Ethical leadership is a concept that gained heavy attention in this unit and with good reason. Think about an instance where a public sector leader has acted in an unethical manner and the nuances associated with it such as misusing charismatic authority, miscalculating risk, or unquestioningly accepting a potentially damaging organizational culture. Discuss whether unethical leadership leads to less-than-ideal outcomes. What could have been done to prevent the associated problems from occurring?
PLEASE REPLY TO MY CLASSMATE RESPONSE TO THE ABOVE QUESTIONS AND EXPLAIN WHY YOU AGREE? (A MINIMUM OF 125 WORDS or MORE)
It is no question to me that unethical leadership leads to less-than-ideal outcomes. When the leader of an organization behaves unethically, he or she is setting the organization up to experience a great deal of issues. Take for example a leader that utilizes his or her authority for personal, monetary gain. While the leader is behaving unethically to advance themselves, they are stealing from the organization and the people that they have promised to serve. When the unethical behavior is exposed, the organizational culture and the trust that the other employees have placed in the organization and the leadership will falter.
In order to prevent these issues and these outcomes, it is essential for an organization to create a culture of ethical behavior from the very beginning. Employees, upon entering the organization, should receive clear training and support for ethical behavior. In addition to this training and support, I believe that maintaining accountability at all levels of the organization is a vital component of ethical behavior. When an individual is held accountable for their actions and must report to another individual, they will be less likely to participate in unethical behavior. All employees, including the highest leaders of an organization, need to be held accountable for all of their actions, ethical or not.