EL504 Ethical & Moral Foundation Blog


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Ethical Leadership: Utilizing The Five Timeless Questions

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    When our ethics get in the way of what we want more than anything in this world, we have a conflict. There are many tools which experts recommend to help those of us in leadership roles navigate the gray areas and try to maintain our ethical compass. The one I would like to speak about is "The Five Timeless Questions'. I believe that when facing ethical and moral dilemmas one can use this construct as a baseline to make the best possible decision which meets the needs of the people that you lead and allows us to make decisions which help us as leaders put our best foot forward.       The first question one should pose when attempting to navigate a decision would be "What are the net consequences of the action?". When you begin to search for the correct path, taking a moment to examine what the consequences of each decision may be for you and others can really help to narrow the focus of choices down. I like starting with this question because as l...
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Leadership Privilege: Casting a Long Shadow

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             With great responsibility comes great privilege. At face value, there seems to be nothing wrong with that statement. Generally, most sensible people would agree to that balance. Where those lines seem to blur is when people in leadership positions begin to abuse those privileges. Most everyone has heard the phrase "Absolute power corrupts absolutely." Certainly, power in itself could be the cause of the misuse of privilege.  However, what seems to be the more pressing questions are:  How do leaders begin to justify these actions?  Is abuse of privilege just the cost of doing business as a necessary evil?      We can't simply assume that all leaders who abuse privilege had the plan to do so at the beginning of their leadership journey. So, lets start by making the assumption that most people are generally and basically good human beings.  If that's the case, the "Shadow of Privilege" would appear...
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Ethical Leadership: Resisting Influence in the Form of Reciprocation

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      In order to lead from an ethical platform one of the issues which we as leaders must navigate when making decisions for our organization is the expectation of reciprocation. Or, the feeling that we are obligated to repay in-kind to help we have received from others. This can become a very slippery slope because obviously not all "favors" are equal and the expectation of returning the favor regardless of weight can become substantial.       One way that we as leaders can resist the dynamic of reciprocity is to decline the initial favor. I personally believe that this is the most effective and efficient way to avoid the possibility of the quid pro quo cycle. By rejecting the initial offer as the decision makers we avoid the uncomfortable feeling and position we would be put in to pay an equal or greater price than the one we received initially.       However, this does bring about an entirely different scena...
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