1. INFORM underlying themes, models and discussions
2. CHALLENGE with ideas and questions
3. INSPIRE change where needed
There will be 4 key elements that overlap:
• Foundational definitions
• One specific concept in a little more detail
• Reflect on and challenge our own behaviours and skills
• Follow-up task(s) and ideas
Session content
The session includes a selection of case studies and practical examples and questions to make you think and an activity for you to submit to BUD at the end of the module.
Some foundation thoughts
What are ethics?
We live in a complex and uncertain age. An age of fast and perpetual change. Research has shown that collaborative leadership and team functions are now 50% higher than 20 years ago. We are far more interdependent than ever.
We are also increasingly aware that ethics are not just individual choices. E.G.: When something goes wrong in an organisation it is ‘someone else’s fault’! They did wrong!
It is proving to be far more complex than that.
Organisational ethics in a complex, interdependent world are a result of a complex mix of values, beliefs, attitudes, behaviours and language. When something goes wrong it is often the result not of an individual wrong but of an unhealthy culture or set of values an organisation exhibits and holds. This might be designed or, more often than not, just happens over a period of time because it was never challenged. As Drucker once said, ‘Culture eats strategy for breakfast’.
Example: VW and ‘dieselgate’.
The target was to be the biggest producer of cars within 10 years. Clean diesel engines were required to overcome emission regulations in the USA. The company
reached the target but it was discovered that the so called clean engine was a deliberate software ‘hoax’. There was never any chance of reaching the target as the technology simply didn’t exist. The result was the company lost 30% of its value, equating to $33bn. More than 40 key employees knew about it and there was cover up and denial before confession. Who or what was the villain?
It emerged that the culture was one of performance driven by fear and distance which lead to no-one feeling able to speak out. Assumptions were made. The attitude was summed up by a former chairman who said of one project, ‘I am tired of this, sort it out in 6 weeks or else…’
An unethical culture existed that hindered honesty, creativity, good process and effective accountability.
A culture of ethical leadership
What is a culture
“A culture is simplistically defined by ‘the way we do things around here,’”. “We all have a role to play in how we do things at work both on our team and in our organization.” (Altman, 2020)
It is the ‘Who we are’ of an organisation.
Compliance based ethics
This is where an organisation creates with a set of rules designed to prevent, detect and punish if needed. These can be important but it does create a culture of, ‘We will go up to the mark, we will stretch the rules, we will cover up….’
Ethical leadership is far deeper than a code of conduct.
Healthy Ethical Culture
Ethical leadership is leadership that is directed by respect for ethical beliefs and values and for the dignity and rights of others. It is thus related to concepts such as trust, honesty, consideration, charisma, and fairness.…
“A way of making authentic decisions that builds the trust and commitment of employees and customers” (Richard Barrett, ‘Building a Values-Driven Organisation).
“Knowing your core values and having the courage to live them in all parts of life in service of the common good” (Centre for Ethical Leadership).
Principles of ethical leadership
The five principles
Honesty
Dishonest behaviour is a form of lying or misrepresenting reality. Dishonest behaviour by leadership creates an atmosphere of mistrust and can lead to leadership being seen as not dependable. People will lose faith in dishonest leadership. As a result, it is critical for ethical leaders to behave with honesty.
Justice
Ethical leaders are also concerned with issues of justice and fairness. These types of leaders prioritize treating everyone in an equal manner and placing justice and fairness at the centre of their decision-making more broadly. They make a rule of never giving certain individuals special treatment, except when a particular situation demands it for the purposes of justice.
Respect
Leaders who convey respect to their peers and employers approach others with an inherent sense of their worth and value as individuals. Respect means listening carefully to others and confirming their inherent value. Leaders should also mentor
others to become aware of their own purpose, values and needs so that ethical qualities spread throughout the organization.
Community
Ethical leaders behave with altruism. They place the welfare of their subordinates high in their esteem, and engage in activities like team building, mentoring, and empowerment behaviours. This means ethical leadership helps to build community. These leaders take into account the values and purpose of their employees as well as of the organization as a whole.
Integrity
Integrity refers to the quality of having a strong moral purpose and being honest. Ethical leaders demonstrate appropriate values to those around them via their own behaviour. Leaders who act with integrity can strengthen the organization by attracting talented, ethical hires. People generally want to work for leaders they perceive as acting with integrity. Investors and customers feel the appeal of leadership that acts with integrity and are more likely to be attracted to those organizations.
