An Introduction Ronald F White PhD Professor of Philosophy College of Mount St Joseph Topics Ontology of Organizational Leadership The Great Man Theory of Leadership Enduring Bias Within the Great Man Tradition ID: 287091
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Slide1
Leadership Ethics: An Introduction
Ronald F. White, Ph.D.
Professor of Philosophy
College of Mount St. JosephSlide2
TopicsOntology of Organizational Leadership
The Great Man Theory of Leadership
Enduring Bias Within the Great Man Tradition
Prescriptive Moral Theories
Discussion QuestionsSlide3
Ontology of “Leadership Theory”
Key Concepts in Leadership Theory
Organizations
Leaders
Followers
Relationships
Slide4
Organizations
What is an Organization? (Facts)
Organizations
as cooperative/competitive communities
Political, Business, Public (governmental), Military, Private (non-governmental), Athletic, Musical etc…
What is a “Good Organization.” (Values)
Organizational
Ends
-worthiness of goals
What does the organization attempt to do? (Descriptive)
Are these ends good? (Prescriptive )
Organizational
Means
-efficiency
Are the means of achieving that end ethical?
At what cost?Slide5
LeadersWhat is a leader? (Descriptive)
How do you become a leader
?
Natural Leadership
Biology
emergence
Social Science
How
do you lose leadership?
What is a good/bad leader? (Prescriptive)
How do you become a good (or bad) leader?Slide6
FollowersWhat is a follower? (Descriptive)
How do you become a follower
?
Biology-
Social Science
What is a good/bad follower? (Prescriptive)
How do you become a “good” (or bad) follower?Slide7
RelationshipsDescriptive Relationships:
How do leaders and followers relate to one another in the “real world?” (is)
How should leaders and followers relate to one another? (ought)Slide8
History of Great Man Theoryof Leadership
Great Man Theory
origins
Refinements to Great Man Theory
Trait Theory
Behavior Theory
Relational Theory
Transformative Leadership Theory
Social Psychology
Contextual Theory
Complexity Theory
Evolutionary Leadership TheorySlide9
Enduring Biases Within the Great Man Tradition
DESCRIPTIVE BIASES
LEADER BIAS:
Followers are only “passive” responders to effective leadership, therefore, leadership ethics trumps followership ethics.
Blame the leaders not the followers
HUMAN BIAS
: Only human beings organize themselves, naturally, based on leadership and followership.
NATURE OR NURTURE BIAS
: Leaders are either “born not made” (
Nature
) or “made not born.” (
Nurture
)
MALE BIAS
: Leaders are always men.
HEROIC BIAS:
Great leaders are “active” and accomplish “heroic acts.”
MACRO BIAS
: Bring about macro-level, revolutionary social change
Lower-level leadership is less important
PRESCRIPTIVE BIASES
ETHICAL LEADERSHIP BIAS
: Immoral and/or ineffective leaders are not “real leaders”
“ The Hitler Problem”
MORAL ABSOLUTES BIAS:
Ethical Leadership involves conformity to universal moral rules, even at the expense of
efficacy
and
efficiency
No “Dirty Hands”
INTERNAL MENTAL STATES BIAS:
Ethical leadership is about internal states such as motives, intents, beliefs etc.
Ethical leaders morally “transform” malleable internal states of followers .
Rejection of “transactional leadership” (needs more research on incentives and disincentives) “Nudge”
ALTRUISTIC MOTIVATION BIAS:
Altruistic motivation is necessary and sufficient for ethical leadership
Altruistic motives always trump efficacy
Moral absolutes Slide10
Prescriptive Moral Theories
Cognitive Moral Theories
Virtue-Based Theories-
Good Leaders/followers are
virtuous
Teleological Theories-
Good Leaders/followers are
effective
Duty-Based Theories-
Good Leaders/followers
follow rules
Non-Cognitive Moral Theories
Emotivism
Constructivism
Feminist Ethics
Subjectivist Theories
Cultural relativism
There are no universal standards for ethical leadership
Good Leaders/Followers are
contextually sensitive Slide11
Discussion Questions
Are there at least some
universal facts
of leadership that transcend context, or is leadership entirely contextual?
Are these
universal facts
embedded in human nature that transcend context, or is leadership contextual?
Are those facts shaped by biological determinants, cultural determinants, or both?
Are leaders born, made, or both?
Are there
universal values
of leadership that transcend context, or is leadership ethics contextual?
Are “good leaders”
virtuous
,
effective
, or
dutiful
?
Are “good leaders” born, made, or both?
Are prescriptive moral
values
descriptive biological
facts
?
Are values discovered via scientific research?
Are all prescriptive moral
values
descriptive cultural
facts
?
Are values invented and transmitted via cultural evolution?
Is there a difference between large-group morality and small group morality, or are the product of one single set of biological facts?