TEN ETHICAL PRINCIPLES FOR EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP

Here are some universal principles to guide a leader in his daily life, in his work, in his relationship with fellow citizens. These guidelines are intended to improve the good qualities that a leader already possesses. These ten principles are supplementary principles to what are already known and accepted universally as ethical and moral principles.

·        Principle 1. Motivations must not be directed for self-interest or gains. Foremost in the mind of a leader must be the welfare of the public. He /she is in office in order to serve. If he/she has to think for his/her needs, it must be to nurture his/her self in order to be able to serve better the general public. If he/she is incapable of self-nurturance how can he also nurture others? 

·        Principle 2. Diplomacy is a must. A leader must be consultative, must have the ability to listen to his/her constituents and must consider what the Administration has to say. He/she must avoid being authoritarian or dictatorial. Authoritarianism and dictatorship are marks of a weak ego and a lack of respect for others. It does not also speak of good breeding. 

·        Principle 3. A leader must be honest in all his dealings especially in money matters. He/she must always remember that any money that his/her government uses belongs to the public and therefore it is his/her responsibility to spend it for the benefit of the entire public. He/she must avoid the politics of extravagance with the fallacious motto: "Anyway, it's not our money." The element of transparency is necessary if a leader wants to be trusted by the citizens. This means he/she must account for all financial transactions and must be responsible for the expenses incurred by other members in his/her government circle. 

·        Principle 4. A leader must not be discriminative. He/she must avoid partisan politics once elected into office. This means he should give equal treatment to everybody in his/her circle of government regardless of party affiliation and leave behind election squabbles. 

·        Principle 5. Firmness of conviction is an essential quality of a leader. He/she must not be swayed by the "leftists" or the "rightists" just so he/she will be considered as "in." Effective leadership does not depend on leaning towards the left or the right but in knowing what is best for the public and choosing the right means to achieve those goals. 

·        Principle 6. A leader must widen his/her horizon. He/she must be propelled by a vision, higher than what were already achieved by previous leaders. He/she need not imitate the past leadership. He/she must therefore go beyond fraternities and petty issues and must choose goals that will improve the quality of citizens’ life in the community. 

·        Principle 7. The quality of decisions determines the outcome of the leader's administration. A leader must not just decide for the sake of deciding or for wanting to appear decisive. He must assess and analyze first all the facts, the possible options, and must choose the best alternative that will bring more good without violating the rights of others and the laws of the land. 

·        Principle 8. A leader must avoid listening to gossip or rumor-mongering. It is his/her obligation to get the real facts or the truth of important issues. He/she must therefore consider as "unreliable" any statement or proposition which is unsupported by facts or documents. 

·        Principle 9. A leader must respect the Administration and its policies. If there are questionable policies, he/she must not be afraid to ask the administrator concerned to clarify certain issues and, if possible, suggest a better course of action after a thorough deliberation and with the help of his/her constituents. 

·        Principle 10. A leader must be a peacemaker. If there is any conflict between different groups or between citizens and the Administration, he/she must help settle it amicably and objectively. He/she must therefore be someone who is reliable and dependable especially during times of exigency.

Ethics for all By 2007:

• Ethics is the solution to Nigerian corruption

• Ethics for good family and friendship

• Ethics for good Democracy and human right

• Ethics for good governance and affirmative action

• Ethics for good leadership and systems

• Ethics for good business, partnerships and development

• Ethics for good community harmony and social justice

• Ethics for good national, world peace and progress

• Democracy is about the practice of ethics rule of law and integrity

• The practice of ethics and integrity are fundamental to sustainable success in human and economic enterprises.

• Ethics promotes self-policing, self discipline or Autonomous morality which can promote crime reduction or crime-free societies.

• Ethics is the prevention strategy to corruption

• Ethics is the antidote to conflicts/wars and the foundation for peace, religious/ethnic/racial and gender understanding and tolerance as well as for conflict resolution and peaceful coexistence.

• Ethics promote/facilitate values for patriotism unity, harmony, political stability, national development/image, diplomatic goodwill as well as business/investment/industrial progress and partnerships.

10 Benefits of Managing Ethics in the Workplace

Many people are used to reading or hearing of the moral benefits of attention to business ethics. However, there are other types of benefits, as well. The following list describes various types of benefits from managing ethics in the workplace.

• Attention to business ethics has substantially improved society. A matter of decades ago, children in our country worked 16-hour days. Workers’ limbs were torn off and disabled workers were condemned to poverty and often to starvation. Trusts controlled some markets to the extent that prices were fixed and small businesses choked out. Price fixing crippled normal market forces. Employees were terminated based on personalities. Influence was applied through intimidation and harassment. Then society reacted and demanded that businesses place high value on fairness and equal rights. Anti-trust laws were instituted. Government agencies were established. Unions were organized. Laws and regulations were established

• Ethics programs help maintain a moral course in turbulent times. As noted earlier in this document, Wallace and Pekel explain that attention to business ethics is critical during times of fundamental change -- times much like those faced now by businesses, both nonprofit and for-profit. During times of change, there is often no clear moral compass to guide leaders through complex conflicts about what is right or wrong. Continuing attention to ethics in the workplace sensitizes leaders and staff to how they want to act -- consistently.

