Ethical Leadership in Higher Education in the Era of Complexity 203frames will assist university leaders to interrogate available courses of
action systematically and deeply, ensuring that ultimate decisions are
sound and ethically defensible.
11.5 Conclusion
GlobeEthics.net (2015) identifies responsible leadership as a key
component in facing the economic, financial, environmental and social
challenges of the 21st century. Responsible leadership acknowledges
that actions are rooted in value systems and by adhering to these values
and aligning actions to them. It acknowledges the relationship between
responsible decision-making and responsiveness e.g. responsiveness to
the needs of those who are affected by one's decisions and actions.
In the above light, ethical leadership in a higher education context is
a social, relational practice concerned with the moral purpose of higher
education since ethics is about relationships with others and leadership
is a human-centred relational activity (Angus, 2006; Erich &
Klenowsky, 2015). Ethical leaders are individuals who act fairly and
justly and are viewed as caring, honest and principled persons who make
balanced decisions and who communicate the importance of ethics and
ethical behaviour to their followers (Brown & Trevino, 2006).
Moreover, they promote values such as inclusion, collaboration and
social justice when working with all stakeholders.
While it is acknowledged and has been argued that leading higher
education institutions has become ever more complex, and the pressures
unrelenting, the imperative for attention to the ethical dimensions of
leadership and decision-making has never been greater.
Acknowledgement: The research assistance for this article
of Dr Marianne Engelbrecht, Office of the CEO, Council on Higher
Education, is gratefully acknowledged.