ETHICAL LEADERSHIP

Ethical Leadership

Ethical Leadership

What is leadership?

The term leadership, by its very nature, is laden with meaning often derived from the interpreter's varied life history. For some, this represents an internalized identity, shared processes, or civic engagement grounded in experiences as social activists, with developmental mentors, or from positive group experiences (Helgesen, 1990). For others, the term may elicit a more negative interpretation associated with abuses of power, positionality, or an impersonal focus on end goals. These interpretations are often the effect of socio-historical marginalization or negative encounters with those that inappropriately wielded influence. Both ends of this interpretive spectrum can also be found in the body of literature representing leadership theory (Avolio, and Gardner, 2011). Contemporary theory, however, has attempted to reframe the term with a greater focus on moral discourse and social purpose, shifting away from previous theory that favored management, production, and authority (Avolio, 2011).

This research provides an overview of contemporary leadership theories, situating their emergence in the context of the broader evolution of leadership knowledge, and highlighting several prominent contemporary theories. Specific attention will be paid to how philosophical traditions of inquiry served as a catalyst for the emergence of contemporary theories and to defining characteristics across these theories. The chapter will end with a critique of contemporary leadership theory and with recommendations for future directions (Bass, 1985).

Leadership and Ethics

Examinations of the roles ethics and morality play for leaders and in the leadership process have been a concern of scholars dating back to Plato. Early philosophical considerations of political and civic leadership debated the degree to which leaders did and/or should operate from ethical versus value-neutral perspectives. The Theory and Practice of Power, Judgment, and Policy, this debate is virtually omnipresent in the philosophical literature, yet relatively absent from empirical research and theory (Bennis, 2007). This asserts that the omission of words such as justice and common good in leadership theory is a critical and problematic oversight potentially attributable to epistemological limitations felt by researchers. Nevertheless, the most contemporary of leadership theories have attempted to incorporate this terminology and move these concerns to the forefront. Servant leadership and authentic leadership both assert that leadership should be other directed and characterized by a positive moral perspective. Similarly, theories such as the social change model and relational leadership position social justice and ethics as not only critical aspects of leadership, but requisites of the process. Nearly all contemporary theories suggest or assert that leadership is tied to social responsibility. How they define this, though, and the degree of its emphasis in particular models represent points of departure (Bass, 1985).

True leaders are concentrated on doing the right thing, not only the right thing. "That advice from organizational consultants is not new for school leaders, whose lives are immersed in difficult ethical dilemmas. Unfortunately, relatively few administrators have been trained to deal with these conflicts. Until recently, the ethical issues are given little attention in preparation programs.

Redistribution of Power and Shared Leadership

As postindustrial leadership theories relinquished assumptions regarding organizations as closed ...