18 Oct Ethics in Leadership

Ethics in Leadership

This course has major project assignments that will be due in Weeks 3 and 5. It will take more than a week’s effort to adequately complete them. Plan time to start the research and other work for those assignments earlier than the week in which they are due.     

 

For the course project, you will assess the ethical nature of leadership by studying a current or historical leader. Choose a famous leader with readily available information (e.g., press releases, organizational websites, published biographies, etc.) that you can research. Consult with your instructor early in the week if you need assistance. You will be using the same leader for the Week 1, Week 3, and Week 5 assignments.

 

For the Week 1 paper, prepare a biographical introduction of your chosen leader that summarizes:

 

who the leader is,

 

what era the leader came from,

 

what organization the leader is or was affiliated with,

 

why this leader is worthy of study,

 

the specific leadership theory/style this leader used, citing specific examples and research to support your assessment.

 

Next, analyze this leader in terms of moral intelligence and credibility as a leader, citing evidence to support your perspectives. Specifically, this section should assess any gaps between espoused values and actual behaviors.

 

Next, analyze the alignment of the leader’s values and behaviors with the organizational values expressed in vision, mission, and value statements of the organization most closely affiliated with the leader, as well as any other indicators of organizational culture.

 

Finally, synthesize a personal reflection of “lessons learned” that includes at least two key take aways that you can apply to your own leadership practice.

 

 

 

LEA5125 Leadership Ethics, Culture and Politics

 

Week 2 Project

 

Positive Leadership Behavior

 

This course has major project assignments that will be due in Weeks 3 and 5. It will take more than a week’s effort to adequately complete them. Plan time to start the research and other work for those assignments earlier than the week in which they are due.

 

Choose a well-known leader who is considered an exemplar of good leadership or among the most admired in the country. You may use the same leader that you are using in your major project or you may choose a different leader. Conduct research to find out how the leader’s company inspires the workers and managers to emulate the positive attributes reported in the leader’s profile. If possible, call the corporate headquarters of the leader’s company and ask how the company develops leadership skills among its high potential managers.

 

In a three- to four-page paper, address the following:

 

Briefly discuss the leader, explain what organization the leader works for and what position within that organization the leader holds, and provide a brief biography of your chosen leader.

 

What are this leader’s positive attributes? What makes him or her the exemplar of ethical leadership?

 

How does this leader model positive, ethical leadership behavior for others?

 

Based on what you’ve learned about the leader, how would you model positive, ethical leadership behavior for others as a leader?

 

How does modeling positive, ethical leadership behavior allow leaders in general to set the standards of the organization?

 

Based on the reading and research you have done, what do you believe are the three most important qualities a leader who models positive, ethical leadership behavior must possess? Why?

 

 

 

LEA5125 Leadership Ethics, Culture and Politics

 

Week 3 Project

 

Principles and Power in Leadership

 

This course has major project assignments that will be due in Weeks 3 and 5. It will take more than a week’s effort to adequately complete them. Plan time to start the research and other work for those assignments earlier than the week in which they are due.

 

Using the famous leader you chose in Week 1, you will evaluate the leader based on course concepts covered in the last two weeks.

 

Summarize the key details about your chosen leader.

 

Who is s/he?

 

What is the organization?

 

What are one or two important points you have learned so far in your study of the leader?

 

This section of your paper should only be 1 or 2 paragraphs.

 

Analyze the leader’s alignment to the four universal principles: integrity, responsibility, compassion, and forgiveness, citing examples and research to support your assessment. In essence, how did the leader demonstrate (or not demonstrate) those principles in his or her leadership practice?

 

Analyze the different bases of power this leader used, citing examples and research to support your assessment. In essence, how did this leader demonstrate use of power and which bases of power did s/he use to influence others?

 

Analyze the demonstrated beliefs of this leader, citing examples and research to support your assessment. In essence, what did the leader appear to believe about:

 

people inside the organization,

 

people outside the organization,

 

power,

 

processes and policies,

 

profit (or other relevant outcomes).

 

Analyze how this leader affected the culture of his or her organization, citing examples and research to support your assessment. In essence,

 

How did this leader’s attitudes and actions affect followers?

 

Which behaviors had a strong effect on followers?

 

Was this leader credible? Based on what evidence?

 

How did this leader’s attitudes and actions influence the organization’s ethical practices?

 

Was the leader an ethical leader? Based on what evidence?

 

 

 

LEA5125 Leadership Ethics, Culture and Politics

 

Week 4 Project

 

Leadership through Serving Others

 

Servant leadership is an alternative approach to leadership where the leader’s purpose is to serve others. This leadership philosophy gained support in the 1970s, and it stems from the leader being a servant to others first and a leader second. It is a philosophy where the leader gains the respect and trust of others by putting their needs before his or hers. This leader motivates others through supporting them in achieving their goals.

 

Conduct research on Servant Leadership (i.e., Robert K. Greenleaf or others) and what it means to be a servant leader, and in a three- to four-page paper, complete the following:

 

Analyze the relationship between servant leadership and ethical leadership, including moral intelligence.

 

Analyze the relationship between servant leadership and at least one other values-based form of leadership such as transformational leadership, authentic leadership, or relational leadership.

 

Choose a leader whom you believe to be a true servant leader, and assess why this person is a servant leader. Cite specific examples to support your conclusions.

 

Analyze how servant leadership may affect your current organization if all leaders were to practice servant leadership as their dominant leadership style.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

LEA5125 Leadership Ethics, Culture and Politics

 

Week 5 Project

 

Final Course Project—Self-Reflection of Leadership

 

This course has major project assignments due in Weeks 3 and 5. It will take more than a week’s effort to adequately complete them. Plan time to start the research and other work for those assignments earlier than the week in which they are due.

 

In Weeks 1 and 3, you focused on a famous leader and his or her leadership style, ethics, moral intelligence, credibility, principles, power, and beliefs. You also assessed the effect the leader had on the culture and ethics of the organization. Now, it is time to take what you have learned in those areas and apply it in self-reflection.

 

Analyze your own principles, values, beliefs, and behaviors, citing examples and research to support your assessment.

 

What are your fundamental principles (e.g., four universal principles)?

 

What are your core values?

 

What are your beliefs about people in organizations, people outside organizations, power, processes/policies, and profit?

 

In what ways do your behaviors align (or don’t align) to your principles, values, and beliefs?

 

From research, choose two leadership theories that you most relate to in terms of your own leadership. Provide a substantive synthesis of each leadership theory, including primary authors or researchers, the major points of each theory, and the similarities and differences between the two theories. 

 

Analyze your leadership in relation to each of the two leadership theories, discussing how your principles, values, beliefs, and behaviors align (or don’t align) with each of the theories.

 

Compare your own leadership qualities with that of the leader you used in Weeks 1 and 3. Where are you similar to that leader and where are you different from that leader? Use examples and research to support your assessment.

 

Using examples and research, justify at least three key insights from your study that you can use to enhance the ethical aspects of your leadership influence.