Five Key Habits of Strong

Ethical Leaders
Maria-Alejandra
Business Ethics - BU327-8
3.24.2024
 Introduction

 Ethical leadership brings together legal, moral, ethical, and

social responsibility factors while making decisions,
influencing, and giving strategies for the managing body of
the organization. It accomplishes this by insisting on the
need of thinking legally but not just legally, rather by
pondering the higher order issues of one's morality and the
condition of society.
 Ethical leadership is an anchor for organizational culture
which is based on reliability, trust, and accountability.
Integrity

 Integrity stands for uncompromising

application of ethical codes and
standards, seeking no lies and underhand
dealings whatsoever. It´s the key &
foundation of professionalism, trust and
reliability for leadership.

 One of the core principles of integrity, as

emphasized by Treviño et al, (2000), is
that it provides the foundation for ethical
leadership which in turn creates an
amiable environment for open and
honest communication.
Empathy

 The empathy skill of a leader is shown in

their understanding and the sharing of
the emotions of others which leads to
maximum productivity is in the
workplace.
 Kellett et al (2002), states that, empathy
in leadership heightens team loyalty and
performance through recognizing and
valuing their emotions and positions .
Fairness

 Leadership fairness brings just solutions

to any decisions and same understanding
for each worker to support equity and
justice of the organization.

 Greenberg (1990) elaborates on the idea

that managing in a fair way results in
employee’s higher satisfaction.
Responsibility

 Responsibility is to have an understanding of

how your decisions and actions affect others and
the environment, which matters, and to consider
accountability.

 In their research Treviño et al,(2000) point out

that responsibility in leadership is vital for the
enhancement of ethical behavior in
organizations. Leaders who accept responsibility
create a good example for the others on their
team. They demonstrate that they respect honesty
and openness and are prepared to own up to their
mistakes. A successful team or organization must
have a culture of open communication and trust,
which is fostered by doing this.
Visionary Leadership

 Leaders with vision and values in the

organization bring and strengthen
positive image for society, and help to
achieve organizational goals under the
umbrella of ethical standards and values.
 Bass and Steidlmeier (1999) agree to
the empowering aspect of ethical
leadership possessed by visionary
leaders for the sake of organizational
sustainable desirability and pro-social
results.
References

 Bass, B. M., & Steidlmeier, P. (1999). Ethics, character, and authentic transformational
leadership behavior. The leadership quarterly, 10(2), 181-217.
 Greenberg, J. (1990). Organizational justice: Yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Journal of
management, 16(2), 399-432.
 Kellett, J. B., Humphrey, R. H., & Sleeth, R. G. (2002). Empathy and complex task
performance: Two routes to leadership. The Leadership Quarterly, 13(5), 523-544.
 Treviño, L. K., Hartman, L. P., & Brown, M. (2000). Moral person and moral manager:
How executives develop a reputation for ethical leadership. California management
review, 42(4), 128-142.
 Weaver, G. R., Treviño, L. K., & Agle, B. (2005). “Somebody I look up to:”: ethical role
models in organizations. Organizational Dynamics, 34(4), 313-330.