Essay Example on the Role of Ethics in Leadership in the 21st Century

Introduction

Ethics, like a geographical map, directs every society. It shapes everything and everyone, including the leaders we entrust to lead and show us the way. Leaders themselves cannot lead or direct human conduct without ethics. It is a self-governing system that keeps the society in a state of equilibrium when the eyes of the law are not watching (Duska, 2012). This paper, therefore, seeks to understand what good is, what it means to be a good leader and the role ethics plays in the 21st century.

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Exploring Christian Ethics

What better way to explain ethics, other than exploring Christian ethics and the foundation of moral ethics through Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ as a leader used the ethics of imitation to shape His followers' characters and deeds. The phrase WWJD What Would Jesus Do is popular to most Christians. This phrase means that before one decides to speak or act, one should imagine what Jesus would have done in that particular situation. In the dispute of contextual situations, this ethical methodology could still be the reason the human race considers 'virtue' or 'good' in the first place (Hood, 2013).

Christ is definitely the founder of all Christian ethics. The phrase WWJD should be practical and should not impel us to start walking on water or raising the dead as He did. Christ was a being and divine, both at the same time. In fact, the Chalcedon council describes Him as the human being and not just a being. In other words, He is the archetype of what a human being ought to be. This means that in the same footsteps, in regards to His speech, conduct and behavior, all beings created by Him should imitate Him as the only perfect example (Fedler,2006).

Biblical ethics is seen in the Ten Commandments, The Sermon on the Mount and through prophets like Paul, who like thunderbolts hurled condemnation but still preached about love and care for the weak(Chan, 2015). Amidst all these teachings, it has not been easy to apply biblical teachings in today life experiences. For this reason, Christ taught Ethics of imitation, taught to His disciples to teach them to imitate His virtues (good deeds), His attitude and priorities He displayed while on earth. He anticipated that His disciples would do this in a bid to naturally do the things He did: preaching the good news, being just, caring for the poor and oppressed, healing and suffering for the sake of God's kingdom.

What is "good'?

Without a moral standard, good and evil would be dependent on every individual's perception. However, Christ is the founder of Christian ethics; He also set a standard for morality, what is good and evil (Vardy, 2016). The better two to three centuries of the church, the emphasis was directed on clarifying Christ's role and nature in overcoming evil. Early Christians of the New Testament recognized the power of evil and the role of Jesus; they understood what it meant to love God and their neighbors. The Clarion call In Romans 12:21 describe it better, "Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good."

'Good' in ethics is used to evaluate action, things, and people wholesomely. The terms good and bad are used interchangeably as guidelines for conduct. What is good ethically portrays benefits, something that is useful, helpful, positive and effective. What is bad on the other hand portrays negativity, ineffective and damaging effects (Vaughn, 2015). Therefore, a set of morals based on goodness will be concerned about choices and the anticipated outcome of a course of action.

Why do good and not the opposite? The Utilitarian perspective will concur that doing good maximizes pleasure and minimizes pain. Goodness makes one feel and function better (Mill, 2016). Ethical consideration is better framed in two sides; good or bad, effective or ineffective, what is beneficial and what is harmful. Therefore, when caught in an ethical twist, situation, what one ought to be, how to resolve conflicts and the like, all these should be tackled with the thought of its outcome-is it good, bad, beneficial or harmful.

What does it mean to be a "good" leader?

Leadership is the ability to have influence over a particular group of people and to lead them in a particular direction. This implies that no matter the route or means of acquiring leadership positions, no one can become a leader without having willing followers. Being a good leader means transforming how followers relate with leaders morally. Chan describes good leadership as one that is enlightening, is liberating, just, honest and fair (2015). Moral leadership distinguishes leading out of free will from leading through manipulation, deception and unequal stereotypical grounds.

In leadership, three aspects are of the essence; ethics of the means, ethics of the person and ethics of the end. Ethics of the means is relative to building a moral relationship between followers and leaders. Ethics of the person deals with personal attributes and ethics of the end seeks to evaluate whether a leader's actions serve the greatest good or not. All these three aspects of ethics in leadership are vital. Consider a case where a leader is only ethical in some areas. One may portray person ethical values but use unethical means to gain ethical ends (Ciulla, 2004).

Ethics is at the heart of good leadership. Good leadership centers on the relation between ethics and effectiveness. In retrospect, looking at what an individual is good at and whether an individual is good is simply based on moral ethics. According to Fedler (2006), John Stuart in his argument says that 'an individual's intention will tell you more about the morals of that person.' Similarly, the outcome of one's actions speaks of one's ethical conduct. This being said, it, therefore, means that without a doubt, bad leaders can do good things and good leaders can do bad things.

