adminenhances the quality of governance processes in an organisation.
This is because it is those at the top that consummate critical decisions that shape the destiny of a company.
It therefore follows that an ethical paradigm must inform the character of every leader.
Today as we look back at the economic challenges of the last decade, the imperative of weighing ethics on the business agenda is quite over-bearing.
Company leaders need to mould responsible business enterprises anchored on good governance policies and business practices that promote responsible business conduct.
Ethical leadership and decision-making demands that leaders must develop a deep understanding of positive organisational practices, look beyond what they see and should take a long-term standpoint towards company growth.
Company leaders must embrace corporate ethics as an emerging global standard, and this ethics thrust should form the foundation of an ethical culture that will help to create a unique company brand, which attracts customers. They should also make ethics a source of competitive advantage.
Ethical discernment and commitment is a strategic organisational phenomenon that has the potential to inspire the whole workforce towards achieving more for the organisation.
With an ethically sensitive strategic plan in place, an organisation has a template against which it can assess its actions and outcomes making sure that it meets the expectations of its key stakeholders.
The plan is set to be a guide with which company leaders can rally employees to the organisational cause inspiring them to do more for the firm.
Through ethical leadership and ethical decision-making, employees are motivated to delve deeper into understanding the intents of company leaders, tying these up with their own personal goals.
Ethical leadership invokes in the employee the spirit of self-regulation and the motivation to abide not just with the letter but also the spirit of the organisation’s mission, values and objectives.
Ethical leadership and decision-making means leaders having a profound and deep sense of ethical reasoning and dialoguing.
It means seeing one’s job as making others better off by enabling them to pursue their own hopes and dreams while at the same time working towards achieving organisational goals and objectives.
Ethical leadership is unfettered commitment towards self-introspection in order to rid oneself of any negative dispositions that are not in sync with company values systems.
Ethical leaders are also measured through their ability to take responsibility for the effects of their actions on customers, employees and shareholder value.
Ethical leadership and decision-making means exhibiting business conduct that is above board, exemplifying purposeful organisational commitment that goes beyond accomplishing short-term financial gains to ensure the sustainability of the organisation.
Ethical leaders must lead from the front, showing all and sundry that ethical conduct is their personal project.
They should overcome the temptation to abuse power, and must never be blinded by their own feelings of self-importance.
In fact, employees now see and accurately judge how leaders behave, making it paramount that leaders must lead with a strong sense of transparency and accountability.
Besides creating wealth for shareholders, leaders should take cognisance of stakeholder interests without which the success of the organisation will not be guaranteed.
Only ethically inspired leaders can successfully lead the process of regaining employee trust in organisations devastated by years of economic turmoil.
The need to see the company prosper should put the ethics agenda on the company leader’s daily work schedule and ensure that his/her everyday contact with the company’s business is grounded on sound ethical considerations.
Yes, shareholder value must be created, but with due consideration of the ethics of doing so. The collapse of Enron and Worldcom in 2002 is perhaps the most telling case in modern corporate history of what can happen when corporate leaders opt to circumvent ethical practices in order to meet short-term financial gains.
Bernie Ebbers and Ken Lay, the CEOs of Worldcom and Enron respectively, were celebrated by financial analysts and the media as exceptional executive leaders who defied conventional wisdom as they continually surpassed Wall Street financial expectations.
They were publicly hailed and financially rewarded for achieving extraordinary financial outcomes, but no one ever seemed to care by what means these exceptional results were achieved.
It was only after the fall of these two Wall Street giants that the market realised the firms engaged in unscrupulous business transactions that bordered on a complete disregard of set ethical standards and good governance policies, in pursuit of short-term financial gains.
l Bradwell Mhonderwa is an Ethics Coach and Trainer with the Business Ethics Centre. Send feedback to [email protected], or visit www.businessethicscentre.co.zw
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