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Ethical Leadership: Right Relationships and the Emotional Bottom Line
The Gold Standard for Success
by
Desmond Berghofer and Geraldine Schwartz
Fraud and falsification are highly destructive to market capitalism and, more broadly, to the underpinnings of our society…Our market system depends critically on trust. Trust in the word of our colleagues and trust in the word of those with whom we do business.
Alan Greenspan (1)
Former Federal Reserve Chairman
Wisdom traditions that encompass the history of human civilization have right relationships as their core value. Each of these traditions enjoins their leaders and citizens to act with compassion and thoughtful tenderness towards others, which is the hallmark of the noblest spirit of our humanity. Trillions of acts of decency, respect and fair play have allowed societies to evolve from their primitive beginnings to conditions where the rule of law and a constitution of rights and privileges protect men and women in modern diverse democracies.
Unfortunately, it is when hard won improvements to the common good go terribly wrong that we most notice them. This does not mean, however, that we should take rare incidents of wrong doing to be the description of society. Rather, we need to mine human wisdom for the gold standard across time in order to establish “best practices” for the future. In so doing we come to understand that we are social creatures, driven by our emotions whose life force flows into the spaces between us. If we pollute the emotional environment with toxins of dishonesty, anger and greed, we diminish the quality of the atmosphere in which we operate. Conversely, if we flood this space with integrity, fairness decency and enthusiasm, we are empowered to deliver our best performance and creativity.
This is where leadership becomes most important; but not just leadership at the top. While we know that senior leaders set the tone for action, they do not by themselves achieve the outcome for the organization. It is how leaders at every level act to inspire and promote right action that determines the performance and the culture of the whole. This article addresses this most important contribution to organizational success, namely, the emotional tone that permeates throughout and how it influences the many choices made by those who lead and those who carry out the day-to-day activities of doing business.
In this article we also show that just as humanity can no longer ignore the impact its activities have on the physical environment, so people cannot ignore the effect of the quality of their relationships on bottom line profitability. As described by Daniel Goleman (2) in his book, Social Intelligence, there is an emotional economy that underlies the performance of the human capital on which all business success is built. Working with social and emotional intelligence is the hallmark of the ethical leader. This article examines the qualities of such a leader who has the courage to stand up for what is right and knows not only what to do but also what is worth doing. The article also describes how the qualities of ethical leadership can be developed through training, how they can be measured, and how they benefit the individual, the team, the organization, and society as a whole. Finally, we conclude with an assessment of the relevance and importance of these qualities to leadership development practitioners everywhere.
The Ethical Leader in Action
In her important recent book Megatrends 2010: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism, Patricia Aburdene (3) describes “Leading from the Middle” as one of seven new megatrends shaping the way that business is responding to the challenges and crises of our time. In the middle is where you find a host of ethical leaders, “ordinary” managers operating from the strengths of “values, influence and moral authority.”
Aburdene describes how Barbara Waugh, a corporate change agent at Hewlett Packard, has nourished the initiatives of middle managers to lead the corporation in ways it would otherwise not have gone, or certainly not as quickly or effectively: “bringing technology and infrastructure to the world’s poorest countries;” gathering in-house “sustainability advocates” to become a “potent minority” to influence HP in “making a difference in the world;” sponsoring a senior scientist’s dream of a “One Mile Walk through Time” to illustrate how we got to where we are and how we must think about the challenges ahead. All of these activities show the ethical leader in action, emphasizing that organizational success is not just about profits, but most of all about building relationships that release the energy and creativity of people inside and outside the organization to work together to make a difference.
What is Ethical Leadership?
The ethical leader understands that positive relationships are the gold standard for all organizational effort. Good quality relationships built on respect and trust—not necessarily agreement, because people need to spark off each other—are the single most important determinant of organizational success. The ethical leader understands that these kinds of relationships germinate and grow in the deep rich soil of fundamental principles: trust, respect, integrity, honesty, fairness, equity, justice and compassion. Stephen Covey (4) calls such principles the “laws of the universe.” The ethical leader knows that by acting in accordance with these laws, living in harmony with these basic principles, human enterprise flourishes and is sustained.
Early last century the German philosopher and theologian, Martin Buber, described these successful relationships as “I-Thou” relationships, in which people recognize the intrinsic worth and value of others and treat each other with sincerity and respect. In the language of the 18th century German philosopher, Immanuel Kant, this is the principle of always treating the other person as an end and never merely as a means to serve your own personal interests. The ethical leader moves and acts in a world of I-Thou relationships, where in any situation, to the fullest extent possible in the circumstances, the intent is to honor and respect the worth of the other person.
In this way the ethical leader embraces the act of service as described by Robert Greenleaf (5) in his concept of “servant leadership.” The effective leader acts as a servant to others engaged in the enterprise, not in any sense of inferiority, but as one who empowers others to achieve success by focusing on right action. The ethical leader understands the truth of our interconnectedness to each other, and that it is through our willingness to serve each other that we release our combined energy and potential to benefit the greater good of which we are all a part.
The Importance of Ethical Leadership
Fostering positive relationships provides benefits at three levels of organizational life. It is important to the individual as he or she comes to work every day and engages in activities that can fall anywhere along a spectrum from rewarding and fulfilling to disempowering, toxic and debilitating. No less in need of empowering ethical relationships is the team, large or small, formal or informal, project-focused or maintenance-oriented—in every case it depends on supportive relationships among team members. Finally, the organization as a whole with vast spans of communication and disparate areas of responsibility needs a bonding agent to make people feel they are making a unique and valuable contribution to the whole. Ethical leadership across all three levels nourishes the relationships that empower human enterprise.
