggles concerning conflicting values

– Stressing values such as:

Liberty

Justice

Equality

Greenleaf’s Perspective

Servant Leadership – has strong altruistic ethical overtones

Leaders –


– focus on & attentive to needs of followers

– empathize with followers

– take care of and nurture followers

Leader has a social responsibility to be concerned with “have-nots” in the organization and:

– Remove inequalities & social injustices

– Uses less institutional power

– Uses less control

– Shifts authority to followers

Servant Leadership Values:

– Involvement

– Respect

– Trust

– Individual strength

– Follower Needs

– Become more knowledgeable

– More autonomous

– Become more like servants

PRINCIPLES OF ETHICAL LEADERSHIP

Ethics - is central to leadership because of:

– The process of influence


– The need to engage followers to accomplish mutual goals

– The impact leaders have on establishing the organization’s values

Follower-centered - Based on the altruistic principle of placing followers foremost in the leader’s plans

Leader behaviours

Mentoring behaviours

Empowerment behaviours

Team building behaviours

Citizenship behaviours

Leaders have:

– A duty to help others pursue their own legitimate interests and goals

– To be stewards of the organization’s vision; in serving others they: clarify, nurture, and integrate the vision with, not for, organization members

– An ethical responsibility to make decisions that are beneficial to their followers’ welfare

Ethical leaders are concerned with issues of fairness and justice; they place issues of fairness at the center of their decision making

Leaders shall –

Adhere to principles of distributive justice

Leader behaviours

All subordinates are treated in an equal manner


In special treatment/special consideration situations, grounds for differential treatment are clear, reasonable, and based on sound moral values

Honest leaders are authentic but also sensitive to the feelings and attitudes of others

Leaders:

Are not deceptive

Tell the truth with a balance of openness and candor while monitoring what is appropriate to disclose in a particular situations

Leader behaviours

Don’t promise what you can’t deliver

Don’t suppress obligations

Don’t evade accountability

Don’t accept “survival of the fittest” pressures

Acknowledge and reward honest behavior in the organization

Concern for common good means leaders cannot impose their will on others; they search for goals that are compatible with everyone.

Leader behaviours

Takes into account purposes of everyone in the group

Is attentive to interests of the community and culture

Does not force others or ignore intentions of others

Ethical Leaders & Followers

take into account purposes of everyone in the group, and

reach out beyond their own mutually defined goals to wider community

leadership and team dynamics- lecturer 3

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