Ethical Leadership Debate
Reflective Statement
Seminar Four: Ethical Leadership Debate Guiding Reflective Question | Student Reflection | What was the definition of ‘ethical leadership’ adopted by the participants in the debate?What is the role of the directors as envisaged by Codes of Corporate Governance and wider society?Are these expectations consistent with the ideas of ethical leadership? | The four characters, Mike, Jan, Mei-Hua and Deshi were portrayed as individuals with starkly differing views on ethical leadership. Mike believes that strong influence of ethical leaders in organizations will shape people within. Meanwhile, Jan’s idea of ethical leadership involves her employees taking up of social responsibility which she believes will be able to develop them. On the other hand, Mei-Hua defines ethical leadership as the moral obligation to follow codes and rules set. Mei-Hua also considers unorthodox methods which falls within the legal guidelines as completely ethical. Finally, Deshi regards ethical leadership as a hindrance and questions the necessity of such a concept.The widely accepted societal role of directors is to ensure the success of the company through prudent and effective management (Aguilera 2005). However, in recent years, the Codes of Corporate Governance have been introduced to provide more specific guidelines detailing the role of directors. Of the many guidelines, the inclusion of non–executive directors representing and protecting stakeholder interests by reviewing and ensuring the compliance of the executive directors to the code has the greatest effect and outlines two distinct yet complimentary roles of directors today (Crane & Matten 2010).However, through the debate, I have realised that despite the establishment of Codes of Corporate Governance and societal expectations, much of these ideas are prone to personal interpretation. While some individuals like Mike and Jan place emphasis on ethical leadership, there are also those who agree with
Seminar Four: Ethical Leadership Debate Guiding Reflective Question | Student Reflection | What was the definition of ‘ethical leadership’ adopted by the participants in the debate?What is the role of the directors as envisaged by Codes of Corporate Governance and wider society?Are these expectations consistent with the ideas of ethical leadership? | The four characters, Mike, Jan, Mei-Hua and Deshi were portrayed as individuals with starkly differing views on ethical leadership. Mike believes that strong influence of ethical leaders in organizations will shape people within. Meanwhile, Jan’s idea of ethical leadership involves her employees taking up of social responsibility which she believes will be able to develop them. On the other hand, Mei-Hua defines ethical leadership as the moral obligation to follow codes and rules set. Mei-Hua also considers unorthodox methods which falls within the legal guidelines as completely ethical. Finally, Deshi regards ethical leadership as a hindrance and questions the necessity of such a concept.The widely accepted societal role of directors is to ensure the success of the company through prudent and effective management (Aguilera 2005). However, in recent years, the Codes of Corporate Governance have been introduced to provide more specific guidelines detailing the role of directors. Of the many guidelines, the inclusion of non–executive directors representing and protecting stakeholder interests by reviewing and ensuring the compliance of the executive directors to the code has the greatest effect and outlines two distinct yet complimentary roles of directors today (Crane & Matten 2010).However, through the debate, I have realised that despite the establishment of Codes of Corporate Governance and societal expectations, much of these ideas are prone to personal interpretation. While some individuals like Mike and Jan place emphasis on ethical leadership, there are also those who agree with