Individual personal well-being. Patricia Aburdene (6) decries the impact on 21st century life of what she calls “unconscious capitalism,” a human doctrine focused on profit and unmindful of the collateral damage to people, society and the ecology of the planet. The megatrends she describes constitute the rise of “conscious capitalism” where people let their actions be guided by moral principles. This way of thinking recognizes that in addition to the economy of financial transactions there is an emotional economy where emotional exchanges are registered in our bodies and determine the quality of our mood and performance. Biologist Bruce Lipton (7) and psychologist Daniel Goleman (8) have produced an impressive body of research, which reveals that the internal chemistry that supports our life and well-being is being driven and molded to a very large extent, and for better or for worse, by others. Just as we can no longer ignore the environmental science on climate change, so we can no longer afford to ignore the human cost that science is revealing about the effect of emotional toxins on our work, family and personal environments.
Energizing the team. Modern evolutionary theory outlines the extent to which collaboration and team effort have played a major role in our species’ rise to dominance. Research by Daniel Goleman (9) illustrates time and time again in workplaces ranging from high tech scientific establishments to manufacturing plants and sports teams that “the whole is never the sum of its parts.” It will always be greater when people work together, supporting and encouraging each other to achieve their personal best and compound the performance of the team. This kind of team effort derives from relationships where people value the worth of all members and where the leader working with emotional intelligence “lubricates the mechanism of the group mind.”
The organizational whole. At the organizational level the best model to emulate for exquisite performance comes from biology in the form of our own physical human body. Here trillions of cells work in perfect harmony and cooperation, somehow “knowing” what to do to support one another to produce health and well-being of the whole. If an outlaw or cancer cell breaks this code and goes unchecked, it can destroy the body. There is a clear analogy to the business organization. Just as the disease of cancer or other breakdown occurs in the human body if the cells don’t work together, so in business organizations if people don’t honor each others’ worth and recognize their interdependence, so sub-optimal performance or even breakdown results.
Benefits to the Organization
An ethical organization is a community of people working together in an environment of mutual respect, where they grow personally, feel fulfilled, contribute to a common good, and share in the personal, emotional and financial rewards of a job well done. There is a shared understanding that success depends on a constellation of relationships, both internal and external, not all of which are under the organization’s control, but which it can influence through the way it operates from a platform of ethical principles.
It begins by treating its people well, knowing that a satisfied and happy workforce will share that emotional contentment in positive interactions with customers and clients. Similarly, ethical leadership in the organization means that it will maintain positive relationships with its contractors and suppliers thereby reaping the benefit of their good will and service in return. Externally in the community and society at large, the organization operating on ethical principles will have a stellar reputation as a good corporate citizen, honoring its social responsibility and demonstrating a willingness to carry on its activities in accordance with all regulatory requirements. Operating in this way, the organization enjoys the prospects of continuing economic success where its products and services are well received and its reputation engenders good will, which translates into ongoing support in the community and in the marketplace.
Implications for Leadership Development
Understanding the importance of ethical leadership for organizational achievement has significant implications for leadership development. The key to business success is getting things done and we now understand more clearly than ever before that this depends on those who manage in the middle. Patricia Aburdene (10) says it succinctly: “The leadership that millions of managers practice—quiet, modest, behind-the-scenes—is more persuasive and more effective than the bold, heroic leadership we associate with CEOs and other top leaders.” Joseph Badaracco (11), author of Leading Quietly: An Unorthodox Guide to Doing the Right Thing, makes the same point: “The vast majority of difficult, important human problems—both inside and outside organizations—are not solved by a swift, decisive stroke from someone at the top. What usually matters are careful, thoughtful, small, practical efforts by people working far from the limelight.”
Knowing this, the focus of leadership development should be on producing leaders in the middle who have personal ethical competence, who are good models for those around them, and who can empower others to get the work done in ways that promote harmony and maintain good relationships. This calls for leadership development specifically focused on training ethical leaders throughout the organization.
Developing Ethical Leaders
A dominant theme in the literature on leadership is that it can and must be taught. The success of enterprises large and small depends on seeing leadership as a set of skills and competencies that can be learned through study and practice. When it comes to ethical leadership such learning must take the form of deep personal reflection guided by materials that distill the essence of moral principles and leadership insights into specific qualities or characteristics. Exhibit 1 shows example items from a set of three measures called The
Ethical Leadership Scale
s developed by the authors specifically for the purpose of teaching ethical leadership (12).
Exhibit 1. The Ethical Leadership Scales
Ethical Competence Scale
Personal Record Form
Personal Ethical Competence
How we maintain our personal commitment
to an ethical life
| Characteristic | Always in Place | Usually in Place | Sometimes in Place | Rarely in Place | Never in Place | Chosen Value | |||||||||||||
| Explanation | 10-9 | 8-7 | 6-5 | 4-3 | 2-1 | ||||||||||||||
| 1.Trustworthiness |
Being reliable and dependable Being willing to admit mistakes Being true to your word Being worthy of confidence Keeping promises |
Ethical Leadership Scale
Personal Record
Form
| 1.Acts with integrity |
Keeps promises and commitments and expects others to keep theirs Maintains loyalty to those not present Apologizes sincerely Acts with honesty Takes responsibility and cleans up after mistakes |
Ethical Organization Scale
Personal Record
Form
| Factor | |
| Relationships with the workforce |
Creates a safe, healthy, attractive work environment for its Treats members of the workforce with dignity and respect Provides fair and equal opportunity for advancement without regard Provides physical and mental health support for members of the Provides meaningful work Encourages self-development for members |
Beginning with the understanding that effective ethical leadership depends on personal ethical competence, the Ethical Competence Scale is used to give respondents the experience of reflecting in a comprehensive and rigorous way on the level of their ethical competence across 30 items covering personal ethical competence, social ethical competence and global ethical competence. This personal reflection is followed by small group discussion, simulation and role playing focused on where and how these specific competencies apply in their industry or business. Examples of real or potential ethical breaches are raised and participants are challenged to apply creative thinking to identify strategies and solutions for dealing with these problems.
