Hi Caroline! Very good post! Your analysis of the ethical leadership definition supports why I make a distinction between ethics and morality. There can be an ethical climate that is essentially operating immorally (unjustly or harmful to others). Is there a 'moral leadership' model? I don't believe so. There is a 'responsible leadership' model that is good but again presupposes right behavior. There seems to be a tendency in some academic approaches that nothing goes wrong. I don't know how else to explain it. The blindness is a bit stunning.
Hi Stephen! Good to hear from you. That's an interesting way to give language to the the complexity. I go with Dr. Cuilla's take that the terms “ethics” and “morals” or “morality” are used interchangeably. They have historically been used as synonyms for each other and they tend to be used in definitions to define each other. I saw it in my interviews as well, that discussing ethics and morals/morality didn't have any distinction and trying to separate the terms caused more confusion than understanding.
Agreed! The complexity of addressing accountability is sometimes missing from leadership strategies. I found that this article on organizational accountability provided an interesting framework for leadership as well: Koppell, J. G. (2005). Pathologies of Accountability: ICANN and the Challenge of “Multiple Accountabilities Disorder.” Public Administration Review, 65(1), 94–108. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2005.00434.x
(A few of Cuilla's many publications where I got my pragmatism about terms)
- Ciulla, J. B. (2018). Ethics and Effectiveness: The Nature of Good Leadership. Nature of Leadership, 3rd edition. Eds. Antonakis, J. & Day, D., Thousands Oaks, CA: Sage, p 439-467.
- Ciulla, J. B. (2018). Verizon Lecture: Why Is It So Difficult to Be an Ethical Leader? Business and Society Review, 123(2), 369–383. https://doi.org/10.1111/basr.12145
Hi Caroline! Very good post! Your analysis of the ethical leadership definition supports why I make a distinction between ethics and morality. There can be an ethical climate that is essentially operating immorally (unjustly or harmful to others). Is there a 'moral leadership' model? I don't believe so. There is a 'responsible leadership' model that is good but again presupposes right behavior. There seems to be a tendency in some academic approaches that nothing goes wrong. I don't know how else to explain it. The blindness is a bit stunning.
Hi Stephen! Good to hear from you. That's an interesting way to give language to the the complexity. I go with Dr. Cuilla's take that the terms “ethics” and “morals” or “morality” are used interchangeably. They have historically been used as synonyms for each other and they tend to be used in definitions to define each other. I saw it in my interviews as well, that discussing ethics and morals/morality didn't have any distinction and trying to separate the terms caused more confusion than understanding.
Agreed! The complexity of addressing accountability is sometimes missing from leadership strategies. I found that this article on organizational accountability provided an interesting framework for leadership as well: Koppell, J. G. (2005). Pathologies of Accountability: ICANN and the Challenge of “Multiple Accountabilities Disorder.” Public Administration Review, 65(1), 94–108. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-6210.2005.00434.x
(A few of Cuilla's many publications where I got my pragmatism about terms)
- Ciulla, J. B. (2018). Ethics and Effectiveness: The Nature of Good Leadership. Nature of Leadership, 3rd edition. Eds. Antonakis, J. & Day, D., Thousands Oaks, CA: Sage, p 439-467.
- Ciulla, J. B. (2018). Verizon Lecture: Why Is It So Difficult to Be an Ethical Leader? Business and Society Review, 123(2), 369–383. https://doi.org/10.1111/basr.12145