Essay Prompt:
Essay #2: In chapter #6 of your textbook The Leadership Experience, the author Richard Daft makes a point to focus on Moral and Ethical Leadership. Morals are principles that govern a person’s behavior or activities. In business we can say that ethics is the study of what constitutes right and wrong behavior in the workplace or in a professional setting (e.g., school, organization, group etc.). According to Daft, many ethical problems exist in today’s business environment because leaders face many pressures that challenge their ability to make the right decisions. Pressures to maximize profit, meet short-term department goals, to look successful to everyone around them, to please shareholders, etc. Even as a college student you may encounter ethical dilemmas in the course of your academic career. With the pressure to achieve and maintain a high-grade point average (GPA) students may feel the pressure to continue to perform at a high level whatever the cost may be. With that pressure and the ability for students to easily share information, students may be presented with the opportunity or the temptation to cheat on an exam or on their course work. As a student this may be an ethical or moral dilemma that you may find yourself facing at some point in your academic career. Whether in a business environment or academic setting, many of you will be faced with the realities of greed, dishonesty, self-interest, competition, and many more. However, when faced with these realities leaders can act based on moral values and choose to make the right decision. According to Daft, this is called leading with courage.
Writing assignment: As a business leader over the course of your career while trying to maximize profits and guide your organization with ethical decision making, you may find that certain behavioral traits will assist you with your success. Moral leadership doesn’t mean ignoring the realities of profit and loss or manufacturing cost and achieving department goals, but it does require recognizing that all of these goals can be accomplished by means of ethical leadership. Using Exhibit 6.1 on page 171, list 2-3 behavioral traits that ethical leaders should tot only have but demonstrate on a daily basis. The first part of your essay should describe low a leader’s behavioral traits can lead to success while exercising ethical decision making
n the business environment. The second part of your essay should focus on specific ways