Resources
Framework for Ethical Leadership in Education Links to an external site. How To Improve Ethical Leadership Skills Links to an external site. A New Model for Ethical Leadership by Max H. Bazeman Links to an external site.
The ethical challenge for leaders
Absolute must: set an example
Ethical leadership is about walking the walk as much as it is about talking the talk. Ethical leaders have high expectations for their employees, and they hold themselves to the same standards. Leaders also expect other members of their team to lead by example.
It will take effort, commitment, and persistence. In the end it will trump any brilliant strategy or expert document. It will create a ‘healthy culture’ that naturally produces and reproduces.
“Another challenge for executive and senior officers in any university is that if they embark on a values-based approach to management they must hold these values dear to themselves and use them strategically at all times. To walk away from them at any time is to court hypocrisy and to fundamentally undermine the organizational culture. Essentially, if one believes in this type of leadership and management approach then one cannot have two sets of values – the ideal and the pragmatic. If this pervades, then trust is quickly lost, uncertainty builds and ultimately commitment to the value set will diminish” (Johnson and Scholes, 2002).
Value Based Leadership and Management – Creation, Permeation and Visibility: A Critical Analysis of Value Development in a Leading New UK University by Peter Treadwell, Pam Ackroyd and Allison O’Reilly University Of Wales Institute, Cardiff, Wales, UK
Trickle down model of ethical leadership
The model of ethical leadership
The values of an organisation trickle down from high-level to lower level of leadership
1. The source (leaders) to the 2. Transmitter (middle managers) to the 3. Recipient (others in the organisation)
This model struggles to work in large organisations but clearly is helpful in school and department settings. In reality, studies suggest it is more complex than this and will be impacted by the idea that behaviours are associated with the position held.
This poses key questions:
• ‘How big is the gap between source and recipient’?
• ‘How do we make sure the ‘gap’ is filled in a healthy way’?
• ‘How do you make sure the culture at the top is the same as the culture at the bottom’?
Examples:
If you declare, ‘I want openness and honesty’ but hide in an office and don’t walk around then you create a culture of distance that fights against being open and honest.
If you declare, ‘I want a culture of creativity’ but then send emails complaining about new ideas then you create a culture of email complaining and a fear of being told off.
How leaders shape culture
6 ways leaders shape culture
“Exemplary conduct usually reflects an organisational culture and philosophy that is infused with a sense of responsibility” (Harvard Business Review, Managing for Organisational Integrity, Lynn.S.Paine, March-April 1994).
1. Actively pursuing healthy values everywhere
This includes texts, emails, staff room culture, public speaking of any kind, welcome of guests… EVERYTHING! Create a, ‘We will do it right’ culture.
Talk about it, write about it, think about it.
Educate the whole staff team. ALL of them.
Seek to integrate these values into every facet of their team and company.
If there is a DI-vergence of values DI-vision is inevitable.
2. Boldly communicate
Ethical leaders need to communicate really well. Ethical leadership is fundamentally about relationships so ethical leaders will work at this in every communication. Good relationships between leaders and their teams are built on fairness, integrity, and trust.
Ethical leaders are effective at building these relationships via communication of all kinds.
3. Carefully assess decisions
Ethical leaders assess each decision before implementing it to make sure that the decision accords with the organization’s mission and values. They will only initiate such decisions if they fit the cultural expectations.
Being careful of rushed decisions made in the corridor.
4. Do not compromise
It will be inconvenient at times.
Don’t compromise ‘private’ values with the idea that ‘no-one is watching’. What happens internally inevitably comes out eventually. Have high expectations of yourself and others.
5. Employ wisely
In the medium-term character and chemistry will beat competence as these build teams rather than build individual agendas.
6. Fairness and integrity
Always behave with fairness and respect for others. No favourites.
“Ethical leaders demonstrate respect for team members by listening attentively, being compassionate, considering opposing viewpoints fairly and valuing their contributions equally”.
Improving your ethical leadership skills
Steps to improve
You can improve your ethical leadership skills with time, attention and practice. Start by identifying your strengths in ethical leadership and then build a plan to improve from there. Following these steps will improve your ethical leadership skill set:
1. Identify potential “trigger” situations
Identify situations such as hiring, firing, purchasing or promoting that seem to attract ethical dilemmas at your company or elsewhere. Recognizing when ethical dilemmas are likely to arise can help you be more attuned to the risk and to think carefully about how to behave with integrity.
