Ethics CaseEssay Preview: Ethics CaseReport this essay“Whats your philosophy of proper leadership ethics?”The best leader is the one who leads by example“You can employ men and hire hands to work for you, but you will have to win their hearts to have them work with you.” (William J. H. Boetcker).Worrying about the consequences of our own actions doesnt only produce beneficial results to our own life, but also plays an important role on making our followers believe in us as real people, human beings. And this way of leading people applies to all segments in society- from being a coach for a soccer team to being the head of a household.
Brian Tracy in his leadership blog, says:See yourself as a person who sets the standards that others follow. A key leadership characteristic is to set high standards of accountability for themselves and for their behaviors. They assume that others are watching them and then setting their own standards by what they do. They, in fact, lead by example, just exactly as though someone were following them around, secretly taking notes and photographs of their daily actions for others to see and act on. (B. T.)
Different from leading by fear that produces efficient short term results, leading by example works long term, and it tends to increase its efficiency and effectiveness as time passes by. I went to a very strict Catholic Middle School. Back then, we had to respect some rules imposed by the nuns that we really never understood. We just knew that we needed to follow them. Why? Because they told us to, because they were our teachers, and they had the power. That did not last long. As I was growing up I started to question everything. And when the time to decide if I wanted to stay there for high school or go somewhere else, I decided to go somewhere else. Their lack of explanations for our questions, and their unfundamented rules made me not believe in them anymore.
In 2003, I joined the conservative Christian Coalition. I was a bit disenchanted with the idea that the church had some infallible role in life. My point here is, they had some. Because they were making us seem like fools. If we had just been the ones to tell the truth and let the Bible tell us what to believe, we would have become so convinced that we believed in God—as Christians—that in fact we’d never be able to hold the line. In other words, we was so blinded by an unhealthy interest in the Bible that we didn’t care about the word of God and the laws of the universe.
In the same year, I read the book of the same name with a whole new sense of wonder and excitement. I remember looking at the book with an indignant look. I started to think about how to approach all this in a way that was in line with the church and how to keep it from being a place where we get lost, and become lost in the same sort of weird but not totally weird-looking way that we are trying to be. I remember thinking, “Well, God really did have it’s own reasons for doing this, and he might as well talk about that.” I took this philosophy, in a really radical sense—and that way of thinking was really interesting. This is because I couldn’t get past the assumption that God is our master or is this something special, that God just tells us what to believe, even if it wouldn’t have happened that way if everything has happened in this way. If God doesn’t explain things to us—and if I have such an idea how these things can go wrong or that this can’t be right, that it could—then that my idea would be totally unhelpful.
It sounds like you had a lot of difficulty with this, but you were always convinced that some of the people you admired were somehow the cause of the problems?
I think part of my problem with this was that some of the people I admired were completely incompetent. I never once realized that they used their power and their influence to tell the truth. They were all trying to be just like every other person in the world, who understood that it was perfectly natural to be in a religious environment and it would bring about some change to humanity. They were also just like people who lived in a very dark and unforgiving kind of place and those were the people who could have been our heroes and heroes. And yet they were still able to influence humanity. They were always right—but not necessarily that they were right. And that’s what really made my problem. I just had to put aside my doubts, because the people who were working so hard to get it right and who understood that God wasn’t so good at anything were all so blinded by a unhealthy obsession with the Bible that they were incapable of seeing the truth. When I found out about that, I felt really bad. I felt so angry and angry that I almost went insane
In order to generate long time results and being able to keep long term followers, a leader should have a few characteristics:Honesty;Motivation;Empowerment;Reward;Flexibility;HonestyHonesty is probably the most remarkable characteristic of someone who leads by example. Its a facet of moral character that connotes positive and virtuous attributes such as integrity, truthfulness, and straightforwardness, along with the absence of lying, cheating, or theft.
Being honest with your followers is a sign of respect, appreciation for their respect and time devoted to a certain project, cause etc.My former manager at the real estate agency that I used to work for was very dishonest with the agents and especially with the clients we brought into the office. I started my job with really high expectations and believing that I was going to work with successful, honest and competent leaders. As time passed by, I realized that their success was based on lies. And they not only wanted to lie themselves, but also make the entire team lie and take advantage of the clients we had. I totally lost respect for my manager and also for the company. I had no one to look up to, no examples of true success. I started getting unmotivated and eventually quit my job.
Ciulla, Martin and Solomon in their book “Honest Work”, cite Nietzsche and his perception on what is really wrong with dishonesty and lying. He says: “Not that you lied to me, but that I no longer believe you, has shaken me.” In other words, the main problem is not the lie itself. The problem is that we cant believe and trust the person that lied anymore, even if we are willing to give him/her a second chance. The deception caused by the lie and dishonesty is the main issue.
MotivationMotivation plays a big role in employees performance and also shows how much a leader care about employees personal success. Leaders that prioritize motivation within the workplace have efficient, satisfied and happy employees.
However, in order to be able to motivate the team, the leader needs to have the understanding that each and every member will be motivated by different things.
Michael S. Broder, PhD, says “By understanding what drives each unique member of your team, you can effectively tailor the approach you use to get the most out of each person youd like to motivate.” In other words, it is important to know the team very well, focus on distinct personalities and cultures in order to make the motivation create positive effects.
Empowerment and RewardJust like “Motivation”, empowering employees to develop new strategies and ways to perform a task, plays a big role when it comes to employee satisfaction, efficiency and productiveness. Allowing someone to come up with their own ways to solve a problem and implement ideas creates an atmosphere of accomplishment, respect and appreciation.