Looking Back

Throughout this course, my views on ethical leadership have truly shifted.

Initially, ethics and morals seemed almost out of reach, idealistic principles elevated far above the demands and circumstances of everyday leadership. Embodying virtue was quixotic, not pragmatic, and seemed to require a person who possessed an impossible level of perfection in every aspect of leadership.

After two weeks of study, my outlook has adapted to my newly developed perception of ethical leadership. By first establishing my own leadership values, I have learned that ethical leadership is not about personifying and exercising all leadership qualities in each discrete situation, but about knowing which qualities to draw on to best address the task at hand. For example, MLK was not simultaneously a bold public speaker and an empathic listener in each instance of his leadership; when giving speeches or leading marches he exercised the former, while the latter was imperative to planning next moves and connecting to his constituency.

Furthermore, I now understand that ethical decision-making is not necessarily out of reach, but relies on your approach to a dilemma and measure of an action’s virtue. To Machiavelli, an action’s goodness rested heavily on its consequences, justifying the use of cruelty to reach a benefit for the common good. Alternately, some judge an action’s ethicality by how performing that action will make them feel about their own goodness as a person. Therefore, the same set of means and ends could be considered ethical or unethical by two separate parties, exemplifying the ambiguity and at times difficulty of leading ethically. However, although not always practical, there is always a way to deduce a solution that will produce the most good and the least harm by holistically weighing all the different approaches to ethical leadership before taking action.

With the ability to incorporate my new learning into future opportunities, I now feel more prepared for the challenges of being a leader. Particularly, with the social change model, I am confident that I can not only lead others towards a common purpose, but maintain an awareness of my own consciousness of self and commitment while doing so. Leading is not always about guiding others to action; strong leadership requires diligent introspection.  

Miriam El-Baz