Leadership and Ethics
Leadership is defined as a set of skills which drives the influence, interaction and behavior of a person in a group or organization in order to achieve a specific set of goals (Yuki 2013) whereas Mullins (2010) described leadership as the use of getting others to execute things willingly and exercising authority in decision making.
Ethical leadership is vital and should be practiced in organizations as it could pave the way to profitability and investor confidence. An ethical leader applies fairness to all within the organization based on key criteria’s such as moral values, needs and rights of the employers (Mullins 2010).
Notably, there are two theories governing ethics which are deontological ethics and teleological ethics. According to BBC (2014), deontological ethics involve actions of doing the right thing which produces positive consequences. Deontological ethics practices positive moral values at all times which avoids killing, stealing, or even lying. However, the negative impact of this practice as perceived by philosopher Kant was illustrated through lying to protect a friend from danger was deemed wrong. Conversely, teleological ethics is based on results or consequences. BBC (2014) quotes that teleological ethics is a principle based on two elements which include observing the results to see if an act is right or wrong and the consequences of an act depends on how right the act is considered. Albeit this principle is flexible as multiple amount of circumstances are acceptable, individuals should identify and carefully study the consequences of their actions before making a decision.
Ethical leadership model which was founded by Dr. Bill Grace is based on faith and ethics. This led to the development of the 4-V model on ethical leadership which sets the internal beliefs and values followed by the actions (Kar n.d.). According to Kar (n.d.), Bill Grace’s four pillars are based on values, vision, voice and virtue. Values indicate the understanding on the individual’s core value by discovering the identity of once self, choices made and personal civic lives. Vision is depicted by the ability for others to see the real picture on how the actions ought to be. Voice demonstrates the process of executing our vision to others by claiming our voice and finally virtue determines the ethics of a leader and by practicing this behavior enables an individual to analyze between right and wrong.
Figure 1: 4-V Model by Dr Bill Grace
The CEO of Apple – Tim Cook can be considered as an ethical leader. In the year 2017, Apple admitted that their IOS software had caused the older iPhone models to slow down resulting in a drastic drop in performance in order to protect the batteries that can shutdown unexpectedly (Leswing 2017). According to Mills (2018), the CEO apologized for the iPhone battery’s miscommunication and explained the battery’s designated function as some customers assumed this move as planned obsolescence. Additionally, apart from the full apology from the CEO, Apple had offered customers a battery replacement program at only USD 29 from its normal USD 79 price in order to regain customer satisfaction and improve the older iPhone performance again (Mills 2018). In 2019, Apple reported that they replaced 10 times more than the expected batteries amounting to 11 million iPhones from an initial target of 2 million iPhones (Haselton 2019).
An unethical leadership example would be Elizabeth Holmes – CEO of Theranos, a US company which was invented to revolutionize the blood test industry but was charged with fraud (Robbins 2018). The author added that the company faced accusations in 2016 by deceiving the investors on the usage of hi-tech equipment for blood testing which was claimed to be accurate. In actual fact, majority of the blood tests were carried out by machines from other companies. Besides, the company mislead investors into believing that their device was also used in the Department of Defense. This misguided investment caused investors to lose nearly USD 1 billion due to the collapse of the company and the laying off of staffs which eventually led to the company winding up in 2018 (Huddleston 2018). Elizabeth Holmes who was once known to be one of the most successful female entrepreneurs valued at USD 9 billion has now become a bittersweet history (Abelson 2018).
It can be established that ethical leadership is vital for an organization to lead employees to build good relationship, trust, integrity and transparency in order to attain sustainable growth and success (Duggan 2018). Besides, an ethical leader should consider weighing both Deontological and Teleological ethic principle before making decisions. With good ethical values, all decision making can be executed confidently to steer the company to greater heights and instilling confidence in both current and prospective investors.
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References
Abelson, R. (2018) ‘Theranos is Shutting Down’ .The New York Times[online] 5th September. Available from <https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/05/health/theranos-shutting-down.html/> [21 January 2019].
BBC (2014) Consequentialism [online] available from <http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/consequentialism_1.shtml/> [23rd January 2019].
BBC (2014) Duty based Ethics[online] available from <Duwww.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/duty_1.shtml#h1/> [23rd January 2019].
Duggan, T. (2018) ‘what are the key elements of ethical leadership in an organization’’.AZcentral [online] 18thApril. Available from <https://yourbusiness.azcentral.com/key-elements-ethical-leadership-organization-8819.html/> [24 January 2019].
Haselton, T. (2019) ‘Apple reportedly replaced about 10 times more iphone batteries than expected to’.CNBC[online] 15th January. Available from <https://www.cnbc.com/2019/01/15/apple-upgraded-10-to-11-million-batteries-according-to-report.html/> [23 January2019].