Following this rigorous focus on personal ethical competence, the Ethical Leadership Scale is used to engage participants in reflecting more specifically on the leadership qualities needed to ensure their group or team maintains positive ethical relationships in all its work. There are 40 items on this scale covering relationship to self, relationship to others and relationship to the whole. Techniques of role playing, simulation and scenario writing are used to enhance this experience. In all of this work there is no substitute for deep personal engagement in the issues, because this kind of learning must move from head to heart and then from heart to heart throughout the team.
At the level of the larger organization, the Ethical Organization Scale is used to engage leaders at different levels and from different parts of the organization to consider how well the organization as a whole is doing on such issues as treatment of the work force, relationships with customers or clients, relationships with contractors and suppliers, and external relationships in the community and society at large. There are ten items on this scale. The kind of discussion engendered by these items usually reveals discrepancies in the perception of leaders about various facets of organizational ethical performance. Uncovering these differences provides fertile ground for problem solving and creative thinking about what needs to be done to improve things.
The kind of leadership learning described above needs to be spread out over time, allowing the concepts and principles to be internalized, and providing for opportunities to bring real life issues to the table for discussion and potential resolution. Depending on the size of the organization and other factors such as location of offices, manufacturing plants and stores, the learning should be carried out both with team leaders from different operations meeting together, and with team leaders working with their own team members to understand the strength of an ethical team. Face to face meetings can be supplemented with online and other forms of interactive distance learning.
It is most important that the learning be guided by materials that embody the new knowledge from science and from research on leadership as well as the ancient principles from ethics so that participants are challenged to think broadly and deeply about their work. The 21st century is taking us into uncharted territory in terms of what it means to act as global citizens transcending all barriers as we struggle to live together well in an interdependent finite world. The future is now literally in our hands, and we need to be vigilant, resourceful and comprehensive in our quest for new learning to carry us through. Nowhere is this more important than in the learning we embrace through leadership development.
One of the further implications of the learning process discussed above is the need for leadership development practitioners to enhance their own learning about ethical leadership. Marrying the study of ethics with leadership reveals a new discipline of study with ethics at the core supplemented with content from several other disciplines including leadership, psychology, history, economics and ecology. Exhibit 2 presents the structural elements of the discipline of ethical leadership (13).
Exhibit 2. The Discipline of Ethical Leadership
The content, the body of literature, that contains the underlying principles and premises of the discipline of ethical leadership does not have to be created or invented. It has been part of human traditions for thousands of years. The history of ideas that has led to our present level of thinking about ethical behavior and right action towards others and the planet is well established and recognized.
Contributions towards ethical thought are abundant from established areas of knowledge in philosophy, psychology, the religions and spirituality, leadership, science, the environmental movement, personal development, health and wellness, etc. Only thoughtful choice and selection are required to pick out the very best information as examples.
This interdisciplinary approach to a knowledge base is in keeping with current thinking as the barriers and borders between disciplines break down and where joint projects across these lines are becoming the norm and are leading to the best results.
In choosing content, however, some essential parameters and principles regarding the practice of ethical leadership stand out. Chief among these is to understand that ethical practice is universal and applies to relationships among all of humanity and between people and all living things, including the planetary systems that support life. This means that the basic principle of not harming others for one’s own benefit is a sacred universal principle and is not subject to cultural interpretation. Respect for others in all their diversity and valuing the myriad relationships in the web of life underlies all right action.
The threads we need to weave together to create the cloth of ethical leadership may be viewed conceptually as shown below.
| ETHICS | ECOLOGY |
| LEADERSHIP | SOCIOLOGY |
| PSYCHOLOGY | HISTORY |
| PHYSICS | ECONOMICS |
| COSMOLOGY | HUMANITIES & THE ARTS |
| BIOLOGY | SPIRITUALITY |
The authors are currently using the leadership development model described above in a project called Focus on Ethics, which they are conducting for the real estate industry in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia in Canada. Working with the leadership of two large real estate boards in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley, they have designed a program to raise ethical awareness among a core group of approximately 80 real estate professionals in a number of offices. From this group 20 will receive additional training to become Facilitators of Ethical Leadership. The facilitators acting under the guidance of the project managers will then train their own teams so that several hundred real estate professionals become exposed to focused study on how ethical practice benefits their industry. This model for disseminating learning across a network of relatively independent real estate offices is expected to impact several thousand professionals over the following years, bringing a corresponding enhancement of ethical practice across the whole profession.
Measuring Improvement in Ethical Leadership
The approach to the development of ethical leadership described in this chapter can essentially be seen as a targeted intervention aimed at raising the standards of ethical practice within and across an organization, association or profession. As such the outcome is measurable in a variety of ways.
Individual perception. Because behavior is directly influenced by thinking, the first place to look for change is in the perceptions of those who have gone through the learning process. How have their perceptions of their own ethical competence changed as a result of their learning? The Ethical Leadership Scales described above are designed to measure this change when they are used for that purpose as a research instrument.
Measuring change in perception. The items on the Ethical Leadership Scales are scored from 1 to 10 according to how strongly the quality in question (for example, integrity) is perceived by the respondent to be in place in his/her behavior, across a range of judgments from “never in place” to “always in place.” Specific instructions are given on how the scoring is to be done. The instrument is scored in this way as a pre-test, that is, at the beginning of the training period before any discussion about content has taken place. Using an anonymous research number, participants report their scores on each item as well as their total score, which is calculated out of a possible 100 to give an “ethical quotient.” Neither the individual item scores nor the total score are of any particular interest to the researcher. What is of interest is the change that takes place after the participant has gone through the learning process (the intervention). To measure this change the participants complete the instrument a second time following the learning process (the post-test) and report their scores in the same way as they did on the pre-test. Using a statistical analysis of variance, the researcher is then able to ascertain what changes in perception have occurred. This information then provides new content for discussion about exactly what kind of learning has taken place. In some cases the scores increase, showing that the learner perceives improvement; in other cases the scores decrease, showing that the learner probably has a better appreciation after the learning of what a particular ethical quality implies. In all cases it is certain that the participants have been engaged at a deep reflective and emotional level in thinking about their ethical competence with respect to their organizational work, as well as in their personal lives.