2. Deal with ethical dilemmas when they arise
Identifying potential dilemmas is one thing, but dealing with them when they arise can be more difficult. There are a few steps you can take to deal with such dilemmas:
• Prepare in advance: Visualize how you might respond to theoretical scenarios so you can think about the ethics of such instances ahead of time. In a crisis, you may have less time to make a decision, so this kind of rehearsal can be helpful.
• Assess the evidence: Whenever possible, take time to carefully weigh all of the information you receive about a situation. Assess whether someone has definitely taken an unethical action before you react.
• Get advice: It is often helpful to talk through an ethical dilemma with a friend, mentor or even a spiritual advisor. Assessing advice rationally can help you to make important ethical decisions.
3. Demonstrate courage
Sometimes you will need to make a decision that will leave you wondering afterward whether you did the right thing. Even when you do know that you made the right choice, you or your team could suffer unpleasant effects as a result even of an ethical decision. For example, if you learn of irregular accounting in your organisation and inform an auditor, this could lead to someone being fired. Even though you know that the decision you made was correct, it might be painful to see someone lose their job.
However, this type of situation can help you to learn to trust your instincts, release your anxiety and assess each situation logically rather than emotionally.
The importance of ethical leadership
Why is ethical leadership important?
Ethical leadership can have positive effects on a business environment at three levels: the individual, the team and the organization.
Ethical leadership importance to the individual
At the individual level, ethical leadership can help maintain a positive work environment for each individual. Ethical leaders can inspire employees to follow their example. Positive communication among co-workers as a result of ethical leadership can improve each individual’s attitude and achievement in the workplace.
Ethical leadership importance to the team
Ethical leadership can also improve team dynamics and team morale. Ethical leaders help team members to communicate and get along with one another, which in turn affects the team’s performance. Strong ethical leaders set an example for their team.
Ethical leadership importance to the organization
Health and well-being of an organization can be deeply affected by ethical leadership. The leaders should foster an environment of collaboration and mutual respect, one that allows individuals to grow and contribute to the organization’s overall goals.
“Your greatest fear as a CEO is that people aren’t telling you the truth”. (M.Coster CEO Eastman Chemical Ltd).
“Psychological safety is the belief that you won’t be punished or humiliated for speaking up with ideas, questions, concerns, or mistakes”.
What is psychological safety at work in particular?
It’s a shared belief held by members of a team that others on the team will not embarrass, reject, or punish you for speaking up.
“When you have psychological safety in the workplace, people feel comfortable being themselves. They bring their full selves to work and feel okay laying all of themselves on the line,” (Altman, 2020)
“We've all been in meetings and, due to the fear of seeming incompetent, have held back questions or ideas. I get it. It's unnerving to feel like you're in an environment where everything you do or say is under a microscope. But imagine a different setting. A situation in which everyone is safe to take risks, voice their opinions, and ask judgmentfree questions. A culture where managers provide air cover and create safe zones so employees can let down their guard. That's psychological safety”. (Altman, 2020)
Benefits of psychological safety:
1. Innovation
2. Adaption (quickly)
3. Potential of diversity is respected and seen as a positive
For, example, successfully creating a ‘network of team’ - an agile organisational structure that empowers teams to tackle problems by operating outside of bureaucratic or siloed structures – requires a strong degree of psychological safety (see references at bottom of page).
“Without a foundation of positive climate, challenging behaviours have no significant effect. And employees’ experiences look very different depending on how their leaders behave” (Amy Edmondson, the Novartis Professor of Leadership and Management at Harvard Business School)
Resources
Psychological safety and the critical role of leadership development Links to an external site.
Psychological Safety and Learning Behavior in Work Teams Links to an external site. What Is Psychological Safety at Work? Links to an external site.
The Fearless Organisation by Amy C Edmondson Links to an external site. The 4 Stages of Psychological Safety by Timothy R. Clark. Links to an external site.
Case study: teacher workload
Teacher workload
Using the thoughts noted on psychological safety and a healthy ethical culture, read the following and then answer as appropriate.
Teachers are a schools biggest asset and its biggest cost. Young graduates filled with zeal to help children and change the world for the better consider teaching as a career. Those who make it into the classroom retain that motivation and, despite the inherent difficulty of the task, find the mutual energy of being with children and young people a life-enhancing experience. Good teaching is the single most effective way schools improve achievement and life-chances for all young people.
Many of these valuable young colleagues leave teaching within five years. They are joined in the ranks of ex-teachers by those who struggled in the classroom over many years, by those who cannot balance teaching with their right to a family or personal life and those who move into para-teaching posts while remaining committed to education.
