Ethical Leadership - Nonfictional Leader

Ethical Leadership A. Nonfictional Leader I have selected my former leader, Bob Fillmore, whom I had worked with for a little over 5 years. Bob was my direct manager and the manager of a group of 50 scientists, engineers, specialists, and administrative staff. He has been a proven leader at PNNL for over 20 years. The two ethical traits I believe Bob has demonstrated are Compassion and Courage. A1. & A2. Ethical Traits The definition of compassion is a feeling of deep sympathy and grief for another person who may have been affected by misfortune, accompanied by a strong desire to ease the suffering. (“Meanings and Definitions of Words at,” n.d.) Compassion can come in many different forms, from helping a homeless person by getting them something to eat, or by helping an elder neighbor with house chores. Bob has shown compassion many times throughout my time with him. One time stands out for me and it made me realize just how compassionate Bob was. We had a staff member, we will call Jean, who had just found out that her husband had terminal cancer. Jean had already used up all her paid time off for appointments and testing. The available leave would not have paid Jean her full salary and Jean was already struggling with medical bills and could not afford to take the time off to be with her husband. Bob donated over one hundred hours of his own paid time off to Jean so she could use them to spend time with her husband in his final days. Bob also set it up where she could work from home. This was not the standard at PNNL, but Bob made it a point to make it work for Jean. The definition of courage is the quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, or pain without fear. (“Meanings and Definitions of Words at,” n.d.) Bob had faced an ethical dilemma when his manager, Bill, was engaging in an affair with his Administrator. Bill was also a longtime friend and colleague of Bobs. One of the many polices at PNNL stated managers were not allowed to engage in intimate relationships with their subordinates. If a relationship were to develop, Human Resources (HR) needed to be immediately notified and one of the staff members would be transferred to another group. Bob knew the reason Bill did not inform HR was due to Bill’s wife, who also worked for PNNL. If word got out that Bill was seeing his administrator, Bill’s wife would find out about the affair. Bob knew that he could face losing his friend and possibly his job if HR did not take his concerns seriously or if Bill and his Administrator denied it and there was not enough proof of the relationship. However, Bob also knew that Bill was breaking policy and if the affair went on, things could get ugly, not only for Bill but for everyone else that knew about it and did not speak up. Bob decided to inform HR about what was going on. HR investigated, found that Bill was indeed having an affair, and he was paying his administrator to keep the affair quiet. Bill was immediately fired from the company and Bob lost a friend. B. Deontological and Consequentialist Perspectives The deontological approach values what is right, fair, honest, compassionate, and respectful. A deontologist would focus on their obligations, responsibilities, and their ethical principles. (Trevino & Nelson, 2016) A deontologist would look at the situation at the medical device company by asking herself or himself a series of questions to be as unbiased as possible and help them make an ethical decision. What course of action is the fairest and just? What would happen if the public found out the company withheld side effects? Should I break the nondisclosure agreement I signed when I was hired? What are the laws regarding this type of situation? Depending on the persons own ethical principles, the answers to these questions will guide and determine how they respond to the situation. I believe a person with a deontological perspective would break the nondisclosure agreement, if they had a high sense of doing what is right for others and not themselves. The consequentialist values what is best for society. The consequentialist would want to know what the benefits and the harms are to society before deciding on a decision regarding an ethical situation. (Trevino & Nelson, 2016) They would want to think about all the possible consequences of the decision and all the stakeholders who are involved with the decision. The consequentialist would also ask themselves questions to help them make the decision. Who are the stakeholders? In this situation, the stakeholders are yourself, the people receiving the artificial joints, and the company making the artificial joints. How will this harm the company? How will this harm or benefit the people receiving the artificial joints? Revealing the information to the people receiving the artificial joints would be beneficial to them and allow them to make a safer decision about their care. However, by revealing the information and breaking your nondisclosure agreement, you will lose your job. And finally, by revealing the information, the company could suffer financially. I believe that a consequentialist would not reveal the information because only a small amount of people are affected by the infections and a larger amount of people would be affected if the information is revealed to the public. C. Levels of Cognitive Moral Development Lawrence Kohlberg’s Theory of Cognitive Moral Development explains that moral reasoning develops through three levels and six stages. The first level is the pre-conventional level where decisions are made by preventing punishment (stage one) and advancing their own interests (stage two). The second level is the conventional level where decisions are made by what makes the people closest to you happy (stage three) and determining what the personal consequences are depending on what is dictated by others and society (stage four). The third level is the post-conventional level where decisions are made by values of human rights, societal guidelines, and justice (stage five). Stage six of the post-conventional level is theoretical, and most people will never reach this level of development. (Trevino & Nelson, 2016) Which action would most likely serve the greater good in society? This question is at the post-conventional level and stage 5 of cognitive moral development. At this level, people are looking beyond their own motives and desires, and looking for what is best for society. If I reveal this information, will I get into trouble and possibly even lose my job? This question is at the pre-conventional level and stage one of cognitive moral development. At this level, people are looking to avoid punishment and