Leadership Ethics: Impact, Perspectives & Codes in Modern Organizations

1. Fire Administration I Randy R. Bruegman Chapter 6 Leadership Ethics

2. Learning Objectives • Define the term ethics and describe how it is used in your department • Evaluate the ethical environment in your department • Describe past events that have forced ethical legislation to be written

3. Learning Objectives • Articulate the role of ethics in the decision-making process • Describe how organizational culture can impact organizational ethics

4. Ethics and Their Impact • Ethics define conduct, honor, morality, guidelines for human actions, rules or standards, expected behavior • Roots in ancient history, religion, law, social customs, and personal code of conduct

5. Ethics and Their Impact • Ancient History • Greek culture adopted rules for citizens • Religion • Systems of law • Social customs

6. Ethics and Their Impact • Modern Perspective • Companies struggle when corporate values differ from employee values • Values are intrinsically desirable qualities • Can’t learn morality by reading a treatise • Principle of “witness of another”

7. Ethics and Their Impact • Modern Perspectives • Value-based leadership • Ethics is elementally the pursuit of justice, fair play, and equity • Art of value-based leadership • Business ethics

8. Ethics and Their Impact • Modern Perspectives • Ethics is the assessment and evaluation of values • Role of leadership is to manage values • Ethical judgments are values or rights confrontations

9. Ethics and Their Impact • Modern Perspectives • Factual basis is irrelevant if people choose to believe something • How do you judge a leader’s ethics? • Character • Rule of business remains law of the jungle

10. Ethics and Their Impact • Modern Perspectives • Organizational psychodynamics impose Draconian requirements • Reminiscent of command and control theory

11. Identifying Ethics Codes • Ethics Codes and Guidelines • Protect professionals from themselves • Collect moral power • Theoretically set guidelines for ideal behavior • Realistically represent minimum standards of behavior

12. Identifying Ethics Codes • Ethics Codes and Guidelines • Less motivation to achieve higher standards after minimums have been met • Driven by societal climate and current events

13. Identifying Ethics Codes • 2003 National Business Ethics Survey • 1500 participants in 48 states • Focused on ethics practices, formal ethics programs, pressure to compromise standards, misconduct, practice of ethical values, and accountability • Context is important • Reflects changes from previous surveys

14. Identifying Ethics Codes • 2003 National Business Ethics Survey • Management talked more about the importance of ethics • Observed misconduct decreased • Pressure to compromise ethics decreased • Reporting of misconduct increased

15. Identifying Ethics Codes • 2003 National Business Ethics Survey • Honesty and respect were practiced more • Questionable practices are condoned by respecting those who use them to achieve success

16. Identifying Ethics Codes • 2003 National Business Ethics Survey • Most frequently observed behavior • Abusive or intimidating behavior • Misreporting of hours worked • Lying • Withholding needed information

17. Identifying Ethics Codes • 2003 National Business Ethics Survey • Less misconduct and pressure in stable organizations • Young managers felt most pressure • Nearly half of non-management employees did not report observed misconduct

18. Identifying Ethics Codes • 2003 National Business Ethics Survey • Young employees reported less misconduct • Over half reporting misconduct were satisfied with the response • Formal ethics programs increased reporting

19. Identifying Ethics Codes • 2003 National Business Ethics Survey • Formal ethics programs increased perception of personal accountability and decreased pressure to compromise • Smaller organizations less likely to have formal ethics programs

20. Identifying Ethics Codes Ideals are like stars – we never reach them. But, like mariners at sea, we chart our course by them. Author unknown

21. Modeling Ethical Behavior • Modeling • Leader shows employees how to act through their own behavior • Benefits of leaders’ ethical behavior • Ethics are real when employees see good ethics applied

22. Modeling Ethical Behavior • Make it Acceptable to Talk About Ethics • Ethics has negative personification • Promote the positive aspects • Commend ethical conduct • Talk about ethical conduct • Seek guidance • Discuss issues when they are brought up

23. Modeling Ethical Behavior • Create a Habit of Repeating Organizational Lore • Stories about going the extra mile • Capture them • Write them down for future employees • Newsletters

24. Modeling Ethical Behavior • Include Ethical Conduct on Performance Evaluations • People react favorably to what is rewarded or measured • Emphasize ethical conduct

25. Modeling Ethical Behavior • Make Ethics More Than an Annual Discussion • Talk about them often • Talk about them at all levels • “Straight face test”

26. Organizational Integrity and Ethical Leadership • Components of Ethical Leadership • Begins when leaders perceive and conceptualize the world • Leaders role to guide human potential and achieve organizational aspirations

27. Organizational Integrity and Ethical Leadership • Components of Ethical Leadership • Purpose • Knowledge • Authority • Trust

