The moral implications of leadership can be far reaching and affect people and organizations deeply. So the role of ethical leadership is paramount because; Leaders set the moral tone of the entire organization. (Van Buren 2013).Being a leader doesn’t mean you’re necessarily ethical but as a leader you need to strive to be more ethical.(Van Buren 2013). Ethical leadership is one that models the work place values and provides necessary information to workers equitably not favoring some over others for them to make the right decisions.(Van Buren 2013). When a leader chooses to play favorites in an organization, it erodes trust among certain sections of the organization and it begins to kill the morale of the organization.

Ethical leadership also require an anchored value and belief system within the leader. And this sense of conviction sends a message to others that they are value based leaders and this creates a culture of trust. “The key distinction is that authentic leaders are anchored by their own deep sense of self; they know where they stand on important issues, values and beliefs. With that base they stay their course and convey to others, oftentimes through actions, not just words, what they represent in terms of principles, values and ethics.” (Avolio, B. & Gardner, W. 2005).

Ethical leadership is also important in service. When an ethical leader chooses to serve those that she/he leads, It boosts the culture of service in the organization.  “Leaders who serve are altruistic: They place their followers’ welfare foremost in their plans. In the workplace, altruistic service behavior can be observed in activities such as mentoring, empowerment behaviors, team building, and citizenship behaviors, to name a few” (Kanungo & Mendonca, 1996, as cited by Northouse 2016).

 

Ethics are the principles, values and beliefs that define what is right and what is wrong behavior (Van Buren 2013). It is difficult to achieve their goals except through modeling the principles, values and beliefs of what is right and what is wrong. People carry on what we model to them. So as a leader in church, I can enable my church grow and thrive by;

Modeling the kind of leadership that does not favor some above others. A non-ethical leader is one who promotes workers based on favoritism not performance performance.(Van Buren 2013) favoritism creeps into the very soul of an organization and incapacitates health within the team and mistrust rather than trust is the order of the day.

By setting an moral example to the leaders in the youth ministry where I directly serve. Living a moral example is paramount for any leader. By visibly being a role model, it sets a culture for my followers to do the same. This example should be through our actions and the way we conduct ourselves. Leaders set the moral tone of the organization. Leaders uphold the shared values of the organization and set the cultural tone (Van Buren 2013)

Institutionalize an ethical culture. We recently had to get our leaders to sign a covenant, which stipulates that they will conduct themselves in a manner of integrity and high moral standards for the sake of the young people we serve. We will do an evaluation bi-yearly as to how the leaders are keeping up with the covenant they offered. It is important to measure performance against some code of ethics. (Van Buren 2013)

By providing a protective canopy for the vulnerable among my followers who might have some information about a leader regarding their ethical conduct. When people know they can be protected and no reprimand will be given for truthfully reporting such unethical behavior, then we can have an organization that is self-invigilating to ensure the institutional integrity is safe. (Van Buren 2013)

Authenticity is key in leadership and in organizational growth. As a leader, I chose to be true to myself and chose not to be non-conformist. I chose to be motivated by personal convictions as I serve those around me. In building authenticity, I chose to be an ‘original and not a ‘copy’. (Avolio, B. & Gardner, W. 2005)

 

References:

Avolio, B., & Gardner, W. (2005). Authentic leadership development: Getting to the root of positive forms of leadership. Leadership Quarterly, 16 (3), 315–338.

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: Theory and practice, Seventh Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Van Buren, J. A. [Building Capacity]. (2013, March 29). What is Ethical Leaderhsip? [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ks2QGoIq5nA