Objective organizational measures. A whole range of factors in corporate life are affected by the ethical behavior of the organization as a whole and by the behavior of workers within the organization. At a personal level stress related illness reflected in the taking of sick leave or in absenteeism is a clear factor. Staff turnover and grievances filed against management are other factors. External factors include customer complaints, number of returned items, expressed dissatisfaction of contractors and suppliers, cases of litigation triggered by unethical behavior, and community unhappiness with corporate behavior as reflected by media reports, citizen protest, etc. Improvement in ethical leadership can be measured by assessing changes in a positive direction of these kinds of factors. To do this thoroughly requires the establishment of appropriate research protocols that measure conditions before and after the implementation of an ethical leadership development process. Ultimately, improved ethical leadership will positively impact the financial bottom line of the organization or individual units, so this is the most comprehensive measure of all. Specific efforts aimed at setting up the appropriate research measures and implementing the learning program will be well rewarded by overall improvement in performance.
Leadership Learning
Everything that has been said in this article points to the conclusion that there is much to learn about how and why ethical leadership needs to be developed and nourished in organizations and throughout society as a whole. The content of this leadership learning can be summarized in ten points that identify the essentials of the learning process and its wider implications.
- First of all is the fundamental understanding that ethical leadership is principle based. It is anchored in moral or natural laws that are just as real in their effect as physical laws, such as the law of gravity. Moral principles of trust, respect, integrity, honesty, fairness, equity and compassion if honored will return benefits in many ways; if broken, they will bring negative repercussions that usually affect not only the violator but innocent people as well.
- It follows from its grounding in moral principles that ethical leadership is focused on service. The ethical leader takes care that other peoples’ priority needs are being served. This is done by forming I-Thou relationships and always treating the other person in a relationship as an end, never merely as a means to benefit oneself.
- An organization’s work flourishes when leaders throughout the formal structure take responsibility for ensuring that the work performed under their charge is ethically grounded. Of course, it is important that sound ethical behavior is modeled at the top, but it is the leaders in the middle who will ensure that high ethical standards are set and maintained in the units under their charge.
- All leadership development begins with the conviction that leadership is a skill that can be learned. Ethical leadership is grounded in a set of competencies that can be strengthened and developed through carefully designed opportunities for reflection, dialogue and practice.
- Competence in ethical leadership can be measured through changes in perception of the leaders and by objective measures of organizational performance. Leadership development initiatives must be carefully designed to ensure that valid before and after measurements are made.
- The foundational characteristics of both the human and natural world are unity, interconnection and interdependence. As ethical leaders distributed throughout the organization honor these principles consistently in carrying forward the work of their teams, so things work better in every way throughout the whole.
- When the organization is functioning with good ethical relationships throughout, people are healthier and happier, and productivity measures improve in every way. There is an emotional bottom line that supports the financial bottom line. Ethical leadership honors the emotional needs of people for respect and meaning, which are reflected in “quantum leaps in personal and organizational effectiveness.” (14)
- Ethical leadership is a discipline in its own right. It has a body of knowledge to be mastered and standards of practice to achieve. Leadership development practitioners need to look to their own mastery of this discipline to enhance their own effectiveness in fostering ethical leadership.
- The influence of a well functioning, ethically grounded organization goes far beyond its own operations. As an integral component of society that functions as a network of institutions, organizations, communities and individuals, the ethical organization has unlimited scope for influencing and promoting the common good.
- In the 21st century as never before people everywhere are moving forward into a common future of global interdependence. If that future is to be enlivened with hope and the sense of meaning that lies at the core of human experience, it is of critical importance that leaders everywhere be the models of ethical competence that we now know without equivocation to be the source of human well-being and happiness.
It All Comes Down to This
In this article we have said much about the importance of ethical leadership and how it can be fostered and nourished. We do not say that ethical competence is a replacement for good business sense or wise political judgment. What we do say, however, is that business sense, if it is to be good, and political judgment, if it is to be wise, must be anchored in ethical leadership. Without that clear moral guidance we are on a ship plowing through dangerous waters without chart or compass. The stakes are now too high for such reckless adventurism. All of us are both passengers and crew responsible for each other. We know we can do that best and achieve the gold standard in outcome when our relationships are right.
References
(1) Remarks by Alan Greenspan on CNBC, July 16, 2002, quoted by Patricia Aburdene in Megatrends 2010: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism (Charlottesville: Hampton Roads, 2007)
(2) Daniel Goleman, Social Intelligence: The New Science of Human Relationships (New York: Bantam Books, 2006)
(3) Patricia Aburdene, Megatrends 2010: The Rise of Conscious Capitalism (Charlottesville: Hampton Roads, 2007)
(4) Stephen R. Covey, Principle-Centered Leadership (New York: Summit Books, 1991)
(5) Robert Greenleaf, The Servant as Leader (Minnesota: The Robert K. Greenleaf Center, 1970)
(6) Patricia Aburdene, op cit
(7) Bruce Lipton, The Biology of Belief (Santa Rosa: Elite Books, 2005)
(8) Daniel Goleman, Emotional Intelligence (New York: Bantam Books, 10th anniversary ed., 2005)
(9) Daniel Goleman, Working with Emotional Intelligence (New York: Bantam Books, 1998)
(10) Patricia Aburdene, op cit
(11) Joseph L. Badaracco, Jr., Leading Quietly: An Unorthodox Guide to Doing the Right Thing (Boston: Harvard Business School Press, 2002)
(12) More information on
The Ethical Leadership Scales
can be found at
www.ethicalleadership.com
(13) A more detailed explanation of the Discipline of Ethical Leadership along with a bibliography of related books can be found at www.ethicalleadership.com
(14) Stephen R. Covey, op cit
Copyright © The Institute For Ethical Leadership
Learning Objectives and Module Description.html
Learning Objectives
Analyze leadership approaches used to address communal issues in criminal justice
Determine how leadership styles inform ethical decision-making
Evaluate leadership styles for their impact on the criminal justice field
Determine the impact actions of leaders have on employees
Describe communication issues that might arise due to leadership styles
Describe the leadership role of the key stakeholders in a case study
Reading and Resources
Textbook: The Ethical Dilemmas and Decisions in Criminal Justice, Chapter 4
This chapter discusses the factors that relate to being an ethical professional and the importance of ethical leadership. This resource supports the discussion and Milestone Two.
