Introduction
Leadership is crucial for a successful business in the contemporary business world. This concept has been in place for a while. At present, leaders come to an understanding that leadership should be ethical (Northouse 436). However, many do not see what it really is and, hence, ethical leadership is still a matter of research and inquiry (Lussier and Achua 389). At the same time, many researchers have provided their views on ethical leadership and leaders are free to choose the approach that best fits their features, needs, and goals.
Main body
Researchers stress that companies should adopt ethical paradigms for the sake of their sustainable development and success in the market. More so, it is crucial to really follow the ethical concept adopted as, otherwise, employees will not have the necessary pillars of conduct to look at (McPherson 284). Of course, there are numerous challenges associated with the effective adoption of ethical leadership, as it is tempting to disregard morality or ethics when it comes to significant profit (Michalos 599). However, being ethically and morally irresponsible may be costly for the company’s reputation, which is essential in the modern business world.
Conclusion
Another challenge is diversity, as people of different backgrounds have to collaborate and interact. The contemporary business world is characterized by the dominance of western values and ethical approaches while ethics developed within other cultures is often neglected (Michaelson 246). Clearly, this is inappropriate and effective leaders have to compromise and develop an ethical paradigm that includes the values of all employees. This may be a very challenging task but a leader has to be a self-actualizing individual (Dhiman 72). The self-actualizing leader will be able to come up with efficient approaches to enable the company to develop in a sustainable way.
Works Cited
Dhiman, Satinder. “Personal Mastery and Authentic Leadership.” Organization Development Journal 29.2 (2011): 69-83. Print.
Lussier, Robert, and Christopher Achua. Leadership: Theory, Application, & Skill Development. Mason: Cengage Learning, 2009. Print.
McPherson, David. “Vocational Virtue Ethics: Prospects for a Virtue Ethic Approach to Business.” Journal of Business Ethics 116 (2013): 283-296. Print.
Michaelson, Christopher. “Revisiting the Global Business Ethics Question.” Business Ethics Quarterly 20.2 (2010): 237-251. Print.
Michalos, Alex C. “The Business Case for Asserting the Business Case for Business Ethics.” Journal of Business Ethics 114 (2013): 599-606. Print.
Northouse, Peter G. Leadership: Theory and Practice. Thousand Oaks: SAGE Publications, 2013. Print.