Is There a Moral Dimension to Leadership?
The topic of leadership and ethics has received surprisingly little attention. Only very
recently have ethicists and leadership researchers begun to consider the ethical impli-
cations in leadership.^87 Why now? One reason may be the growing general interest in
ethics throughout the field of business. Another reason may be the discovery by prob-
ing biographers that some of our past leaders suffered from ethical shortcomings.
Regardless, no contemporary discussion of leadership is complete without addressing
its ethical dimension.
Ethics relates to leadership in a number of ways. Transformational leaders, for instance,
have been described by one authority as encouraging moral virtue when they try to
change the attitudes and behaviours of followers.^88 Charisma, too, has an ethical com-
ponent. Unethical leaders are more likely to use their charisma to enhance power over
followers, directed toward self-serving ends. We prefer to believe that ethical leaders
use their charisma in a socially constructive way to serve others.^89 Consider, too, the
issue of abuse of power by leaders—for example, when they give themselves large salaries
and bonuses while also trying to cut costs by laying off long-time employees.
Leadership effectiveness needs to address the means that a leader uses in trying to
achieve goals, as well as the content of those goals. For instance, at Enron, employees were
driven by the top executives to keep Enron stock prices up, at whatever cost. “The driver
was this unbelievable desire to keep portraying Enron as something very different and
keep the track record going and going,” said Forrest Hoglund, who ran Enron’s oil and
gas exploration until 1999.^90 To achieve these goals, executives inflated revenues and hid
debts. CEO and chair Kenneth Lay thus led his subordinates to achieve stock price goals
no matter how this was accomplished. Anyone who questioned what the company was
doing was ignored or dismissed.
Ethical leadership must also address the content of a leader’s goals. Are the changes
that the leader seeks for the organization morally acceptable? Is a business leader effec-
tive if he or she builds an organization’s success by selling products that damage the
health of their users, such as tobacco executives have done. Is a military leader success-
ful when winning a war that should not have been fought in the first place?
Professor James Clawson of the Darden Graduate School of Business, University of
Virginia, suggests that there are four cornerstones to a “moral foundation of leadership”:^91
- Truth telling.Leaders who tell the truth as they see it allow for a mutual, fair
exchange to occur. - Promise keeping. Leaders need to be careful about the commitments they make,
and then careful to keep those commitments. - Fairness.Leaders who are equitable ensure that followers get their fair share for
their contributions to the organization. - Respect for the individual.Leaders who tell the truth, keep promises, and are fair
show respect for followers. Respect means treating people with dignity.
Moral leadership comes from within the individual, and in general means treating
people well, and with respect. This chapter’s Ethical Dilemma Exerciseon page 287–288
raises some provocative issues about whether we should consider just the ends toward
which a leader strives, or the means as well.
Gender: Do Men and Women Lead Differently?
An extensive review of the literature suggests two conclusions.^92 First, the similarities
between male and female leaders tend to outweigh the differences. Second, what dif-
ferences there are seem to be that women fall back on a more democratic leadership style
while men feel more comfortable with a directive style.
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