Website: Leadership Style Evaluation Test(Optional)
This resource is from Your Leadership Legacy by Robert M. Galford and Regina Fazio Maruca. It will help you identify your leadership style and supports the discussion.
Article: The Wall Street Journal: Leadership Styles(Optional)
This article discusses various leadership styles, their importance, and how to develop your own. This resource supports the discussion and Milestone Two.
Article: Ethical Leadership: Right Relationships and the Emotional Bottom Line(Optional)
This article gives a more in-depth definition of ethical leadership. It also discusses the importance of ethical leadership, benefits, and implications for leadership development. This resource supports the discussion and Milestone Two.
Library Article: Leadership in the Criminal Justice Organization: The Prevailing Leadership Traits and Organizational Culture Related to Managing Change (Optional)
This library article addresses a problem in law enforcement organizations: effectively implementing sustainable change. The study goes into detail about the leadership styles being used, comparing leadership styles, and the perception of leadership styles in organization. This resource may help you build understanding about how different leadership styles are utilized effectively or ineffectively.
Leadership If there is a culture of impropriety or a pattern of transgressions in any organization, we look to the leader for fault. The In the News box describes what sometimes hap- pens when public servant leaders are perceived as deficient in running an ethical organization. There are thousands of articles and books about leadership. Researchers identify, typologize, and deconstruct different types of leadership styles, for example, task- versus people-oriented leadership; participative, authoritarian, technocratic and char- ismatic leadership, and so on. We cannot do justice to leadership studies here, but it is important to note that the concepts of “authentic leadership” and “transformational leadership” seem to be very relevant to this discussion of ethical organizations. These leadership styles involve less social distance between leaders and employees, greater participation of employees, fairness, consistency and integrity, taking responsibility for one’s actions, promoting ethical conduct, being concerned for others, and reward- ing ethical conduct. Research has shown that leadership styles that incorporate these elements are associated with higher levels of job satisfaction and organizational com- mitment, satisfaction with supervision, extra effort, lower turnover intention, orga- nizational citizenship behaviors, better overall employee performance, and reduction in cynicism toward organization (Bommer, Rich, and Rubin, 2005; Onorato and Zhu, 2015; Podsakoff, MacKenzie, and Bommer, 1996). In one study, it was found that transformational leadership was correlated with higher stage moral reasoning (universality) of the leaders; however, “pseudo-trans- formational leadership” was not. Pseudo-transformational leaders were those who “talked the talk” but didn’t “walk the walk” of transformational leadership—they did not fully invest in the principles of worker participation and empowerment. These leaders scored high in motivation but low in idealism; their motivation for leading workers was ego (Barling, Christie, and Turner, 2008). Pages 100
In one study of leadership, the relationship between ethical leadership and worker helping behavior was moderated by the moral awareness of workers. The statistical relationship between individual and group-level perceptions of ethical leadership and measures of helping behavior was stronger when the moral awareness of workers was low. The relationship weakened when moral awareness of workers was higher. Thus, although ethical leadership relates positively to follower helping and courtesy, the strength of this relationship differs depending on the level of moral awareness in the work group (Kalshoven, Den Hartog, and De Hoogh, 2013). The first thing to note is that for a leader to influence ethical behavior among employees, he or she, first, must act ethically. If a leader engages in unethical behavior, it is highly unlikely that ethical behavior of employees will be the result. Research has shown that the correlates of leaders who make unethical decisions include the following: • They are very proactive and goal-oriented but not concerned about potential problems. • They are self-directed and make their own decisions; not prone to take advice or seek input from others. • They want to be in charge and have a high achievement orientation. • They are likely to have their own rules and are willing to tell others to follow them or, they do not care about others or about rules at all. • They have a low interest filter for people (Harshman and Harshman, 2008, p. 185). Organizational leaders must not only act ethically themselves, they must also cre- ate an environment that encourages ethical behavior from everyone. This can be done by promoting ethical workers, rewarding morally courageous behavior, and providing clear and powerful organizational policies that emphasize worthwhile goals and hon- est means. Issues that could be examined in a discussion of ethical leadership include the practice of recruitment, training, discipline and reward structures, and evaluation of performance. Souryal (1992: 307) offers advice to leaders who would like to advance ethical decision making and emphasizes the importance of organizational support for ethical actions. Ethical leaders should do the following: 1. Create an environment that is conducive to dignified treatment on the job. 2. Increase ethical awareness among the ranks through formal and informal socialization. 3. Avoid deception and manipulation in the way officers are assigned, rewarded, or promoted. 4. Allow for openness and the free flow of unclassified information. 5. Foster a sense of shared values and incorporate such values in the subculture of the agency. 6. Demonstrate an obligation to honesty, fairness, and decency by example. 7. Discuss the issue of corruption publicly, expose corrupt behavior, and reward eth- ical behavior. Metz (1990) offers a similar advice. He proposes that ethical administrators follow these steps: 1. Establish realistic goals and objectives. 2. Provide ethical leadership (meaning, set a moral tone by actions). Pages 101
