Within our turbulent world, authentic leadership is needed more than ever. From fake news to corruption to white collar scandals, the public is anxious and apprehensive to have an ethical, authentic leader that is compelled to act in a way that appeals to not only universal principles of social justice, equality, and benevolent values, but also positive directed emotions of gratitude, kindness, and goodwill (Avolio & Gardner, 2005: p. 318). Ethics encompasses the principles, values, and beliefs that ultimately distinguish the differences between behaviour that is right and behaviour that is wrong (BuildingCapacity, 2013). The purpose of a leader is to influence a group of individuals towards a common goal (BuildingCapacity, 2013).<\/p>\n
As the video (BuildingCapacity, 2013) stated, leaders set the moral tone for the organization because they uphold the values and set the cultural tone. Furthermore, the values and beliefs of top management trickle down through the organization, impacting every individual\u2019s decisions and actions. A leader reinforces trust when he or she acts in an ethical way. Especially being in the nonprofit stream, it is incredibly important for a leader to be ethical because nonprofit organizations survive on the public\u2019s support, which is maintained through trust (BuildingCapacity, 2013). Therefore, it is pivotal for nonprofits to maintain \u201chigh standards of transparency and integrity if they wish to maintain the support of the community\u201d (BuildingCapacity, 2013).<\/p>\n
For example, my organization was exploring the possibility of beginning a nonprofit organization to provide gently used furniture to women that have been abused and are starting their lives over. We went to several women\u2019s shelters to discuss this idea and partner with one. However, there was one shelter that we spoke to in which we got the sense that management was going to look over the furniture before giving it to the abused women. This is a prime example of a nonprofit organization that has non-ethical leadership that operates here in the lower mainland. It is important for an organization to encompass the two values of communication and transparency (BuildingCapacity, 2013).<\/p>\n
Therefore, it is crucial that a leader has a strong moral compass to make decisions. In the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Steven Covey discusses that the most important aspect of becoming a high effective leader is developing strong, uncompromising principles that will be nonnegotiable in the high-stake moments of life (Covey, 1989). There are moments and decisions that showcase a leader\u2019s ethics. He argues that what distinguishes great leaders from poor leaders, is that they have strong values that can be equated to a personal constitution (Covey, 1989: p.115). Similar to a declaration of right of freedoms in which no law can violate citizen\u2019s rights, a leader\u2019s decisions must be judged to the level of ethics that does not violate their personal constitution. Evidently, this illustrates the importance of developing a strong personal constitution before<\/em> the trials and tribulations come. We must decide who<\/em> we are going to be before<\/em> we are tested and in the situations where our integrity and character could be compromised. For example, a few weeks ago when I was beginning the MA of Leadership, we were asked to develop our own personal constitution, so I have included mine. My personal values include, but are not limited to:<\/p>\n These values will be the backbone for what I want to accomplish because it will ultimately inspire trust in my character. People need to trust their leader and what they stand for. I developed this list a few years ago. However, I revamped it slightly during a strategic leadership assessment in my Strategic Leadership class.<\/p>\n Moving forward, in my organization I will foster growth by further basing all of my decisions off my personal constitution in order to become a more strategic and authentic leader. As stated, trust and transparency are both rare and valuable in a turbulent society. I believe that this will provide an environment cohesive to growth.<\/p>\n What is your personal constitution that you will use to guide each and every decision to maintain your ethics as a leader?<\/p>\n Christina<\/p>\n <\/p>\n References<\/p>\n Avolio, B. J., & Gardner, W. L. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership.\u00a0The Leadership Quarterly<\/em>,\u00a016<\/em>, 315\u2013338. https:\/\/ezproxy.student.twu.ca:2420\/10.1016\/j.leaqua.2005.03.001<\/p>\n BuildingCapacity [Poster]. (2013, March 29).\u00a0What is ethical leadership?<\/em>\u00a0Retrieved November 2018, from You Tube: https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=ks2QGoIq5nA<\/p>\n Covey, S. (1989).\u00a0The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change.\u00a0<\/em>New York, NY:\u00a0Simon & Schuster.<\/p>\n Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: theory and practice<\/em> (Eighth ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Within our turbulent world, authentic leadership is needed more than ever. From fake news to corruption to white collar scandals, the public is anxious and apprehensive to have an ethical, authentic leader that is compelled to act in a way that appeals to not only universal principles of social justice, equality, and benevolent values, but … <\/p>\n\n