Using the Penn State Scandal to Begin to Examine Some of the Ethics of Leadership

written on December 01, 2011 by Tameka Taylor

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It’s hard to be here, to be an American, and not be familiar with the Penn State Scandal that was exposed recently. A coach was presented with allegations of child abuse. I’m not going to get into the details of that case, but feel free to look it up, if you are one of the few who hasn’t heard the details of the case. However, there were many others that were also in leadership roles that were not directly involved but either knew or suspected what was going on and didn’t get involved. That’s going to be the focus of this article, Ethical Responsibilities of Leadership.

Leadership qualities consist of more than managing people, delegating, good communication skills, relationship building, etc. There are so many traditional qualities that it takes for someone to be an excellent leader. However, I want to focus on those qualities that make a leader ethical in their role. It is extremely important for ethical leadership to be present in all businesses and organizations.
There are many leadership qualities that ethically need to be present within leaders. I would label those additional leaders as by-standers. They were not directly involved in the alleged abuse but either knew what was potentially going on or should have been suspicious. To me by-standers have a major responsibility when something wrong is taking place and are just as responsible for the wrong behaviors for not stopping it or intervening on behalf of the victim.

There are ethical responsibilities that should be upheld by those in leadership positions and are just as important as traditional leadership skills. These are characteristics that are sometimes not as easy to display as some of those others. They may interfere and question others in leadership roles. These consist of honesty and integrity. Additionally, how is power being used? Doing the ethical thing may mean being unpopular and going against the crowd or someone higher up in the organization. This sometimes means asking tough questions and not overlooking things. It includes speaking up at uncomfortable times. These are just a few characteristics of being an ethical leader.

While I’m using this case as an example, as leaders in the business community, it is not limited to cases of abuse, harassment, bullying, or discrimination. This also includes other incidents within a business or organization when wrong or bad decisions have been made by one leader and others act as by-standers and say nothing. It could include incidents involving stealing, misuse of power, money, lying, cheating, and the list can go on and on. So as a leader in your organization, are you demonstrating the most ethical leadership qualities? As a business owner, do you have ethical leaders in positions within your company?