Leadership research

Unit VII Ethical Leadership Transcript

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Dr. Sonya Rogers: In this unit, we will discuss leadership styles and how

that relates to social responsibility as well as decision-making for team

leadership. So, we know that leaders often face moral dilemmas, sometimes

on a daily basis. Dr. Hargadon, what do you think unethical behavior in an

organization is like and how could that negatively affect the business and the

workers who work within?

Dr. John Hargadon: Well, unethical behavior certainly is not something that

needs to be promoted or celebrated within an organization. There are

multiple examples of how unethical behavior has actually ended companies,

right?

Sonya: Mm-hm.

John: The Enron, WorldCom, all those sort of classic examples of individuals

who put the profit margins and their own personal gain and satisfaction

ahead of the individuals within the organization. And really utilizing unethical

behavior

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created significant problems for the organizations that have in fact caused

those organizations to just no longer exist, to be quite frank with you.

Sonya: Mm-hm.

John: And so the ultimate negative repercussions of unethical behavior

could, in fact, be the end of businesses depending upon what kind of

business you're in, that there could be regulatory problems if you're in some

sort of finance banking, something like that, certainly those are highly

regulated.

Unethical behavior is almost always going to be figured out eventually, if

you're doing something like that. But even on a smaller scale, right?

Unethical behavior might not necessarily be quite that extreme or quite that

dramatic, so that it ends up on TV and the end of these billion dollar

corporations and people going to jail and such. Unethical behavior can be

something as simple as someone who doesn't necessarily deserve a

promotion gets the promotion.

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It can be taking office supplies home with you because you just don't feel

like going and buying them yourselves.

Sonya: Mm-hm.

John: And so when other people see unethical behavior going on, first of all,

it kind of provides a license for others to do it, but then it can, for those who

aren't interested in participating in that kind of behavior, really creates

morale problems.

Sonya: Mm-hm.

John: So unethical behavior can be significant, it can be severe, it can create

major, legal, regulatory problems for organizations. But even if it doesn't

reach quite that level, it still creates significant problems and can create

significant problems within the organization. Lack of trust, those types of

things can certainly be a result of unethical behavior.

Sonya: Do you think if members are able to get away with doing some

things inappropriately over a period of time that they continue to do it until

they're caught?

John: Well, I think that's sort of human nature, right? So whatever behaviors

we’re

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allowed to engage in, those behaviors are likely going to continue.

Sonya: Mm-hm.

John: So anyone who’s in a leadership position, first of all, needs to be

setting an example.

Sonya: Mm-hm.

John: Some of the other units that we've talked about, the humility and

wanting to establish and instill trust between the leader and the followers-

Sonya: Mm-hm.

John: Unethical behavior is going to erode that extremely quickly.