Reflection

Looking back on this course I can say that my views on being an effective ethical leader has definitely changed. In the beginning of this course I felt that to be an effective leader you had to lose ethics and be someone that rules with authority. The Machiavellian principle ties into being effective as Machiavelli said that “Its better to be feared than loved”, this meaning that in order to be an effective leader it is better for the people to fear the leader than think of he or she as a “softy”. I felt the same way if a leader wanted to be ethical. An ethical leader may not be effective as he or she sticks with moral rights of all people rather than staying firm in authority. This view has changed as I learned that a leader can be both effective and ethical. Martin Luther King Jr. is a prime example of how one can be effective and ethical as he advocated racial equality without hurting the rights of others.  

One thing I changed my mind about involving leaders and ethical dilemmas are when leaders need to use “necessary evils” to accomplish a task. Before I felt that if a leader used that, he or she would not be ethical. However, I learned using “necessary evils” to accomplish a task can still be ethical making a leader both effective and ethical. 

After learning a lot about the “7 C’s” I believe in my position of leadership, commitment and collaboration best suits me. I am the hardworking type of individual and I believe in any situation there needs to be commitment and collaboration for a unit to successfully fulfill its common purpose. This course was an eye opener for me and I will take everything I learned from here and apply it for when I most need it.

Jinay Amin