• Ethics programs cultivate strong teamwork and productivity. Ethics programs align employee behaviors with those top priority ethical values preferred by leaders of the organization. Usually, an organization finds surprising disparity between its preferred values and the values actually reflected by behaviors in the workplace. Ongoing attention and dialogue regarding values in the workplace builds openness, integrity and community -- critical ingredients of strong teams in the workplace. Employees feel strong alignment between their values and those of the organization. They react with strong motivation and performance.

• Ethics programs support employee growth and meaning. Attention to ethics in the workplace helps employees face reality, both good and bad -- in the organization and themselves. Employees feel full confidence they can admit and deal with whatever comes their way. Bennett, in his article "Unethical Behavior, Stress Appear Linked" (Wall Street Journal, April 11, 1991, p. B1), explained that a consulting company tested a range of executives and managers. Their most striking finding: the more emotionally healthy executives, as measured on a battery of tests, the more likely they were to score high on ethics tests.

• Ethics programs are an insurance policy -- they help ensure that policies are legal. There is an increasing number of lawsuits in regard to personnel matters and to effects of an organization’s services or products on stakeholders. As mentioned earlier in this document, ethical principles are often state-of-the-art legal matters. These principles are often applied to current, major ethical issues to become legislation. Attention to ethics ensures highly ethical policies and procedures in the workplace. It’s far better to incur the cost of mechanisms to ensure ethical practices now than to incur costs of litigation later. A major intent of well-designed personnel policies is to ensure ethical treatment of employees, e.g., in matters of hiring, evaluating, disciplining, firing, etc. Drake and Drake (California Management Review, V16, pp. 107-123) note that “an employer can be subject to suit for breach of contract for failure to comply with any promise it made, so the gap between stated corporate culture and actual practice has significant legal, as well as ethical implications.”

• Ethics programs help avoid criminal acts “of omission” and can lower fines. Ethics programs tend to detect ethical issues and violations early on so they can be reported or addressed. In some cases, when an organization is aware of an actual or potential violation and does not report it to the appropriate authorities, this can be considered a criminal act, e.g., in business dealings with certain government agencies, such as the Defense Department. The recent Federal Sentencing Guidelines specify major penalties for various types of major ethics violations. However, the guideline potentially lowers fines if an organization has clearly made an effort to operate ethically.

• Ethics programs help manage values associated with quality management, strategic planning and diversity management -- this benefit needs far more attention. Ethics programs identify preferred values and ensuring organizational behaviors are aligned with those values. This effort includes recording the values, developing policies and procedures to align behaviors with preferred values, and then training all personnel about the policies and procedures. This overall effort is very useful for several other programs in the workplace that require behaviors to be aligned with values, including quality management, strategic planning and diversity management. Total Quality Management includes high priority on certain operating values, e.g., trust among stakeholders, performance, reliability, measurement, and feedback. Eastman and Polaroid use ethics tools in their quality programs to ensure integrity in their relationships with stakeholders. Ethics management techniques are highly useful for managing strategic values, e.g., expand market share, reduce costs, etc. McDonnell Douglas integrates their ethics programs into their strategic planning process. Ethics management programs are also useful in managing diversity. Diversity is much more than the color of people’s skin -- it’s acknowledging different values and perspectives. Diversity programs require recognizing and applying diverse values and perspectives -- these activities are the basis of a sound ethics management program.

• Ethics programs promote a strong public image. Attention to ethics is also strong public relations -- admittedly, managing ethics should not be done primarily for reasons of public relations. But, frankly, the fact that an organization regularly gives attention to its ethics can portray a strong positive to the public. People see those organizations as valuing people more than profit, as striving to operate with the utmost of integrity and honor. Aligning behavior with values is critical to effective marketing and public relations programs. Consider how Johnson and Johnson handled the Tylenol crisis versus how Exxon handled the oil spill in Alaska. Bob Dunn, President and CEO of San Francisco-based Business for Social Responsibility, puts it best: “Ethical values, consistently applied, are the cornerstones in building a commercially successful and socially responsible business.”

• Overall benefits of ethics programs: Donaldson and Davis, in “Business Ethics? Yes, But What Can it Do for the Bottom Line?” (Management Decision, V28, N6, 1990) explain that managing ethical values in the workplace legitimizes managerial actions, strengthens the coherence and balance of the organization’s culture, improves trust in relationships between individuals and groups, supports greater consistency in standards and qualities of products, and cultivates greater sensitivity to the impact of the enterprise’s values and messages.

• Last - and most -- formal attention to ethics in the workplace is the right thing to do.