Artifact 4 Reflection: My Road to Ethical Leadership: The Past, Present, and Future

In EHHS 75502, Ethical Leadership in Education, we ended the course with a recorded reflection

of what we had learned about ourselves as ethical leaders in the course throughout the various

concepts that were covered. This was an opportunity for me to come full circle, considering the

leadership course from the first semester where I first started intentionally thinking about my leadership

to this course, nearly two years later, where I could reflect on where I was and what type of leader I

wanted to be. Through this assignment and the related concepts we learned during class, I could see

how my early leadership traits have both served me well and hindered my success. I was also able to

identify areas that I want to continue to work on and grow. Finally, I could identify the practical

application of the knowledge to my current role and leadership goals. 

During the first semester of the EdD program, we took a course in leadership. During this

course, I had the opportunity to do what I have always wanted: truly explore, identify, and name the

advising philosophy and approach I have. I saw that semester as an opportunity to explore who I am.

During this course, I reviewed that path in more detail with a look at who I am, not just as a leader but

as an ethical leader. During the course, I was able to see the importance of not just being a leader and

an ethical person but actively being an ethical leader. In this presentation, I reflect on my early

opportunities to have leadership roles in school and early in my career. Some traits, including a strong

moral compass and a balanced combination of soft and hard skills, allowed me to be guided into ethical

leadership. However, confidence has always been a challenge and has hindered my success along my

path. During this course, I realized that my lack of confidence could impact my moral courage,

preventing me from speaking up or taking action toward ethical and social justice issues when they

arise. 
 This presentation also explored who I want to be as I continue to evolve as a leader. In addition

to a desire to grow in my confidence and moral courage, I also identified a need to focus less on what

others think of me and address the inconsistencies between the values of our office and the

expectations of those in higher-up positions. As an ethical leader, I need to recognize the burnout that

this can create in my team and the unfair position it puts them in. By learning about ethical decision-

making models, I could critique how I made decisions and consider the need to consider how I am

making those decisions intentionally. 

During the presentation, I identified some practical applications to what I had learned in the

course that I can use as I continue to grow as a leader. One of the key concepts that I will begin to use in

my practice from the course is the idea of mindful and a mindful moral compass. While I believe that I

have a strong moral compass, it is missing the intentionality needed that comes from mindfulness.

Adding mindfulness to my practice can make me a stronger leader by allowing self-reflection and the

focus required to make effective decisions. In addition, I would like to be more intentional in my

decision-making process and have begun to use Rest’s model for moral reasoning when facing a

complicated and ethical decision. The process of intentionally walking decisions through this model is

helpful for me to understand how I make decisions. Realizing that I am a role model – and an ethical role

model- for my team has been important for me to continue to develop as an ethical leader. 

I appreciated how this class returned me to the concepts I learned during my first semester,

where I began to think about who I was as a leader. In this course, that investigation continued with a

look at who I am as an ethical leader. While I know that I am ethical, the final assignment brought out

some limitations preventing me from being the ethical leader that I want to be and providing concrete

strategies for working toward that goal.