Good teachers combine strong intellectual expertise with outstanding interpersonal skills and a love of children. They are front-line models of all that a good democracy wants from its next citizens. Losing teachers, or not being able to recruit good teachers, is a seriously risky democratic deficit. Teachers quit for three reasons: behaviour, pay and workload, especially workload. They cite practices and requirements for which they can see no justification in improved service to children. They complain of a focus on compliance, with planning and assessment burdens which expect almost 100% of a teacher’s time, inside and out of school. They feel that their professional skills are neither valued nor given time to develop. They can neither improve as teachers nor enjoy the personal life of a respected professional. Worst of all, they complain about managerial frenzy, panic and inaccessibility.
Many investigations in recent years cite school leaders’ fear of accountability measures driving them to make unmanageable demands of their teachers. Given that accounting bodies such as Ofsted consistently refute this imputation, how might school leaders stop, listen, reflect, change their teachers’ working lives and save them in the profession for the long-term?
Imagine
A new Head, you have taken over a school which is struggling and which has experienced turbulence in recent years. You’ve found it hard to recruit the optimum mixture of staff and you feel that you have three incompatible groups. There are young and enthusiastic teachers who work long hours. There are less competent teachers who you are not sure you can improve, and there’s a larger group you find really irritating. They are quite good at the job, get reasonable results but show no enthusiasm for the kind of work-rate that the younger ones have. They won’t change the school.
You are thinking of a plan to promote the latter, when you receive some terrible news: your two brightest young things have resigned. One wants ‘to travel’, the other has taken a worse-paid post in a charity. You invite them for a cup of tea to try to persuade them to stay and are shocked to discover that they cannot take the pace ‘you expect’ and suggest they ‘cannot live like this’.
What will you do?
Make comments under the values below.
Honesty, Justice, Respect, Integrity, Community, Kindness, Openness - you may want to add a value or two that are important to you or your school.
These are the sort of questions that should be considered (there are more)
• What is in the best interest of the young people?
• Look at your expectations. What is the problem?
• How do you feel about your leadership of this issue?
• Will the teaching force left serve the needs of the young people effectively?
• How will you talk to all your staff about this?
Resources
NGA | Website Links to an external site.
Developing psychological safety in your school
Psychological safety
1. Be a catalyst not a controller
Empower and enable people and teams.
If there is good accountability then control can be low.
2. Be a conductor
Every member of an orchestra is highly skilled. The conductor just makes sure the sound is wonderful.
3. Be a consulter not a teller
Authoritative leadership styles tend not to develop trust and safety. Seek out opinions and ideas that might be different from your own. This creates a culture of respect.
4. Be a challenger
From the roots of trust and respect come the fruit of authority to challenge. This should be positive; encouraging people to reach their potential and go beyond current achievement.
Challenge voices of negativity in a team – especially towards others. Allow others to challenge you.
5. Be curious
Allow open dialogue, explore disagreements, talk through tensions. Ask questions. Always be learning.
6. Be creative
Give time for the creative ‘aha’ moments to happen. Be careful not to communicate loads of content but allow time to develop opportunity with open-ended and reflective questions. Give time to small group conversations without to tight an agenda.
7. Be collaborative
Use the words, ‘Us’ and ‘We’ rather than ‘I’, ‘You’ and ‘They’.
8. Be commendable
Your teams should be able to commend you to others for acting in line with your talk.
9. Be present
Be focused and listening – don’t be fiddling with phones and note pads. Be careful writing on computers. Actively listen. Do not ignore people.
10.Be celebratory
Celebrate successes! Be thankful for small steps. Send cards, flowers, texts etc. Create a positive culture.
Ethical leadership - task
Reflect on your own leadership style and the 10 ‘Be...’ statements above.
• Which ones are you good at?
• Which ones do you need to improve on?
• How committed are you to creating a healthy culture?
• How do you discern whether or not you are creating a psychologically safe culture?
Task 2
Consider the following traits of ethical leadership teams. For each one mark your leadership team out of 10 and then explain why you have given that score.
• Honesty – atmosphere of trust, openness, dependability
• Justice – everyone treated equal, where justice and fairness are central.
• Respect – inherent worth and value of each person, where all members are coached to be fully aware of their own purpose and value.
• Community – welfare is top of agenda and so team building, mentoring, care are not just words.
• Integrity – strong moral compass both as a team and as individuals. Attractive culture.
How are you going to add value to your ethical leadership over the next year? (If all your scores are above 8 you are either lead a near perfect team or you are settled!).
