Chapter 5 Leadership
ethical dilemmas
Choosing between "two rights"
moral reasoning
Refers to the process leaders use to make decisions about ethical and unethical behaviors. Joshua Greene Dual-process theory: or moral judging wherein moral judgments dealing primarily with "rights" and "duties" are made by automatic emotional responses while moral judgements made on more utilitarian bases are made more cognitively.
generational differences: veterans; baby boomers; Gen X; Nexters (Millennials)
The Veterans (1922-1943): came of age during the Great Depression and World War II, and they represent a wealth of lore and wisdom. The Baby Boomers (1942-1960): These were the postwar babies who came of age during violent social protests, experimentation with new lifestyles, and pervasive questioning of establishment values. The Gen Xers (1961-1981): grew up during the era of the Watergate scandal, the energy crisis, higher divorce rates, MTV, and corporate downsizing; many were latchkey kids. As a group they tend to be technologically savvy, independent, and skeptical of institutions and hierarchy. Millennials (1982-2005): This is our generation, so any generalizations we make here are risky. Millennials share an optimism born, perhaps, from having been raised by parents devoted to the task of bringing their generation to adulthood; they are the children of soccer moms and little league dads. They doubt the wisdom of traditional racial and sexual categorizing. In the workplace they are seeking team-work, security, and work-life balance.
Kidder's four ethical dilemmas
Truth vs loyalty: such as honestly answering a question when doing so could compromise a real or implied promise of confidentiality to others. Individual vs Community: such as whether you should protect the confidentiality of someone's medical condition when the condition itself may pose threat to the larger community. Short-term vs long-term: such as how a parent chooses to balance spending time with children now as compared with investments in a career that may provide greater benefits for the family in the long-run. Justice vs Mercy: such as deciding whether to excuse a person's misbehavior because of extenuating circumstances or a conviction that he or she has "learned a lesson".
Four qualities of leadership that engender trust according to Bennis and Goldsmith
Vision: who pull people together on the basis of shared beliefs and common sense of organizational purpose and belonging. Empathy: who show they understand the world as we see and experience it. Consistent: This means that changes are understood as a process of evolution in the light of relevant new evidence. Not necessarily having no changes. Integrity: is strong; who demonstrate their commitment to higher principles through their actions.
Theory X and Y
X-Reflects a more pessimistic view of others. Managers with this orientation rely heavily on coercive, external control methods to motivate workers, such as pay, disciplinary techniques, punishments, and threats. Micromanaging. Y- Reflects a view that most people are intrinsically motivated by their work. Rather than needing to be coaxed or coerced to work productively, such people value sense of achievement, personal growth, pride in contributing to their organization, and respect for a job well done.
in-group favoritism
accept others who are more like us
values
constructs representing generalized behaviors or states of affairs that are considered by the individual to be important
implicit prejudice
distorts judgements affects our decisions subconsciously
dehumanization
easier to treat other badly when they are dehumanized
Moral justification
involves reinterpreting otherwise immoral behavior in terms of a higher purpose.
euphemistic labeling
involves using cosmetic words to defuse or disguise the offensiveness of otherwise morally repugnant or distasteful behavior.
authentic leadership; servant leadership
is grounded in the principle found in the familiar adage "to thine own self be true". They have strong ethical convictions that guide their behavior not so much to avoid doing "wrong" things as to always try to do the "right" thing, including treating others with dignity and respect. has since 1970 described a different approach to leadership than that derived from a bureaucratic and mechanistic view of organizations wherein workers are thought of as mere cogs in a machine. The leader's primary role is seen as doing whatever it takes to ensure that things run smoothly, tasks are performed, and goals are met.
ends-based thinking
is often characterized as "do what's best for the greatest number of people". Also known as utilitarianism.
advantageous comparison
lets one avoid self-contempt for one's behavior by comparing it to worse behaviors by others
overclaiming credit
overrate quality of our own work
displacement of responsibility
people may violate personal moral standards by attributing responsibility to others.
disregard/distortion of consequences
people minimize the harm caused by their behavior.
attribution of blame
people sometimes try to justify immoral behavior by claiming it was caused by someone else's actions.
terminal values
refer to desired end states happy life accomplishment friendship
instrumental values
refer to modes of behavior courageous helpful honest
conflicts of interest
unconscious of some potential conflicts often discount the effects of a conflict of interest
diffusion of responsibility
whereby reprehensible behavior becomes easier to engage in and live with if others are behaving the same way
