Description

Chapter 6 covers the concepts related to leading with integrity, including ethical behavior, values, and character. Discuss your own reflection to the topics covered in chapter 6 and relate them to your experiences and observations as a leader. Remember that your response should reflect awareness and understanding of chapter topics and should show evidence that you have read and listened to provided content. After you have provided your own response, don’t forget to respond to at least one classmate. I want to encourage you to find a classmate that discovered something different than your own observation.

Notes for Chapter 6: Leading with Integrity
Assumptions about ethical leadership:
1. Ethics is the heart of leadership
◦ Do you usually think of ethics when you discuss leadership or do you focus more on results, outcomes and effectiveness
◦ Are ethics more important than outcomes?
2. All leadership is values-driven
◦ Are there types of leadership/positions that are values-neutral?
◦ Do you need to use ethics in all decisions/actions? Do you always have a values point of view?
3. Personal values intersect with organizational values
◦ How do you investigate the values of an organization?
◦ Does everyone in an organization need to agree on what is ethical?
4. Ethical leadership can be learned
◦ Think of a time when you have learned ethics for participating in something?
◦ Can you learn ethics on your own?
5. Ethical leadership involves a connection between ethical thought and action
◦ Actions are tied to ethics
◦ Consider actions that may challenge your personal ethics and values
6. Character development is an essential ingredient of ethical leadership
◦ How do you react to individuals or organizations that are in conflict with your personal ethics?
7. Ethical leadership is a shared process
◦ Do you actively discuss ethics and values within your organizations? With friends?
◦ Who is responsible for ensuring the ethics of an organization?
8. Everything with do teaches
◦ “Newspaper rule”
◦ Social media rule
◦ “Everyone else does it” rule
◦ How do these rules shape leader/organization behaviors?
Kidder’s Ethical Decision Making Model:
(Consider different situations that you may encounter as a leader. Which model of decision making would best assist you/your organization in making a decision?)
• Ends-Based Thinking: Do whatever produces the greatest good for the greatest number
• Rule-Based Thinking: This rule is firmly placed on duty. What we should do over what we think we might do
• Care-Based Thinking: “The Golden Rule”. Treat others as you want to be treated
Individual Values Activity:
Link to Values Assessment-VIA: Institute on Character
o viacharacter.org
o You may create an account and take the assessment OR utilize the listed
values to create your own list
• Compile a list of your top 5-7 values (You may use the VIA Assessment or your
own compiled list)
• Are there any that you would be willing to give up?
• Circle your top value (this should be something that you are unwilling to
compromise)
• Underline the value that you would be most willing to compromise
• Place an * by any values that actively correspond to activities or organizations
that you are currently a member of