Application Of Ethical Leadership Essay Discussion Paper

Ethical leadership

Part A.

  1.  Discuss two ethical traits that your chosen leader has demonstrated

Perhaps, the leader who has exhibited the most exemplary ethical conduct is Bill Daniels. In 1952, Mr. Daniels started an insurance agency in Casper, Wyoming. In 1955, one of the insurers that his agency represented went bankrupt. This meant that the policyholders would be left high and dry. He felt that the situation placed his agency’s reputation at stake as a business entity since the insurance terms were being violated. To be more precise, he noted that two weeks after the insurer went bankrupt, one of his clients was sued and sought to have the insurance come into effect. The policy was for $12,500. The suit results in a judgment against his client who was ordered to pay $11,000. Given that the insurer was unable to pay out the policy and the agency’s reputation would be negatively affected, Mr. Daniels to pay the $11,000 in a deal that saw him pay $500 every month for a period of 22 months. He explained his actions that although he did not have to pay the money, he considered this an ethical imperative that was owed to his client who had faith in his agency (Tell Studios, 2012, p. 112)Application Of Ethical Leadership Essay Discussion Paper.

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Mr. Daniels’ decision to make the payment makes him exhibit some unique ethical traits. The first ethical trait is sympathy and empathy. This requires the individual to relate to the decision at the personal level before deciding on a course of action that would be accepted if reciprocated. In the present case, Mr. Daniels acted in a manner that he would be comfortable with if reciprocated. This means that should he use an insurance agency, then he would expect payment if a similar situation arose. The second ethical trait is ‘experience priming’. As an adult, Mr. Daniels has been through a lot of experiences that allowed him to have a better awareness or right and wrong. Based on his experiences as an adult, he comprehends that his decisions should be in line with what the clients expect according to what his insurance agency promised them. This would allow the agency to operate with high integrity as a business entity (Tannsjo, 2013). The third ethical trait is the application of pro-social moral reasoning and discarding hedonistic moral reasoning. Mr. Daniels made the payment using his personal funds. This implies that although there are business rules in place that did not assign responsibility to his company, he understood what a good business environment entailed and was intent on creating such an environment. His intended was to reform the insurance industry and make it more responsive to customers. The final ethical trait is self-serving cognitive distortion. This trait entailed Mr. Daniels developing higher levels of moral reasoning while comprehending that his future business performance and reputation dependent on his current decisions and results. Through making the payment using his personal funds, he acts as a fair man who is most concerned about the interests of clients and would like to create a trusting relationship that extends to prospective clients even with future business dealings (Heinrichs, Oser & Lovat, 2013)Application Of Ethical Leadership Essay Discussion Paper. In this respect, Mr. Daniels exhibits unique ethical traits that guide his moral decisions.

  1.  Explain how your chosen leader has exhibited ethical conduct

Mr. Daniels exhibited ethical conduct through his actions. In fact, he approached the scenario and subsequent decision using a virtue/relationship-based methodology. In using his personal funds to address the client’s needs and expectations, he was able to use a rational capacity to fulfill and discern his responsibilities as an insurance agent. His agency had an agreement with the client and he was expected to fulfill the terms indicated in the agreement. Although the insurance company that held the policies had gone out of business, that did not overtake his responsibility to the clients. As a result, he was concerned with acting with virtue and maintaining as well as improving the existing relationships. Should Mr. Daniels’ have applied consequential reasoning in approaching the case, then he is unlikely to have made the payment. He would justify the non-payment by arguing that the insurer had gone out of business. As an agency that had only been acting on behalf of the insurer for a commission, he had no responsibility to take on the insurer’s financial obligations. The non-payment would further be reinforced by outcome-based or rules-based arguments that placed the policy responsibilities on the insurer and Mr. Daniels’ agency has no obligation to redress any such responsibility. In such a case, he would have indicated that he similarly had to make a choice between suffering a loss or realizing a profit before making a decision. Through making the payment, he would be making a loss. In refusing to make the payment, he would be making a profit. Given the choice between a profit and a loss, he would be justified in opting for the profit and refusing to make the payment (Bowie, 2013)Application Of Ethical Leadership Essay Discussion Paper. In this respect, it can be accepted that Mr. Daniels was guided by virtue/relationship based methodology when making his decision to use personal funds in redressing his client’s needs.

