Observational Exercise
Ethical Leadership
Purpose
1. To become aware of the dimensions of ethical leadership
2. To assess how actual leaders exhibit ethical leadership
Directions
1. For this exercise, you must observe a public presentation of a leader in your community. This can be a pastor, a college president, a mayor, a city commissioner, the head of a social service agency, or some other community leader.
2. Record what you observe about the leader's ethics in the categories that follow. Try to be thorough in your descriptions of the leader's presentation.
1. The character of the leader: What was the leader like? What kind of person was the leader? What were the leader's and weaknesses?
2. The actions of the leader: How does this leader go about accomplishing goals? Where does the leader stand on (1) showing respect, (2) serving others, and (3) showing justice?
3. The goals of the leader: What were the leader's main goals? Were the leader's goals clear to you and others in the audience? How would you assess the value and worth of those goals?
4. The honesty of the leader: What did you observe about this leader's honesty? Was the leader open and forthright? How authentic did you find this leader to be?
5. The power of the leader: Based on French and Raven's (1959) types of power, what kind of power did this leader exhibit? What did you observe about how this leader would use his or her power with others?
6. The values of the leader: Based on the presentation, what do you think this leader values? What is important to this leader? What values did this leader promote in his or her presentation?
Questions
1. What is your overall assessment of this leader's ethics?
2. What specific examples in the leader's presentation were particularly revealing of the leader's ethics?
3. Which factors of ethical leadership (character, actions, goals, honesty, power, and values) were most apparent in the leader's presentation? Discuss.
4. On a scale from 1 to 10, how would you describe this speaker's ethical leadership? Defend your answer.
Reflection and Action Worksheet
Ethical Leadership
Reflection
1. This chapter suggests that leadership has a moral dimension and that leaders have a responsibility to use their authority for the common good. Do you agree? Discuss.
2. When you consider the character of a leader and what a leader does (the leader's actions), which of these two factors is more important with regard to ethical leadership? Can a person with bad character be an ethical leader? Discuss your answers.
3. In this chapter, the circumstances at Abu Ghraib prison are used as an example of unethical leadership. Do you agree with this assessment? How do you view what happened at Abu Ghraib? What factors explain the leadership ethics in this situation?
4. This chapter includes a story about Richard Lee, the father who coached his son's Little League baseball team. What was your reaction to the story? Do you think Richard was an ethical leader? How would you have responded in this situation?
Action
1. Based on your responses to the Ethical Leadership Styles Questionnaire, what are your core values? Do you think other people know your core values? Are you comfortable talking about these values with others? In your planning for the future (e.g., next five years), how will your values influence what you do? Discuss.
2. Character is a fundamental aspect of ethical leadership. What are your character strengths and weaknesses? List three specific actions you could take to strengthen your character.
3. In the Observational Exercise (12.3), you observed and analyzed the ethical leadership of a specific leader. If you were to apply the same analysis to your own leadership, how would you describe yourself? What factors best explain the ethics of your own leadership? If you were to try to become a more ethical leader, what specific changes should you make in your leadership? Discuss.