they are only thinking of themselves when making their decisions. Which action best aligns with my long-held belief in the principle of justice? This question is at the post-conventional level and stage five of cognitive moral development. At this level, people are looking at what they believe justice is and not what societal laws and rules determine what is just and fair. What do the laws say, and what would a law-abiding citizen do? This question is at the conventional level and stage four of cognitive moral development. At this level, people are concerned about the duties and laws the social system has put into place for all citizens to follow. This level of thinking is concerned about the right thing to do by societal norms. If I keep quiet will I get some sort of reward? This question is at the pre-conventional level and stage two of cognitive moral development. At this level, people are thinking about what they can gain from their actions and decisions. This is mostly a selfish and lower moral reasoning way of thinking. D1. Ethical Lens Inventory According to my Ethical Lens Inventory (ELI), my preferred ethical lens is the Relationship and Reputation Lens. With the relationship lens, I tend to define being successful with having strong relationships and helping others that need help. With the reputation lens, I tend to define being successful with having others think highly of me and associate me with a high moral character. D1.a. Preferred lens in different settings I believe my preferred ethical lens is the same at work, home and in my social settings. I value my relationships with my co-workers and managers while at work. I want to do a good job and I want them to think highly of me and know that I can be counted on to do a good job. At home, I try to help everyone I possibly can, sometimes to the point where I forget to take care of myself. When it comes to my friends, I always try to help them when I can, and I love doing things for them just to see them smile. D2a. Primary Values and Classical Virtues My two primary values are equality and a balance between rationality and sensibility. The value of equality has been a long-standing value of mine. I have always said, the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one, and I believe everyone should be treated equally and with fairness. I am surprised to find that I have a balance between rationality and sensibility. I always thought I was more rational than emotional, but as I reflect on it a little, it turns out I use both when making decisions. My Classical Virtues balance justice and fortitude. I believe that everyone should be treated fairly. When I must face hard times, I try to do so with courage. My compassions towards others can sometimes make some decisions even more difficult to make, especially when I am trying to be fair to everyone involved. The three top values from the clarifying your values exercise that are most important to me are Compassion, Equality, and Justice. These are the values I think are the most important to me in all aspects of my life especially when making an ethical decision. Comparing these values with my classical virtues and primary values, I can see why I prefer these values as my top three. Compassion aligns with my primary value of sensibility. I sometimes let my emotions guide me and I feel compassion for people quite often. Equality aligns with my primary value of equality; I want everyone to be equal and treated as such. Finally, justice aligns with my classical virtue of justice; I want everyone to be treated fairly and just. D3. My Blind Spot According to my ELI, my blind spot is overconfidence in the process or unrealistic role expectations. Since I have two lenses, I can fall for either blind spot. I personally believe that I fall for the unrealistic role expectations more often than being overconfident in the process. When I am working, I tend to try and help everyone I can. When people come to me and ask for something, I always say yes, even when I know that I already have a full plate of things to do. When my family and friends ask for help or have a problem, my first thought is, I need to help. I often forget that people are responsible for themselves and that I do not have to fix all their problems. Being overwhelmed with trying to help everyone, I can sometimes forget about the individual person. Perhaps I miss that one person that needed me more than everyone else. I also set unrealistic standards for myself, and when I do not meet those standards, I tend to beat myself up mentally. An area of being overconfident in the process is that I may be insensitive to those people who do not think the same as I do and I may miss that people may think of me as heartless because I am not thinking of the individual. My understanding of what is fair may not be someone else’s understanding of what is fair. D3a. Steps to overcoming my Blind Spot There are three steps that I am going to incorporate into my daily life to try and mitigate my blind spot and become more aware of how it affects my ethical decision making. The first step is to remember that I tend to take on too much and constantly try to do more than I am capable of handling. By keeping this in mind, I am hoping that I will be able to say no more often when I am unable to help when asked. Second, I plan to keep a to do list and set priorities for myself. By keeping everything that needs to be done in one spot, I can focus my attention on one task at a time. This will help reduce that possibility of becoming overwhelmed where I make an unethical decision. I do not want to be too focused on getting the process right and helping everyone as a community, that I forget about the individual. Third, I plan on reminding myself that individuals make up a community and that those individuals are just as important individually as the community is. Without the individuals, there would not be a community to help. D4. How I plan to use the Ethical Lenses in the future Now that I am aware on how I make ethical decisions and what my blind spot and other weaknesses are, I can now put a plan into place that allows me to make better ethical decisions in my professional life that I will encounter. I will use this newfound awareness to continue to be a hard worker and strive to continue to be a role model that people will respect. I will also be cautious about accepting too many responsibilities at one time so that I can avoid becoming overwhelmed and perhaps avoid making an unethical decision. When I am faced with an ethical dilemma, I will look to the values I hold near and dear to myself and make the decision not only for the community but also for the individuals that are involved.