ETHICAL FOUNDATIONS

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OF LEADERSHIP
Jonathan A. Odukoya
dayoodukoya@gmail.com
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What is Ethics?
Ethics is a philosophical term
originating from Greek word
“ethos” meaning custom or
character.
Ethics is the code of values and
moral principles that guides
individual or group behaviour
with respect to what is right or
wrong.
They are behaviours that are
legally and morally acceptable
to the larger community
(Trevino, 1986)
 Ethics in Organizational Setting

In an organizational context, ethics can

be viewed as those values and
principles most important [or
contributory] to stakeholders and to
business [prosperity and profitability]
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With over 200 definitions of

leadership, the question
has evolved from
‘what is leadership?’ to
‘what is good leadership?’
- Jessica T. Waggoner (2010)
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Ethics tend to produce good and effective

leaders
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Guess what is the

heart of
Leadership
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Ethics is the heart of leadership.
A good leader is ethical and effective
- Joanne Ciulla(2004)
.
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Core Ethics?
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Core Ethical Foundations

for Great Leadership

Respect
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Core Ethical Foundations

for Great Leadership

Service
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Core Ethical Foundations

for Great Leadership

Justice
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Core Ethical Foundations

for Great Leadership

Honesty
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Core Ethical Foundations

for Great Leadership
Commu
nity
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Respect

Respect is to treat others as ends in themselves

and never as means to ends.
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Respect

“Persons must be treated as having their own autonomously established goals

and must never be treated purely as the means to another’s personal goals.”
– Beauchamp and Bowie (1988, p. 37)
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Respect

As Burns (1978) suggested, leaders should

nurture followers in becoming aware of their own
needs, values, and purposes, and assist followers
in integrating these with the leader’s needs
values, and purposes.
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Respect

True respect thinks

Win-Win
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showing a
disinterested and
Service
selfless concern for
the well-being of
others; unselfish.
Ethical Altruism
A number of ethical theories emphasize
a concern for the interests of others
(ethical altruism). Service is clearly an
example of altruism.
22 researchers should have the
welfare of the research
participant as a goal of any
Service
clinical trial or other
research study.
Beneficence

The leader’s ethical responsibility to serve others is very

similar to the ethical principle in health care of beneficence.
23 showing a
disinterested and Service
selfless concern for
the well-being of
others; unselfish.

Leaders who serve are altruistic: they place

their followers’ welfare foremost in their plans
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Service

Perhaps it is this ethics that gave birth to the

concept of Servant Leadership
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Justice

Ethical leaders are concerned about

issues of fairness and justice. They make
it a top priority to treat all of their
subordinates in an equal manner.
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Honesty

To be a good leader one

must be honest
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Honesty

When leaders are not honest, they are seen as

undependable and unreliable.
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Honesty

For leaders in organizations, being honest means, “Do not promise what
you can’t deliver, do not misrepresent, do not evade accountability …”
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Commu
nity

An ethical leader takes into account the

purposes of everyone involved in the
group and is attentive to the interests of
the community and the culture.
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Commu
nity

Such a leader demonstrates an ethic of caring for others

(Gilligan, l982)
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Commu
nity

This factor, concern for others, is the

distinctive feature that delineates authentic
transformational leaders from pseudo-
transformational leaders (Bass &
Steidlmeier, 1999).
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When a leader loses any or

all of these ethics, what
happens?
 Summary
After a deep reflection on what we
have done so far, I am tempted to
conclude that the core ethical
foundation of great leadership are the
fruits of the Spirit. What do you
think?
Love Joy
 Long-
Peace suffering
Gentlen Goodn
ess ess
 Meekn
Faith ess
Temperance
 These are divine ethics that God
operate. They constitute God’s
character.

These are the attributes that make God

the greatest leader of all times.
 BUT
the greatest is Love
I Cor 13:13
 CLASS ACTIVITY
Talk is cheap
HOW CAN WE TRULY IMBIBE THESE LEADERSHIP ETHICS FOR SPEEDY CONSISTENT FLAWLESS PRACTICE?
5 INTELLIGENCES YOU NEED TO MAKE A MARK IN THE WORLD
Cognitive [General] Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence
Social Intelligence
Financial Intelligence
Spiritual Intelligence***
REFERENCES
 Bass, B. M., & Steidlmeier, (1999). Ethics, character, and authentic
transformational leadership behavior. Leadership Quarterly, 10(2), 181-
217.
 Beauchamp, T. L., & Bowie, N. F. (1988). Ethical theory and business
(3rd ed.). Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
 Burns, J. M. (1978). Leadership. New York: Harper & Row.
 Ciulla, J. (2004). Ethics, the Heart of Leadership. Westport, Connecticut:
Praeger.
 Waggoner, Jessica, (2010). "Ethics and Leadership: How Personal Ethics
Produce Effective Leaders". CMC Senior Theses. Paper 26,
http://scholarship.claremont.edu/cmc_theses/26