Ethics and the Criminal Justice System 3. Establish formal written codes of ethics. 4. Provide a whistleblowing mechanism. 5. Discipline violators of ethical standards. 6. Train all personnel in ethics. When top leaders take responsibility for their subordinates’ behavior, they will lead and administer with greater awareness, interaction, and responsibility. Because of this responsibility, a supervisor or administrator must be concerned with how the workplace treats the worker, how the worker views the mission, and how the public views the organization. A strong ethical leader would have a personal relationship with subordinates—without showing favoritism. This personal relationship is the founda- tion of modeling, identification, and persuasive authority. Strong leadership involves caring and commitment to the organization. A strong leader is connected with others, but also has a larger vision, if you will, of goals and mission. A contrary environment would be what Trautman (2008) describes as the “Cor- ruption Continuum,” which details how organizations can become corrupt through the actions of its leaders; specifically, (1) administrative indifference toward integrity, (2) ignoring obvious ethical problems, (3) creating a hypocrisy- and fear-dominated culture; all leading to (4) a survival-of-the-fittest approach by individual employees (who will commit unethical acts to protect themselves). Schafer’s (2010a, 2010b) research on police leadership supports these concepts. In a survey of police managers attending an FBI national academy career develop- ment course, survey respondents identified ineffective leaders as possessing five acts of commission: a focus on self, ego/arrogance, closed-mindedness, micromanage- ment, and capriciousness; and five acts of omission: poor work ethic, failure to act, ineffective communication, lack of interpersonal skills, and a lack of integrity (Schafer, 2010a). He also looked at what was considered effective leadership. The strongest fac- tor emerged as honesty and integrity (37 percent identified that as the first element of good leadership; 2010b: 651). Integrity, along with a work ethic, communication skills, and caring for the needs of employees were the most commonly agreed elements of good leadership. Finally, leaders must never lose sight of the organizational mission; for public servants, the mission is public service. Other researchers, in studies with correctional workers, conclude that training workers in procedural justice concepts so that they will interact more positively with clients/inmates is unlikely to be successful if organizational leaders do not practice procedural/organizational justice within the organization. Correctional workers who perceived their leaders as transformational were more likely to perceive the organi- zation as having procedural (organizational) justice. The elements of organizational justice that was identified as important in perceptions were the ability to appeal griev- ances and have their voices heard. These researchers found that procedural justice ele- ments needed constant reinforcement, and older officers were less likely to perceive procedural justice in the organization (Baker, Gordon, and Taxman, 2015). Societal and cultural Influences Organizational culture is subject to external influences. External influences are both objective (e.g., laws and regulations that constrain the organization) and norma- tive (public belief systems). We see these external influences operating in for-profit page 102
organizations as well as public service organizations such as those in criminal justice. Messages filter from the public to the organization in terms of what will be tolerated and what will not be; for instance, our popular media glorified the Wall Street val- ues of money as the sole measure of success until the bankruptcy of Enron, at which time public pressure on Congress led to the Sarbanes–Oxley Act, which placed more accountability on CEOs, which, in turn, affected the internal culture of organizations. The crash of 2008 led to public pressure for banking regulations, and there was a new Consumer Protection Agency created (although the future of this agency is in doubt today). In April 2017, when a passenger was injured while being dragged off an airplane by airport security personnel at the request of United Airlines personnel, the cellphone videos of the event went viral. At first the CEO of United Airlines excused the event, saying the passenger was belligerent and he stated that he stood behind his employees and their actions. However, as public sentiment grew more virulent, and other videos emerged, he changed his message and apologized. When social media began sharing other examples of poor treatment by United Airlines passengers in other circum- stances, the organization had a public relations crisis. Eventually, United Airlines com- pensated all passengers on the airplane by refunding the price of their tickets. A lawsuit filed by the injured passenger will no doubt take longer to resolve. The CEO swore that no passenger would ever again be removed from an airplane because of overbooking. Industry observers noted that organizational culture does affect how employees treat customers/clients, and this incident may have been the trigger that will generate a con- certed effort of cultural change in the organization. It’s also clear that if change does occur, it was due to external pressure brought on by a media firestorm over one event. The ethical issue box illustrates how law enforcement organizations are influenced by and must respond to larger social events, for instance, the immigration issue. The Michael Brown shooting in Ferguson, Missouri, in 2014 and the Freddy Gray death in Baltimore, Maryland, shortly afterward sparked a strong public backlash against police use of force, especially against minority men. The backlash took a violent turn when several police officers were ambushed and killed, supposedly in retaliation for the police killings of black men. The Walking the Walk box that follows highlights one chief who was hailed as a hero for his handling of the Dallas. This external pressure on police organizations spurred leaders to improve train- ing, tighten up use-of-force policies, and improve discipline systems. Public pres- sure has also spurred discussion of body cameras, citizen review panels, and special prosecutors. The Department of Justice began or continued numerous investigations that lead to consent orders or agreements with cities across the country designed to improve police policies. Outside legal actions and oversight do impact organizational culture and behavior, and, in turn, affect the individual behaviors of the professionals in the organization. More recently, Attorney General Sessions has signaled that the Department of Justice is drawing back “pattern and practice investigations” and will be less likely to scrutinize individual police departments. The DOJ has even requested a federal court to not enforce an existing consent order that had already been agreed to by the city and police department (Baltimore). The external message now seems to be that police departments do not need to worry about the DOJ oversight over use-of-force policies or other issues. Attorney General Sessions has stated that he believes there has been too much interference in police matters and that there should be a priority on address- ing violent crime increases in central cities rather than police practices. Interestingly, page 103
