Leadership in Organizations: Ethics, Communication, and Development

This essay delves into the multifaceted nature of leadership within organizations, emphasizing the critical roles of ethics, communication, and development. It explores the significance of ethical leadership, highlighting traits such as honesty, justness, and respect, and discusses how these qualities are essential for navigating ethical dilemmas and fostering organizational success. The essay also examines the importance of effective communication as a tool for collaboration and understanding within organizations, as well as the impact of communication on organizational effectiveness, particularly in times of change. Furthermore, it analyzes current trends and future challenges in leadership, including the need for complex and adaptive thinking, and identifies limitations such as lack of opportunities, mentoring, and time constraints. The essay concludes by underscoring the need for leaders to address these limitations and cultivate a candid and authentic approach to leadership.

Running head: LEADERSHIP
Leadership
Name of Student:
Name of University:
Author’s Note:

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Introduction:
Leadership is most important in any situation and specifically in the organisations at
present. Organisations require strong leadership for optimum effectiveness. It is known that
leadership is a mannerism which is either integral or which can be attainted. The organisational
leadership concept is concerned with emphasis on the development of leadership skills and the
abilities which are relevant across the organisations. This is supposed to mean that the potential
of the individuals in order to face difficult situations in the industry and still requires growth in
particular situations. It is crucial that a leader possesses the suitable skills to control a group of
organisations (Northouse 2018).
There should not be any sort of domination in the organisations. This acts as a deterrent
to organisational success. There needs to be a proper guidance of the individuals who are there
under him and there should also be a sense of direction for the timely achievement of
organisational goals. There needs to be a sense of optimism within the characteristics of the
leader. An organisational leader who is ideal should not dominate over others. It is necessary to
guide the individuals under him and provide them with a sense of direction in order to help them
achieve the organisational goals. The people in important leadership positions also need to be
serious and committee towards the needs of the organisation. At times the employees might feel
low or depressed. In this situations it is necessary for a leader to ensure that they feel motivate in
such situations (Lyles 2014).

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Leadership ethics and its importance in the present scenario:
Ethics and the importance of leadership is crucial in every scenario and this is absent in
the present world. Much importance is not given to the present scenario. It is necessary that the
leadership ethics be followed at every stage of the leadership procedure. Often it happens in case
of ethical dilemmas that the outcomes are found in the negative. This should not be the case as
the ethics are the crucial aspect of any organisation. It can most importantly be said that ethics
are not only crucial to the organisation but to the concept of proper leadership as well. Ethical
theories concerned with leadership focus on two very important theories. These include the
actions and behaviour of the leasers, the personality as well as the characteristic traits of the
leaders. A leader is responsible for driving change in the organisation and also for influencing
the subordinates or the followers to achieve a common goal be it in any noteworthy situation
(Raelin 2011).
It is desirable for organisational good that an effective and ethical leader has certain traits
and characteristics. The leader should possess dignity and respectfulness towards others. The
leaders should respect others and they are bound to get respect back in turn. The leaders should
listen effectively to their teams and their suggestions should also be acknowledged (Tourish
2014).
It also needs to be kept in mind that leaders are responsible for serving others be it their
juniors, subordinates or the company as a whole. Ethical leaders need to ideally place the needs
of their subordinates before their own. The behaviour of the leaders should be such that it is
always fruitful to their followers.

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Often in the present messy world, there are loads of ethical dilemmas which the managers
are faced with. In such situations it is often seen that the managers succumb to the pressure of the
higher authorities and therefore do not have the courage to do what is actually right for a
particular situation. The idea of justness is not embodied in the leaders which is detrimental both
for them as well as for the organisation as a whole. Honesty is also expected from the leaders
under all situations. False information as well as negativity might lead to situations in which
there are errors in judgement as well as other organisational issues. In the present scenario in the
world of today it is crucial for organisations to ensure that their leaders are just, honest and
ethical in order to avoid making the situations even more messy than they already are. The
leadership in organisations therefore need proper ethics (Ancona et al. 2009 ). Ethics aids leaders
in balancing of truth and loyalty which balances both the short and long term goals from any
particular situation. It is often not understood that ethics require leaders to be impartial yet
engaged. Ethics require that managers look for the concealed alternative in scenarios which are
questionable ethically. It acts as a compass where the leaders navigate between the right and the
wrong (Lyles 2014).
Importance of communication in organisations:
Communication is a crucial tool for people to interfere with one another or with groups or
with the other parts of society at large. It is not a particular text or mail but an overall
effectiveness of the communication. Proper understanding in this particular aspect requires the
all round understanding of the “values, assumptions, beliefs and expectations of the people” with
whom we communicate. This understanding enables the leaders to look past differences and
focus on certain areas of improvement and also to effectively listen and also hear the opinions of