Huddleston Jr, T. (2018) ‘Infamous blood testing company Theranos is shutting down-look back at some of the top revelations about its demise’’.CNBC[online] 5th September. Available from <https://www.cnbc.com/2018/09/05/theranos-shutting-down–look-back-at-revelations-from-bad-blood.html/> [21 January 2019].
Kar, S. DR. (nd) ‘Ethical Leadership: best Practice for Success ’. Journal of bussiness and Management[online]112-116. Available fromhttp://www.iosrjournals.org/iosr-jbm/papers/ICIMS/Volume-1/14.pdf> [23rd January 2019].
Lee, S. (2018) ‘Tim Cook apologizes, says iphone users can disable battery slowdowns in next iOS update’.Siliconbeat[online] 18th January. Available from <http://www.siliconbeat.com/2018/01/18/tim-cook-apologizes-says-iphone-users-can-disable-battery-slowdowns-next-ios-update/> [22 January 2019].
Leswing, K. (2017) ‘Tim cook needs to take responsibility for apples battery scandal’ .Business Insider [online] 30th December. Available from <https://www.businessinsider.com/tim-cook-needs-to-take-responsibility-for-apple-iphone-battery-scandal-2017-12/?IR=T/> [24 January 2019].
Mills, C. (2018) ‘Apple CEO Tim Cook ‘deeply apologizes’ for iphone battery ‘miscommunication’’.BGR[online] 17th January. Available from <https://bgr.com/2018/01/17/tim-cook-iphone-battery-apology-interview-replacement/> [22 January 2019].
Mills, C. (2018) ‘Apple CEO Tim Cook ‘deeply apologizes’ for iphone battery ‘miscommunication’’.BGR [online] 17th January. Available from <https://bgr.com/2018/01/17/tim-cook-iphone-battery-apology-interview-replacement/> [22 January 2019].
Mullins, L. J. (2010) Management & Organizational behavior [online] 9th Edition available from <http://www.mim.ac.mw/books/Management%20&%20Organisational%20Behaviour,%209th%20edition.pdf> [18th January 2019].
Robbins, R. (2018) ‘Theranos and Elizabeth Holmes Charged with Fraud’’.SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN[online] 14th March. Available from <https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/theranos-and-elizabeth-holmes-charged-with-fraud/> [21 January 2019].
Weinstein, B. (2017) ‘Apple CEO Tim Cook Does This Every Day Amd So Should You’.Forbes[online] 10th June. Available from <https://www.forbes.com/sites/bruceweinstein/2017/06/10/apple-ceo-tim-cook-does-this-every-day-and-so-should-you/#1b6e884124ac/> [23 January 2019].
Yukl, G. (2013) Leadership in Organizations [online] 8th Edition available from <https://businessksu.files.wordpress.com/2017/02/leadership_in_organizations__8th_edition____yukl__gary_a_.pdf> [18th January 2019].
CULCPrashanthGeorge 
Hi Prashan, well done on your research, i am fully agree with your blog statement which is “an ethical leader should consider weighing both Deontological and Teleological ethic principle before making decisions”. because a lot cases is when the scandal discover by public already only apply the ethical action do you agree with my stand point and why?
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Hi Alex, I fully agree with your stand that when scandal occurs then only leaders start using ethical action. This scenario may happen to some leaders but not all that may not practice ethical leadership until there is an issue brought up. Hence it is vital for Leaders to practice ethical leadership from the beginning.
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Hi Prashanth, good write! Just want some sharing from you, what / how do you do if you realize that your manager / team lead, who is having a good relationship with you, is performing unethical for him / her self-interest ??
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Hi Amy, tricky question it is. Based on my opinion if the leader is actually in good terms with me, i would stand my ground and advise in a way that will make him look at the big picture of the consequences of his action first before reporting it. This is because characters can be changed based on advises. However if the leader does not take my advice, it is better to inform the HR department on this suspicious act.
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Great sharing Prashanth. How would you react if the upper management of your current workplace involved in unethical practices?
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Hi Fong, Thanks. Currently in the workplace that i am, consist of an act where if we suspect any unethical doings and practices should be reported to the HR department based on whistleblowing act.
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Which Ethics Theories do you prefer most of the time and why?
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Hi jeremy, Personally i would prefer to have both deontological and teleological. However i would lean more towards teleological because of its flexbility and acceptability in various situations.
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Hi Prashanth, how would you manage a subordinate who gets involved in unethical practices at work?
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Hi sara, As a leader who oversees subordinates, i would advise and understand why a person first why they are acting this way. If there is positive outcome, it is successful however upon failure, this unethical act should be discussed with HR and necessary party to proceed.
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Hi Prashant, great examples on unethical and ethical leaders. If your opinion, how can an unethical leader redeem themselves?
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Hi Piaree. Thanks. In My opinion the leader should make a public apology and redeem himself in order to gain trust again. Once trust is gained and old ways are change, it is possible to redeem themselves.
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