Part B.

The scenario is presented that a medical device company has produced artificial joints intended for sale to the public. In line with its business model, the company has produced a new artificial joint that it touts as less expensive than what is already in the market from the competition. In addition, the new artificial joint is expected to significantly reduce the amount of time that patients spend in healing. Despite the healing time and cost positives noted by the company, there is a significant risk that the company does not intend to mention to the public. In this case, the company notes that a small percentage of patients who use the new device are likely to report serious and potentially lethal infections as side effects. For that matter, the company has not made a full public disclosure of the merits and demerits of the new device. As a sales representative for the medical device company who is responsible for convincing potential customers to purchase the artificial device, the question then becomes: does the sales representative have a duty to make a full public disclosure about the device, and would the disclosure be in violation of the non-disclosure agreement signed when joining the company.

The scenario presents an ethical dilemma to the sales representative on whether or not to make a disclosure and the legal implications of each decision. The decision could either be guided by either consequential or deontological ethics. Consequential ethics applies utilitarian reasoning in noting that every decision should be targeted at increasing utility so that the most value is realized even as the most needs are satisfied and the most number of people are positively affected. It holds that any social decision can be considered ethically right or wrong based on how it affects most members of the society. It most members of the society are positively affected by the action then the decision would be ethically right but if most people are negatively affected by the decision then it would be ethically wrong. In essence, it considers the consequences of a decision for all affected persons (Tannsjo, 2013). Applying consequential ethics to the present scenario shows that the sales representative should not disclose the information concerning the negative side effects of using the artificial device. That is because the device would have a positive effect on more people when compared to the few people who will be negatively affected. Only a small number of people who use the device will be negatively affected with them reporting serious infections that has some potential for being lethal. This means that although a small number of people will report infections, not all the infections will be lethal. Concerning the positive effects, many people will benefit from the product. Firstly, the medical device company will benefit from the device through sales that count towards the company earnings and enable it to continue operations and pay personnel. Secondly, the customers will benefit through having a comparatively less expensive artificial device that will cost less money and allow them to spend less on medical care. Thirdly, the sales representative would also benefit from the decision by keeping his job and earning money. As a result, applying consequentialist ethical arguments shows that the sales representative should not make a public disclosure about the negative effects of the device Application Of Ethical Leadership Essay Discussion Paper.

On the other hand, deontological ethics attaches much important to morality regarding an action and the duty held towards others. Deontology is a derivative from two Greek terms ‘deon’ and ‘logos’. The first term is concerned with duty while the second term is concerned with science. Using this approach, a decision would be ethically right on the basis of the action itself and not its result. This means that regardless of the effects that the action has on the welfare of the persons concerned, it would be considered morally right or wrong on the basis of the action itself (Tannsjo, 2013). Using this argument in the current case, it is clear that the sales representative has a responsibility to act in the customers’ best interest since they expect to receive truthful information that includes full disclosure about the products. In this case, the sales representative promises to deliver a product that functions as he described since this is what the customers are paying for.  For that matter, he/she is obligated to fulfil this duty as a professional, regardless of the financial loss he would incur from being fired or facing legal action from the company, or the justification that he signed a non-disclosure agreement with the company with a legal obligation to treat information about the company as a secret not to be disclosed without proper authorization. In this respect, the sales representative can either apply deontological or consequential ethics to guide his decision Application Of Ethical Leadership Essay Discussion Paper.

Part C.

Included a copy of ELI results in pdf format.

Part D.

  1. Explain your preferred ethical lens or what it means to have none if you have a center perspective. Analyze whether you have the same preferred lens in different settings (i.e., work, personal, social).