With the election of President Trump, the conflict over what to do with this nation’s estimated 11 million immigrants who are here illegally has created ethical issues for law enforce- ment leaders. Many city council members across the country have espoused their allegiance to and sometimes have voted to declare their identity as sanctuary cities. Federal leaders, in turn, have vowed to withhold federal funds from jurisdic- tions that profess to be sanctuary cities and, indeed, Attor- ney General Sessions has stated he may attempt to rescind federal grant money already disbursed to some cities. How- ever, no one seems to agree on what being a sanctuary city means, and many do not seem to understand the legal pow- ers of sheriffs or police chiefs. Before we can analyze the ethical issue, we must be clear on terms. In this discussion, the definition of sanctuary city may not be equivalent to how your jurisdiction and news media have defined it. Generally, there is a clear distinction between federal powers and state powers. Only the federal government has the right to enforce immigration law. Indeed, when Arizona attempted to pass a law several years ago that required their police officers to inquire as to immigration status and arrest illegal immigrants; this portion of the law was rejected by the Supreme Court as usurping federal powers (Arizona v. United States, 567 U.S. 387, 2012). Of course, state and local law enforcement can hold someone who has an outstanding federal warrant, just as they can hold a suspect for other jurisdictions when there is an outstanding arrest warrant. Warrants are issued by judges after probable cause has been established, so there is some degree of due process that has occurred. During President G.W. Bush’s administration, the Secure Communities program was established. This was a voluntary program whereby local law enforcement who arrested individuals on other grounds would hold those suspected of being in the United States illegally with only a detainer from immigration authorities. Detainers do not have the same legal authority as warrants and are not issued by judges; they are simply administrative requests from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to hold the individual. During President Obama’s administration, the Secure Communities program was rolled back because of concerns about due process. The Priority Enforcement Program, instead, targeted only indi- viduals who were involved in significant criminal offenses. In most of these cases, the individual would not have been released anyway, because of the seriousness of the charge. President Trump, however, has revived the Secure Communities program, prompting some cities and juris- dictions to declare themselves sanctuary cities; in effect, saying they will not participate and will not hold individu- als on merely detainer requests. Cities who have declared sanctuary city status promise not to allow police to question suspects, witnesses, or vic- tims about their immigration status, nor contact ICE when they encounter someone here illegally. Some cities also incorporate promises to not withhold city services based on immigration status. As noted above, local police have never had the power to arrest someone on suspicion of an immi- gration violation; however, the main issue is what to do about individuals who are arrested for some other offense. Should the sheriff (who is typically the authority in charge of the jail, not the police chief) hold the individual past the time he or she would have released for the offense? For example, if a group of three men were arrested for public drunken- ness and ordinarily would be released the next morning after posting bail or paying a fine; the issue becomes whether to hold one of them because he has no driver’s license, cannot produce a social security card, and speaks Spanish. When jurisdictions proclaim themselves to be sanctuary cities, it typically means they will not hold that individual, nor contact ICE, nor (if ICE somehow finds out about the person and issues a detainer) hold the person on a detainer. Law Police chiefs serve at the pleasure of a mayor or city coun- cil so, as an executive, he or she is duty bound to carry out legal orders. A sheriff, on the other hand, is typically elected. He or she, as an elected official, has discretion to determine the nature of their duties if the decision does not run afoul of existing law. However, there is unsettled law in this area. A federal magistrate judge in Oregon concluded that county officials violated a woman’s Fourth Amendment rights when they kept her in custody solely based on an immi- gration detainer (Miranda-Olivares v. Clackamas County, No. 3:12-cv-02317-ST, slip op., D. Or. April 11, 2014). In this page104
case, the woman was arrested for violating a restraining order, the judge granted bail, but ICE had issued a detainer, so she was kept in jail. She was finally released roughly two weeks after she was judged guilty for the misdemeanor with a two-day jail sentence; evidently ICE never did initiate proceedings for removal. Other cases have also determined that detainers are mere requests, not lawful orders, for example, Galarza v. Szalczyk, No. 12-3991, slip op., 3d Cir. March 4, 2014. The Supreme Court has also determined that the Tenth Amendment’s anti-commandeering principle prohibits the federal government from enlisting local police officials to help enforce federal law (Printz v. United States, 521 U.S. 898, 1997). Because they are mere requests and not lawful orders, counties may be liable for unlawful confinement. In the Miranda-Olivares case, the court held that the county was authorized to hold Miranda-Olivares while her criminal proceedings were ongoing, but hold- ing her longer violated the Fourth Amendment. Sheriffs in several jurisdictions have pointed to these case decisions as a reason for refusing to honor detainer requests from ICE. For instance, Sheriff Sally Hernandez in Travis County, Texas (Austin) refused to honor detainer requests and, in response, Governor Abbott cancelled about $1.5 million in criminal justice grants to the county. Thus, law enforcement officials face either being sued for unlawful imprisonment or lose state or federal monies. San Francisco has filed a lawsuit against the federal government alleging there is no legal authority to rescind or refuse federal funds and other jurisdictions have joined the lawsuit. The legal argument is basically that the federal government cannot force jurisdic- tions to enforce unconstitutional detainers. There is a lot of money at stake. The Edward Byrne Memorial Justice Assis- tance Grant Program, administered by the Department of Justice, alone allocated $274.9 million in 2016 (Kopan, 2017; Ratcliffe, 2017). Policy Police chiefs typically are not in charge of jails, although in a few jurisdictions there is a county–city overlap so they might be. Generally, however, the sanctuary city conflict presented above lies with sheriffs. Sheriffs may take advice from city councils or county commissioners, but because they are elected officials, there is independence in decision making over this issue. County Commissioners have control over a sheriff’s budget, but not over his or her decision to honor detainers. Ethics A sheriff or locality facing this issue often employs utilitarian- ism to support their decision to honor or not honor detain- ers. Utilitarianism supports actions that benefit the majority. One side would argue that it is to the benefit of most of us for immigration laws to be enforced. This side often points to the idea that illegal immigrants commit crimes and absorb resources that could be used for native-born or legal immi- grant residents. While illegal immigrants lose in this equation, there are fewer of them than the rest of us, so the math is in favor of the majority. Utilitarianism would also justify partici- pation by pointing to the threat of the loss of federal and/ or state monies. Losing such funds hurts the jurisdiction and the many residents outweigh the few illegal immigrants who might