28. Organizational Integrity and Ethical Leadership • Modes of Ethical Leadership • Applying the right amount of authority • Levels of intervention • Inspiration, facilitation, persuasion, incentives, force • Must use authority granted to achieve the purposes of the organization • Select the type of intervention

29. Organizational Integrity and Ethical Leadership • Modes of Ethical Leadership • Ethical leadership preserves aspirations and culture, communicates core values, and balances them • Increase the consistency of ethical practices

30. Organizational Integrity and Ethical Leadership • Mandatory Ethics • Foundation rests on the rule of law or administrative policies • Cost of violating mandatory ethics

31. Organizational Integrity and Ethical Leadership • Aspirational Ethics • Represents an optimal standard of behavior • Internal standard to judge personal behavior • Differs among individuals

32. Organizational Integrity and Ethical Leadership • Personal Orientation • Individual values • Cultures • Religious beliefs • Personal biases • Intrapersonal conflict and stress

33. Organizational Integrity and Ethical Leadership • Ethical Decision-Making Process • Process consists of three questions • What should I do? • What will I do? • How does my decision match my personal orientation?

34. Organizational Integrity and Ethical Leadership • Ethical Decision-Making Process • Engender a fear of change in the status quo • Short-term vs. long-term solutions • Consists of a series of choices • Choosing right over wrong takes courage • What do you do if you suspect wrongdoing?

35. Organizational Integrity and Ethical Leadership Ethical Decision-Making Process • Step 1: Stop. Examine Your Motivations • Ethics is promoting fidelity to universal values • Ethics is fostering public confidence • Why do people call a perceived transgression to light?

36. Organizational Integrity and Ethical Leadership Ethical Decision-Making Process • Step 1: Stop. Examine Your Motivations • Organizational loyalty • Disillusionment • Defensiveness • Desire to harm • “Vigilante ethics”

37. Organizational Integrity and Ethical Leadership Ethical Decision-Making Process • Step 2. Figure Out What the “Wrong” Might Be • Must follow the law • Act based on commonly held values • Can be technically legal and still unethical

38. Organizational Integrity and Ethical Leadership Ethical Decision-Making Process • Step 2: Figure Out What the “Wrong” Might Be • Nature of an ethical dilemma • Does your agency have a code of ethics? • Are ethics an important part of the organizational culture?

39. Organizational Integrity and Ethical Leadership Ethical Decision-Making Process • Step 3: Determine Potential Consequences of Letting the Situation Go Unaddressed • Potential legal consequences • Results of accusations • Agency ethics codes may provide accountability mechanisms

40. Organizational Integrity and Ethical Leadership Ethical Decision-Making Process • Step 4: Speak to Others to See if They Share Your Concerns • Supervisor or next in chain of command • Human resources department • Be prepared, respectful, fair, honest, and focused

41. Organizational Integrity and Ethical Leadership Ethical Decision-Making Process • Step 5: Discuss the Issue With the Individual • First goal is to get them to stop • Figure out the motivation • Identify gaps in the analysis • Thought process may rationalize behavior • Costs and benefits of a course of action • Self-deluding thought processes

42. Organizational Integrity and Ethical Leadership Ethical Decision-Making Process • Step 6: Determine Whether an Internal Investigation is Appropriate • Determines if the conduct really happened • Demonstrates commitment to follow law • Establishes the ethical culture • Investigation protocols

43. Organizational Integrity and Ethical Leadership Ethical Decision-Making Process • Step 7: Determine Whether External Enforcement Authorities Should be Contacted • District Attorney • U. S. Attorney • Grand Jury • State Commission on Ethics

44. Organizational Integrity and Ethical Leadership Ethical Decision-Making Process • Step 7: Determine Whether External Enforcement Authorities Should be Contacted • Attorney General • Private Right of Action • Media should not be an early contact • What course of action will benefit agency?

45. Organizational Integrity and Ethical Leadership Ethical Decision-Making Process • Step 8: Consider Steps to Prevent the Situation from Recurring • Educate your staff • When you suspect a colleague has crossed the line….

46. Ethics, Politics, and Leadership • The Political Process • Vital to organizational success • Preparation for leaders • Leaders must understand the political landscape • “Political ethics” • Understanding organizational political dynamics

47. Ethics, Politics, and Leadership The Fire Chief: A Mayor’s View

48. Ethics, Politics, and Leadership • Our Past is Often a Window to Our Future • Understand current political dynamics by understanding the past • Politics and ethics are rooted in the past • Organizational history is a window • Must have a defined framework of principles

49. Ethics, Politics, and Leadership • Commission on Professional Credentialing (CFO) Code of Conduct • Chief Fire Officer participants are moral and ethical change agents

50. Ethics, Politics, and Leadership • Commission on Professional Credentialing (CFO) Code of Conduct • Responsibilities to individuals • Responsibilities to the profession • Responsibilities to the community and society • Responsibilities regarding conflict of interest