Ethics and effectiveness are built on the notion of virtue as excellence that entails both moral and technical excellence. This is why leaders who follow this principle do not fail miserably as Hitler did. Regardless of one's accomplishments and influence, without merging ethics and effectiveness, good leadership lacks ground to nourish. In every ethical analysis, a leader should answer three critical moral questions of the essence. Did the leader do the right thing? Was the right thing done in the right way? Did he act for the right reason? (Ciulla, 2004). From this, it is then easy for society to define attributes of what a good leader ought to be.

Role of Ethics in the 21ST Century Organizations

Ethical failures have risen tremendously in the 21st Century compared to the past. Which brings the question, what is the role of ethics? Ethics is not only a map, compass or guide for society. Merely observing ethical failures and pointing them out does not solve the problem or prevent other failures from re-occurring (Bishop, 2013). Ethics, like an unwritten law, should naturally be preventive and lead to a certain course of action. They should teach and act as standards for individuals and organizations.

21st Century Organizations are faced with many ethical dilemmas. Of concern and unique to this century is the use of personal electronics and the outburst of social media platform. This has been difficult for top leaders, especially when it comes to information spillage to its competitors. There are Universal organizational ethics that exist for example; an employee's rights to receive wages after completion of work, there is also a standard 40 hour week an employee is required to work and ethical guidelines on paying employees for overtime work. However, there are individual organization ethical codes of conduct that serve as guidelines for its employees as well.

Today's ethical crisis should help leaders understand that they have a greater responsibility in shaping organizational ethics. However, irresponsible behavior seems to be so common today that what is obvious should be a reminder. Greed and selfish ambitions have made leaders lose track and opt for unethical means.

Far from being a moral or legal responsibility, ethics should be an organizational priority. In a rapidly competitive world, leaders are more concerned about technological advancements, competing with competitor's products and services, globalization and coming up with new inventions within their industry. However, leaders must also keep abreast with their mission, vision, values business ethics and culture of their organization. It is easy to lose track and not find time to prioritize ethics on most organizational plates. However, to flourish in this century, ethics will have to be one of the top priorities for organizational success (Bishop, 2013).

Today's organizations view ethics as forced regulations. However, organizations that have discovered the potential of ethical values often meet great opportunities and continue to beat their competitors. People of all levels or ranking in an organization need ethical values. Organizations in the 21st Century are desperate for an ethical culture (Rushton & Broome, 2016). Since most people spend time at work, it is best to nurture ethical values in the workplace. This can be done through sharing core values such as honesty, fairness, equality, and responsibility; sharing a common ethical language; Having good co-ordination and commitment with top leaders of the organization and having the moral courage to face ethical dilemmas and wrongdoings in the workplace.

Conclusion

In conclusion, understanding what good is, what it means to be a good leader and the role that ethics plays in the 21st-century Organization is progressive. In fact, lifestyle, culture, and ethics are inseparable, determining relations at home, the workplace, and society. Ethics, though unspoken and unprioritized, is the heart of leadership.

References

Antonakis, J., & Day, D. V. (Eds.). (2017). The nature of leadership. Sage publications.Bishop, W. H. (2013). The role of ethics in 21st-century organizations. Journal of Business Ethics, 118(3), 635-637.

Chan, L. (2015). Biblical Ethics: 3D. Theological Studies, 76(1), 112-128.

Ciulla, J. B. (Ed.). (2014). Ethics, the heart of leadership. ABC-CLIO.Duska, R. (2012). Revisiting the egoism question in business. Kantian business ethics: Critical perspectives, 18-34.

Fedler, K. D. (2006). Exploring Christian Ethics: Biblical foundations for morality. Westminster John Knox Press.Hylton Rushton, C., & Broome, M. E. (2016). Everyday Ethics in the 21st Century: Creating and Sustaining a Culture of Ethical Practice.

Mill, J. S. (2016). UtilitarianHood, J. B. (2013). Imitating God in Christ: Recapturing a Biblical Pattern. InterVarsity Press.ism. In Seven masterpieces of philosophy (pp. 337-383). Routledge.Vardy, P. (2016). The puzzle of ethics. Routledge.Vaughn, L. (2015). Doing ethics: Moral reasoning and contemporary issues. WW Norton & Company.