suffer under the program, and even the few legal residents who might be held with no just cause because of error. Utilitarianism also is used as the ethical justification for sanctuary city policies by law enforcement. Many major chiefs and sheriffs argue that their primary role is to enforce criminal law and if they become agents for ICE, witnesses and victims will be less likely to talk to them.That hurts every- one because they are hampered in their ability to investigate and solve crimes. They also note that jail space is not free and ICE often does not come and pick people up, thereby taking up valuable jail cell space without reimbursing the county. Finally, they note that if the jurisdiction loses a civil rights lawsuit, as the jurisdiction did in the case described above, already stretched budgets must be decimated to pay damages and county residents receive fewer services. Ethical formalism is dependent on one’s perception of duty. If the duty of local law enforcement is perceived as protecting and serving and local crime control, then immi- gration enforcement does not fall within that purview; if there is a more generalized perception of “law” as includ- ing immigration law, then the duty extends to enforcement. Religion has also been used to support the sanctuary posi- tion, and, in fact, the idea of sanctuary (protection from civil law) historically comes from religion: think of the right of sanctuary in The Hunchback of Notre Dame. If someone stayed within the walls of the cathedral, they were protected from the king’s law. Recall that under religion and ethics of care there is less emphasis on man’s law and more univer- sal principles of care. Ultimately, like many of the issues discussed in this text, well-meaning, reasonable people can apply ethical reasoning and reach different conclusions. Page 105
Overview: The final project in this course will expose you to a problem situation and task you with how it should be solved. You will imagine you are employed at
a criminal justice organization facing a communal problem. Your superior at the organization has asked you to review the problem situation and offer your
recommendations. You will be given the chance to evaluate the situation and develop suggestions that will inform development of strategies to address the issue
using appropriate ethical and transparent leadership and communication skills.
The main purpose of this second milestone of your project is for you to work on your leadership analysis portion of the final project. Begin by introducing your
selected case study. What is the name of the case study? Give a brief overview of your case study. Why do you think this case is important to your understanding
of leadership? What do you think the difference is between a manager and a leader?
Prior to finishing this assignment, it would be beneficial to complete your initial post in the Module Two discussion topic. The leadership evaluation that you will
be completing will help prepare you to analyze the leadership in your selected case study.
Prompt: Using your selected case study, complete the following critical elements for the assignment:
A. Analyze the actions of leadership in the chosen scenario for how they did or did not facilitate and motivate employees in addressing the problem. Be
sure to provide examples from the scenario to support your response. What instances in the chosen scenario exemplify the approach of leadership in
encouraging and interacting with employees?
B. Analyze the actions of leadership in the chosen scenario for communication issues that might arise and how these issues might impede addressing the
problem. Be sure to provide examples from the scenario to support your response. What communication issues might leadership face when addressing
this problem? What are the implications or consequences of these issues?
C. Determine whether the supervisors in the chosen scenario have functioned as effective leaders. Be sure to justify your response, and support your
response with appropriate research from the field gathered in your previous review.
Refer to the Criminal Justice Library Tips for support in finding and citing outside resources.
http://snhu-media.snhu.edu/files/course_repository/graduate/cj/cj510/cj510_criminal_justice_library_tips
Rubric
Guidelines for Submission: Your submission should be 1–2 pages, double-spaced, in 12 point Times New Roman Font, and appropriate research used should
follow appropriate APA formatting.
Please note that the grading rubric for the milestone submission is not identical to that of the final project. The Final Project Rubric will include an additional
“Exemplary” category that provides guidance as to how you can go above and beyond “Proficient” in your final submission.
Critical Elements Proficient (100%) Needs Improvement (80%) Not Evident (0%) Value
Leadership Analysis:
Facilitate and
Motivate
Analyzes the actions of
leadership in the chosen
scenario for how they did or did
not facilitate and motivate
employees in addressing the
problem, providing examples to
support response
Analyzes the actions of
leadership in the chosen
scenario for how they did or did
not facilitate and motivate
employees in addressing the
problem, providing examples to
support response, but analysis
is cursory or illogical, or
provided examples are
inappropriate or illogical
Does not analyze the actions of
leadership in the chosen
scenario for how they did or did
not facilitate and motivate
employees in addressing the
problem
30
Leadership Analysis:
Communication Issues
Analyzes the actions of
leadership in the chosen
scenario for communication
issues that might arise and how
these issues might impede
addressing the problem,
providing examples to support
response
Analyzes the actions of
leadership in the chosen
scenario for communication
issues that might arise and how
these issues might impede
addressing the problem,
providing examples to support
response, but analysis is cursory
or illogical, or provided
examples are inappropriate or
illogical
Does not analyze the actions of
leadership in the chosen
scenario for communication
issues that might arise and how
these issues might impede
addressing the problem
30
http://libanswers.snhu.edu/faq/8737
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/
Leadership Analysis:
Effective Leaders
Determines whether the
supervisors in the chosen
scenario have functioned as
effective leaders, justifying
response and supporting
response with appropriate
research from the field
Determines whether the
supervisors in the chosen
scenario have functioned as
effective leaders, justifying
response and supporting
response with appropriate
research from the field, but
determination is cursory,
illogical, or there are gaps in the
justification, or supporting
research is inappropriate
Does not determine whether
the supervisors in the chosen
scenario have functioned as
effective leaders
30
Articulation of
Response
Submission has no major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
Submission has major errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that negatively impact
readability and articulation of
main ideas
Submission has critical errors
related to citations, grammar,
spelling, syntax, or organization
that prevent understanding of
ideas
10
Total 100%
- CJ 510 Milestone Two Guidelines and Rubric
Rubric