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what the others have to say. Leaders need to have the capability to visualize the bigger picture in
any particular situation (Kempster, Higgs and Wuerz 2014).
Often, situations which makes organisations messy is the lack of proper communication.
Ethical dilemmas involve situations where excessive pressure is given on the people to perform
within a stipulated time frame and this causes them to lose track of what they are doing and the
overall bigger picture. It has been studied that the last decade has witnessed many industries get
into a time span of extreme and considerable change (Denis, Langley and Rouleau 2010). Global
issues like the great recession among others have contributed to the environment. There needs to
be a proper development due to the benefits of the overall organisational effectiveness. The
impact of communication needs to be understood specifically in crucial situations (Pullen and
Rhodes 2008).
Trends for the future of leadership and development:
The present leadership situation is very complex and challenging. The environment of the
whole organisational leadership scenario has changed. It can be thought to be much more
“complex, volatile and unpredictable”. The necessary skills which are required for leadership
have mostly changed, as much more “complex and adaptive thinking abilities are necesary”. The
majority of managers developed from on the job experiences, training as well as coaching and
mentoring are necessary for matching the new environment. There is not only a leadership
challenge in the present scenario but a challenge of development and the responsibilities of the
managers regarding their own development. The areas in which the managers are weak need to
improved under all circumstances in order to facilitate the overall leadership of the organisation
(Gardner 2011).

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Leadership limitations of the present world:
There are several limitations to leadership in the present world. The development of
leadership abilities lead to several obstacles along its path. Due to the reason that few
organisations dedicate time and resources for their complete growth as leaders, much of the
momentum in leadership is dependent on the particular individual. One of the noteworthy issues
or more suitably that has cropped up in the organisation is the lack of proper opportunities for
leadership. In many situations it happens that people do not get the adequate scope for leading
their respective groups or subordinates. The lack of opportunities of leadership can be divided
into a number of categories (Selznick 2011).
There needs to be proper scope for people to practice leading. There should be
opportunities to apply things which they have learned and understood which they can apply in
problematic situations which they are faced with. There should be proper and accurate personal
assessments for the leaders as well as their subordinates. According to the opinion of the leaders
in leadership positions they are bound to face challenges and unique situations which are
responsible for allowing them to grow and prove themselves. Leaders who do not have much of
experience of dealing with their work situations need to be given a proper chance to practice
(Kempster, Jackson and Conroy 2011).
It often happens that if the teams are small growth is deterred. Small working groups and
the lack of staff causes the people to feel stifled. Even growth is stagnant under such
circumstances. Those particular organisations which rely a lot on the individual contributions
constrain the emergence of proper and competent leaders as the interactions with others are also
limited. The cross functional teams and other diverse and varied groups might offer valuable

6LEADERSHIP
insights and experiences. There need to be ample opportunities for the leaders to grow and show
their leadership availabilities (Selznick 2011).
Bosses who are seen to give too much of orders and directives cause people to feel
suffocated. This much of pressure on the people causes them to hold back and does not help
them to show their true capacities for work. Letting go, distributing authority and properly
delegating is very hard for people in charge of the responsibilities. Leaders need to lead without
being worried about being undermined and directional challenged by people in supreme
positions of power (Denis, Langley and Rouleau 2010).
The second most recognized limitation is the lack of mentoring available at work. The
reports from conducted surveys suggested that mentor absence stopped the establishment of
proper leaders. It is hoped that organisations will pave the way for the proper amount of
mentoring at work which will assist people in becoming suitable leaders and holding them back
from becoming much more capable as leaders and even more productive employees. It has been
reported that mentoring is often discouraged by the reluctance of the present leaders to make the
necessary changes or adaptations to the organisation which would ultimately result in a much
more widely engaged workforce (Raelin 2011). It can also be said that sometime some leaders
might not be significantly good mentors. In other situations the supervisors have the chance of
failing in certain extremes namely that of micromanaging and not adjusting with the employees.
It is often seen that the leaders focus on themselves and fail to take proper interest in other
people and also their careers. In case the leaders fail to make proper time for suitable
management, there is the focus of mentoring in connection to the negative experiences and post
analysis of the tasks (Bolman and Deal 2017).