My preferred ethical lense is a blended relationship and reputation. In fact, I do not have a preference between rationality and sensibility. Although I am close to the center perspective, I tend towards the relationship lens and reputation lens. In this case, the relationship lens shows that my definition of ethical success is one in which I work closely with the members of my community to address their needs. On the other hand, the reputation lens shows that I am concerned with what the persons in my close sphere think about me to imply that I would not want to fall short of their expectations. This shows that although I would be keen to follow the existing rules within the professional setting, I would be easily influenced in the social and personal settings.

  1. Describe one of the following: your blind spot, risk, double standard, or vice. Discuss three steps you can take to mitigate your chosen blind spot, risk, double standard, or vice in order to make better ethical decisions in the future.

My blind spot is that I am easily influenced by the persons who are important to me. This means that when dealing with them, I would be concerned with what they think about me as well as ensuring that I continue having a good relationship with them and maintaining my reputation. To mitigate this blind spot, I always strive to apply three steps. The first step is to ensure that there is a clear definition of the existing relationship in terms of whether it is personal, professional, social and so on. Secondly, I define the current situation in terms of influences and impact on others. Finally, I make a decision based on my principles and how the decision affects me as well as others. I understand that ultimately I must live with every decision that I make, thus requiring that I have a justifiable basis for every ethical decision Application Of Ethical Leadership Essay Discussion Paper.

  1. Explain your primary values and classical virtue(s) from the ELI. Discuss how these primary values and classical virtue(s) compare to the top five values from the Clarifying Your Values exercise, found in the course of study.

My primary values are respect, fairness/justice, compassion and equality. That is because I am an individual who has respect for others and believes that the society would better function through equality and fairness. I believe that every leader should be compassionate in thinking about other members of the community. In addition, I believe that even though authority could vary based on personal choices and responsibilities, there is need for accountability that takes into account the inherent value of every individual. Although my values show that I am balanced between rationality and sensibility, I believe that I should develop a greater complement of values to improve my capacity as a leader. Firstly, I should be honest in all my dealings to improve the trust that others have in me. Secondly, I should keep my promises to improve my integrity as an individual. Thirdly, I should have self-discipline and order-oriented through structuring my time and following the structure to improve my productivity and accountability. Fourthly, I should focus on success by ensuring that every decision is well thought out and guided by tangible objectives. Fifthly, I should be in harmony with the people around me to improve the capacity for collaborative action. Finally, I should be creative when developing solutions for existing problems. Adding these complement of personal values would improve my capacity as a leader.

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  1. Discuss how you plan to use ethical lenses to approach ethical situations throughout your professional life.

I intend to use the ethical lens to refine my decision making approaches. I understand that the lens is simply a guide that reflects the current situation. Having identified my strengths and weakness, I can focus on improving the strengths while minimizing the weaknesses so that my ethical decisions become more acceptable and reflective of my intentions. This is particularly true for my blind spots, double standards, and vices that I would seek to eliminate. Overall, I understand that I can make changes to the way in which I make decisions by using the results of the ethical lens. Given this results, I plan to achieve a good balance between my relationships, reputation, results, and responsibilities through having no preference with equal elements of equality, sensibility, autonomy and rationality values. In addition, I intend to refine my awareness of fairness, injustice and arrogance, particularly within the community context. This would require that I always be courageous when making decisions and ensuring that I make the right ethical decision irrespective of the personal cost I might incur. Besides that, I intend to acquire honesty, keeping promises, success, harmony, self-discipline, order, and creativity in my complement of personal values. Overall, I intend to ensure that my community treats every member with fairness and that I act responsibly as an example for others. Application Of Ethical Leadership Essay Discussion Paper

References

Bowie, N. (2013). Business ethics in the 21st Century. New York, NY: Springer.

Heinrichs, K., Oser, F. & Lovat, T. (2013). Handbook of moral motivation: theories, models, and applications. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers.

Tannsjo, T. (2013). Understanding ethics (3rd ed.). Edinburg: Edinburg University Press.

Tell Studios (2012). The life & legacy of Bill Daniels. Orion, MI: Tell Studios.

Application Of Ethical Leadership Essay Discussion Paper