Trying to lead others in a humane way is a challenging task. “With success comes responsibility,” they say. But what does this responsibility actually entail? Should well-intentioned leaders actually call themselves “ethical”?
To understand how ethics is applied in the practice of leadership, I usually start by acknowledging the idea that humans – as imperfect beings – are not fully capable of grasping the full spectrum of their ethical code. Because this life purpose will always remain a bit of a black box, we can only move toward this goal but can never actually reach it.
Leaders within organisations face the same ethical dilemma. They have to pursue their organisation’s purpose through their own choice of strategy development, which is inherently based on personal choice and interpretation. This also means it is easily distorted.
So how do leaders cope with these uncertainties and matters of interpretation? To start, they stay true to their own interpretation. But then they must engage with others within the organisation in order to understand how they perceive the leader’s strategy.
This engagement process requires them to be respectful and empathetic of others’ opinions while still acting purposefully in progressing toward true organisational purpose and to their own sense of ethical leadership.