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Another crucial problem of the present scenario is that of time. Based on research it has
been seen that there is a short fall to leadership development on the basis of the job. It is
generally considered that time is an overall enemy of growth. Every individual is concerned with
the pressure of his or her day-to-day duties and has to juggle several meetings, project and other
crucial tasks (Carroll and Levy 2008). Therefore there is a sense of incompleteness or frustration
in case all the instances are not properly fulfilled. In case individuals realize that their daily
requirements and task ideals are not fulfilled they are bound to feel frustrated in respect to the
number of tasks they have found to be incomplete (Benn, Dunphy and Griffiths 2014).
There needs to be a conscious effort on the part of the people to take care of the
limitations they face in the particular scenario. It is necessary to conclude that employees need to
fulfil all their tasks in order to emerge better workers and suitable leaders for the future. There
are issues involving the distancing attitude of leaders. It often happens that leaders are either
arrogant or fail to optimize the people and are not able to allow their best workers to work
effectively (Sinclair 2005). Learning after all needs to be much more candid and ultimately much
more authentic or humble to ensure the achievement of best results. Leaders should command
authority and should not lead to please others. The leaders need to be focussed on the
achievement of results they want for themselves and should embody courage when it comes to
taking crucial decisions and making harder choices. The importance of time in organisations is
often understated and this causes a lot of problems in the leadership of several aspiring leaders
(Bolman and Deal 2017).

8LEADERSHIP
Ways in which leadership can be enacted:
The leaders should allow space to their employees to contribute. Ordering employees
always is not a proper idea as they lose their original inclinations to work. Leading by the
autocratic, directive, perfectionist or hyper critical situations is not the best behaviour for a
leader. There needs to be a proper collaboration in the leadership roles, wherein there is a proper
trust within the team, there is the acceptance of small failures and allowance for the diversity of
thought as well as letting go and delegating the tasks and situations.
Leaders should under no condition allow results to be conducted in a complacent manner.
Team members who do not deliver within a stipulated time frame should not be left to their
achievements under any cost. Hypocrisy or incongruity in any sort of tasks cannot be adopted
under any situation. Leaders should weigh and understand the impact of their advice before they
personally provide it to their team members. There needs to be a proper balance in the particular
situation which the leaders have to face and therefore there is the chance of facing trouble in
specific situations.
Over optimism is also not a proper tactic to handle people in the workplace. People
cannot be treated like office furniture and discarded on the basis of their performance. There
should not be more than necessary positivity within the people as they might lose any sort of
trace of realism. Every task and every scenario needs to be genuine. It should be seen whether
there is any limitation towards the loyalty of the people.
Just like over-optimism is not good, there should not be over-pessimism regarding any
employee or any person in any particular scenario. The leaders and managers should show
greater patience towards people as they are already under a lot of stress. The leaders ideally

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should show a certain level of emotional intelligence towards their subordinates so that they can
help their tasks t be completed effectively.
Conclusion:
Leadership has been evolving but is no doubt important in the present scenario. There
should be the acceptance to change in the present situation. This is due to the reason that people
tend to have difficulty in adjusting to the changing times. Therefore it is necessary for the leaders
to keep a track on the all round development of their team. Leaders should have clarity on all
sorts of situations and difficulties which the people might face in their organisation. Thus it
becomes crucial for the leaders to tackle the changing tines properly and have effective
situational analysis for all sorts of situations which they might face. Leaders need to be sensitive
to their subordinates in the face of change and they should be open to proper change with the
necessary amount of innovation. Thus leaders should have certain strong features for the all
round development of their organisation.

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