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Ethical leaders must master the art of effective communication. They must also look through
the character lens through moral perceptions, recognition, and ethical decision-making (Helzer,
2023). The ethical leader should consider self team and social implications when decision-
making.
Employees tend to emulate the behavior of the manager. Employee loyalty and work
ethic is directly linked to the ethical and trustworthiness of the leader. The SPL model serves as
an exemplar for the ethical leader. The effective and transparent behavior ensures employees
that a leader is ethical and worth following. The ability to make moral decisions in challenging
situations is a daunting task. The ethical leader considers all angles and perspectives of the
situation and makes a moral and conscious choice. The leader serves as a moral compass by
leading and transforming the organization toward positive and ethical performance. An
organization's success highly depends on the ethical and moral decisions of the leader and
team.
Emotions are critical triggers that signal moral dimensions are present when
faced with a decision ( McManys, 2021). Emotions play a key role in the
ethical decision making process. An individual's emotions allow for an
individual to identify a moral or ethical decision when faced with a problem
(McManys, 2021). Leaders need to be able to justify a decision and be
prepared to share the reasoning behind the decision (McManys, 2021). Some
leaders demonstrate a different set of ethical standards at work than in
private lives (McManys, 2021). It is important for a leader to demonstrate the
same set of ethical standards in the workplace as well as ethical standards
demonstrated outside of work.
Ethical values and principles change over time. What was considered ethical
in the past might not be seen as ethical today (Yongsun et al., 2019).
Yongsun et al. (2019) found that leaders who demonstrated strong ethical
values made decisions around ethical awareness, judgment, intent, and
behavior. Woiceshyn (2011) stated that unethical decisions have far reaching
implications and can harm leaders as well as employees, customers, and
suppliers. Ethical decision making is a rational process where a person
reasons through a moral dilemma by applying moral principles (Woiceshyn,
2011).
Murphy (2009) found that responsibility is a foundational principle in
business ethics. Leaders need to be able to understand the scope of
responsibilities in order to respond to a person or situation (Murphy, 2009).
Northouse (2022) found that there are 5 principles of ethical leadership:
respecting others, serving others, showing justice, manifesting honesty, and
building community. These 5 principles provide a foundation for ethical
leadership.
