Leadership and Ethics

Leadership is to influence, inspire and help others become their best selves, building their skills and achieving goals along the way; it is a set of skills and a certain psychology that anyone can master (Robbins, 2021).

Great leaders inspire creativity, motivation and flexibility in their organizations, they share common visions and work together with the team to achieve them.

Effective leadership reduces turnover and promotes continuous improvement, resulting in a company with a higher bottom line and strengthening corporate cultures with a strong sense of passion and purpose.

 

What is ethical leadership?

Villanova University (2021) has stated that Ethical leadership is a form of leadership in which individuals demonstrate conduct for the common good that is acceptable and appropriate in every area of their life.

Ethics are becoming increasingly important in the world of business today. Thus, recognizing, developing and understanding leadership with ethics cannot be overstated. Having ethical leadership benefits not only employees and customers, but also the company in general.

A company's ethical culture can be created through practical leadership skills. The investors will be able to get a feel for the company's trustworthiness, customers and will be more likely to remain loyal.

Ethical leaders can motivate employee morale and positively enhance collaboration, which will become more enthusiastic about the organization and their work.

Long-term partnership and loyal employees and customers are always the key elements to the success of a business. Leadership with ethics is ultimately beneficial for both organizations and individuals.

Deontological vs. Teleological

The two most commonly used ethical leadership theories are deontological and teleological. 

Deontological (duty-based) ethics are concerned with what people do, not with the consequences of their actions (BBC, 2014). 

In deontological theory, consequences will not be taken into account, whether they are positive or negative. In general, actions are taken based on moral principles, and people need to be obligated and behave accordingly. It is also sometimes called 'non-Consequentialist' ethics since you cannot justify an action by demonstrating that it had positive consequences. 

Teleological theory is defined as right actions which achieve the best results (John, 2015).   

Opposed to deontological ethics, in teleological theory, duty and moral obligations derive from what is good or desirable as a goal. Thus, it is also known as Consequentialist ethics. 

Based on a comparison of these two theories, it can be seen that Deontological leaders consider what actions are ‘right’ in the first place, and act accordingly. Teleological leaders consider what is good or beneficial in order to achieve the desired outcome, and then determine the best action to take towards it.  

What happened in the industry? 

H&M, as a global leading fashion retailer and supplier, was noted for employing 14-years-olds in their Myanmar factories, and some are working overtime, which has evidently breached the Child Labour Convention and Myanmar's domestic labour laws.  

According to the report from Butler (2016), H&M claims that actions have been taken against its two factories in order to ensure that the processes are regulated. However, it remains controversial whether 14-17 years-olds in Myanmar should be treated as children or should they be considered qualified to work.

In this case, child labour can be used as an example to illustrate the differences between the two theories of ethical leadership. 

On the deontological side, one might say that employing children is wrong and unjust because children have rights, they should be educated and allowed to play rather than toil in factories and work overtime.  

From a teleological standpoint, it may be worthwhile to think of the consequences for all parties involved, including the children, whether it would be better or worse if the children were given this job. By turning the children away, they might have suffered from starvation or something even worse, so it would be more ethical if they were given jobs. 

Discussion 

If you run a business or factory in a developing country, and a child comes knocking at your door asking for a job, will you give him/her the offer?   

 

Recommendation and Conclusion 

Retail is a large and particular industry, having ethical leadership is always contributing positively to this industry. Appropriate leadership and ethical behaviour are necessary ingredients for success. Leaders are encouraged to communicate with ethics, be aware of the expectation and values, assess and make decisions base on that and practice with respect and justice.

Nevertheless, in order to develop more complete and perfect ethical leadership, more research and analysis will always be needed. 

References 

BBC. (2014). Ethics guide. https://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/duty_1.shtml

Butler, S. (2016). H&M factories in Myanmar employed 14-year-old workers. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2016/aug/21/hm-factories-myanmar-employed-14-year-old-workers

John, M. S. (2015). Teleological Ethics. https://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/teleological_ethics

Kruse, K. (2013). What Is Leadership? https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2013/04/09/what-is-leadership/?sh=443a102a5b90

Northouse, P.G. (2007). Leadership: Theory and Practice, Fourth Edition. https://books.google.com.sg/books?id=Ctq4cZS5JfsC&pg=PA343&lpg=PA343&dq=Teleological+leadership&source=bl&ots=hcyuixGYgL&sig=ACfU3U2lSqmNU__gXcTWYUtRq0tKLWh_cA&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj-pJj_8tH0AhXgT2wGHX5fBHcQ6AF6BAgwEAM#v=onepage&q=Teleological%20leadership&f=false

Robbins, T. (2021). Become a great leader. https://www.tonyrobbins.com/what-is-leadership/

Villanova University. (2021). What is Ethical Leadership? https://www.villanovau.com/resources/leadership/what-is-ethical-leadership/