Ethical behavior is a key quality for leaders because it inspires trust, loyalty and effective leader-follower relationships. Today young executives are more worried about their company's is involvement in a hostile takeover and their fighting for existence than ethics. You don't have to put ethics on hold while trying to win a corporate battle. Without ethics, even if you win you lose. Every time we say or do something unethical, we cut away at the foundations of our moral character and the reputation of our organizations. If we're going to make a difference, we must set high ethical examples for others to follow. While making a profit is the prime purpose of most businesses, it is common in the corporate world for profits to become the only measure of business success.
If I plan on being a leader in my career, it is important to know when to take a stand on difficult issues.
NASA Equal Employment Opportunity Medal
Journal of Business Ethics
Society for Business EthicsI can't lead if I am wishy-washy or indecisive. Yet that doesn't mean I shouldn't be open to new arguments. Many of the most significant ethical discussions have strong points on both sides. You and others may have completely different views, but you can't let that stand in the way of respecting each other's differences. As our workforce becomes more diverse, it is more important than ever for our leaders to bring from the melting pot a shared system of values.
Leaders have to express mutual respect for others and their talents, treating them fairly and consistently. Equality towards employees does not mean that all employees should have the same allocation of distribution of benefits and burdens. It requires the approach that depends on the diversity of different groups and their contributions. In the sense of fairness, information sharing, training, reward systems and equal employment...