writing assignment

Running Head: LEADERSHIP AND ETHICS 1

LEADERSHIP AND ETHICS 4

Leadership and Ethics In Sports Organizations

Donnell Williams

Belhaven University- Jackson, MS

October 31, 2020

Leadership and Sports Ethics in Sports Organizations

Ethical leadership is paramount in sports organizations. If the sports organizations are to overcome the attack on corruption, moral bankruptcy and cases of sports variables manipulation, then ethical leadership must be upheld. Recently, the sports organizations have been in the front line in matters of unethical behavior and behaviors aimed at serving self-interests and interest of just a few people within the organization. Integrity of sports organization can only be upheld when harmful practices involving fraud, deceit, and avoidance of social responsibilities and human rights violations are exterminated. At the same time, the win-at-all cost mentality of sport organizations which has benefited a few while leaving others with damages must be addressed accordingly. Lastly, the abuse of power in sport organization closes the endless list of ethical issues in sport organization which denote the lack of ethical leaders in sport organizations.

Towards the end of 2017, the FBI pronounced the arrest of 10 people among them NCAA assistant coaches for the basketball teams. The people were arrested following corruption allegations involving a sportswear company (Lapchick, 2018). Adidas is the company in question and the scandal extended to programs that did not affiliate with the company. Early 2018, the Supreme Court laid out the Act that prohibited gambling in sport. The sports organizations are thus left with the authority to determine whether or not gambling on their respective sports will take place (Lapchick, 2018). This is a huge blow for college sports as it increase the risk of student athletes to indulge in gambling and will also influence greatly chances of match fixing. Others issues of ethical concern include the number of players who are using performance enhancing drugs, racism in hiring and recruiting players, financial misappropriation, to mention just a few.

Leadership and ethical leadership in this case determines the level of success that sports organizations achieve. The above mentioned myriad of problems can be easily solved and eliminated through ethical leadership. Ethical leadership is found within leaders. They are known by their deeply held values and the way they use their influence to disseminate the same to others within the same organization (Ibrahim, 2017). Ethical leaders are supposed to demonstrate appropriate conducts through their behaviors, actions and use their power to influence others to behave ethically. Ethical leaders can also be known by the way they relate with others, promote workers, and communicate with followers and also how they make decisions.

Ethical leaders have certain attributes: they respect and serve others, are honest and committed to building community. They uphold virtues of trustworthiness, integrity and honesty (Ibrahim, 2017). They lead with purpose guided by value and continuously motivate their followers to uphold ethics within the organization. Ethical leaders will obviously meet ethical challenges but they are skilled enough to counter the challenges.

In conclusion, sport organization administrators deal with a wide range of ethical issues. The issues may rise from organizational policies, behavior of individuals and nature of the industry. The sports organizations are in need of ethical leaders who will serve as role models, promote good sportsmanship, support good conduct and instill ethical leadership skills in others. Making ethical decisions is not always easy and it calls for strong commitment to morality. While competing is a human nature, sports people should be encouraged and motivated to improve their skills so as to excel as opposed to doping. Coaches and other officials need to be motivated to be honest, avoid manipulating results while managers need to be motivated to manage finances well and recruit players through honest means.

Reference

Ibrahim, L. Y. (2017). LEADERSHIP & ETHICAL LEADERSHIP IN SPORTS ORGANIZATIONS: A REVIEW. Leadership. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317869668_LEADERSHIP_ETHICAL_LEADERSHIP_IN_SPORTS_ORGANIZATIONS_A_REVIEW

Imbroda-Ortiz, J. C.-R.-M. (2015). Sports Management, Leadership in theOrganization. Journal of Physical Education and Sports Management, 2(2), 56-65. Retrieved from http://dx.doi.org/10.15640/jpesm.v2n2a5

Lapchick. (2018, June 25). Sports management programs evolve, take on ethical issues . Retrieved from Sports Business Journal : https://www.sportsbusinessdaily.com/Journal/Issues/2018/06/25/Opinion/Lapchick.aspx

University, A. S. (2018, June 21). Tackling Ethics in Sports. Retrieved from Arkansas State University: Articles: Sport Administration: https://degree.astate.edu/articles/sport-administration/tackling-ethics-in-sports.aspx