writing assignment

Running Head: ETHICS OF STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP IN SPORTS 1

ETHICS OF STRATEGIC LEADERSHIP IN SPORTS 4

Ethics of Strategic Leadership in Sports

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The Ethics of Strategic Leadership in a Sports Organization

Leadership plays a vital role in determining the success of an organization. The fundamental meaning of leadership embraces the moral relationship between leader and his or her followers. In other words, leadership is more about relationships which are to a large extent sustained by the moral values of the leaders. The moral values upheld by a leader form the basis of their leadership behavior which might be effective or ineffective. Ethics is about right and wrong. Ethics are the principles that distinguish the right from the wrong. Ethics in leadership shapes the organization by guiding decision making on values (Angela Lumpkin, 2014). An ethical leader is a valuable asset the sets a vision for the organization and inspires others to adopt the ethical behaviors.

Ethics in leadership can be measured by the amount of adherence to core values such as integrity, honesty, trustworthiness etc. core values held by a leader eventually trickle down to the followers and are embraced, nurtured and perpetuated throughout the entire organization. Integrity for example is probably the most important ethical value that all leaders should embrace. Integrity defines what an individual believes in and values. Usually, when a leader’s beliefs and values relate to what is good and true, they demonstrate integrity and they do not deviate from it to fulfill a selfish gains (Angela Lumpkin, 2014). Ethics help leaders to make decisions and behave in the most appropriate manner.

Ethics in leadership facilitate formation of an ethical culture that is grounded in core values. The core values further guide actions and generally sets an organization apart through its unique identity and exemplary behavior. When employees are led by an ethical leader, they feel psychologically safe and this eventually leads to greater effectiveness, efficiency and transparency in all their actions (Angela Lumpkin, 2014). It is important to highlight that ethical leadership resides within a leader but eventually disseminates outside making it visible to the followers. A leader who is ethical will demonstrate appropriate conduct in action and in relations and use communication, reinforcement and decision making to inspire the followers adopt the ethics (Ibrahim, 2017). Bottom line is, incorporating ethic and leadership in most leadership decisions and actions have ethical implications on the people who depend on the leaders.

Management is about people and leadership is about leading people. This means that everything that a manager or a leader does has it effectiveness determined by the meaning that people attach to it. Leadership is value based. Sports organizations are known to suffer from financial irregularities, recognition issues, and poor governance arising from political and other interferences among other issues. The sports industry also struggles with outcome uncertainty, ideals of fair play, use of banned substances among players and match fixing (Ibrahim, 2017). The industry is known to lack ethics in its leadership and this causes the public to question the validity of competitions. Scandals in sport revolve around leadership and morality (Ibrahim, 2017). The sports organizations are seen to suffer shortage of ethical leaders because despite replacement, nothing really changes.

Summarily, sports organizations needs leaders who will adopt ethics in making strategic decisions. Ethics in leadership is demonstrated through six main core values; wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance and transcendence. With these core values, a leader in sports organization will respect others, serve others, show justice to others, portray honesty and build an ethical community. Further, honesty, integrity and trustworthiness are at the core of ethics in leadership. Ethics help leaders to lead with purpose and to build enduring organizations while also motivating and inspiring their employees to perform and create long term value for the shareholders.

References

Angela Lumpkin, J. D. (2014). Ethical Leadership in Intercollegiate Athletics. The Journal of Values-Based Leadership, 1-12.

Ibrahim, L. Y. (2017). LEADERSHIP & ETHICAL LEADERSHIP IN SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS: A REVIEW. Leadership, 1-16.