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ETHICAL LEADERSHIPDiscerning Common AttributesApproximately 20 minutes |
Overview
This brain teaser encourages critical thinking about the attributes shared by ethical leaders who stand on a common ground of correctness. Participants first identify such attributes and then engage in a mental challenge designed to elicit critical thinking in general terms.
Objectives
To generate insight and discussion regarding the attributes of ethical leaders.
Group Size
Any number of participants can engage in this exercise.
Room Arrangement
No special arrangements are required.
Materials
Flipchart and marking pens
Handout 4.1, “Standing on Common Ground”
Optional: Provide token prizes for the winning pair, such as a paperback book about critical thinking or perhaps crossword puzzles from the daily newspaper.
Procedures
1.Ask participants to think about the most ethical leader they have ever known either personally or by reputation. Elicit examples from the group and write the names of the ethical leaders cited on the flipchart.
2.Then ask them to think about the specific attributes (mention “critical thinking” in particular as an example) that these individuals displayed or specific actions they took. List these on the flipchart as participants share them.
3.Have participants choose a partner and ask each person to select one attribute or action from the flipchart list and explain how he or she would incorporate it into his or her leadership style or circumstances.
4.Distribute the handout and ask the pairs to analyze the statements related to ethical leadership. (Optional: Announce that the first pair with the highest number of correct answers will win a prize.) The answers are 1ab; 2c; 3bc; 4a; 5abcd. Compliment the pair who found them fastest.
5.Conclude with a brief discussion relating critical-thinking skills to leadership, particularly the skills of discerning emerging patterns, making tough decisions, and being fair to all parties concerned. Relate this leadership skill to current events, if possible.
Note that effective leaders go beyond the givens, move into the unknown, and refuse to cling to the prevalent logic as they pursue ethical outcomes. Have the group consider the insistence of Chief Charles Moose of Montgomery County that the public not depend exclusively on the FBI profile (which ultimately proved to be wrong). The exercise encourages the kind of deep probing required to resolve situations in which moral/legal/ ethical codes have been violated. Acknowledge that while the handout is lighthearted in nature, it is designed to encourage the kind of far-below-the-surface thinking needed by today’s leaders. You may even wish to note that some believe the tragedy of 9/11 was not so much a failure of intelligence but rather a failure of the imagination.
Variation
Attributes can be listed for any number of additional programs, such as those with an emphasis on creativity, communication, sales, meeting effectiveness, and so forth.
Discussion
Do you agree with Peter Drucker’s assertion that leaders know how to ask questions—the right questions? If so, what constitutes “rightness,” in terms of ethical behaviors? If you disagree, state the reason for your opposition.
Quotation
“Somehow it is more difficult to be arbitrary, arrogant, or judgmental when we are looking for good questions rather than ready to give answers to whatever comes along.”
—Pam Meyer
Points of Interest
Frank Navran, director of training for the Ethics Resource Center, located in Washington, D.C., cites five key motives that lead organizations to implement ethics training for Successful Meetings magazine: Legal, Moral, Perceptual, Pragmatic, and Change-oriented. Ask participants to analyze critically which of these motives is (or should be) motivating their own organizations.
HANDOUT 4.1
Standing on Common Ground
DIRECTIONS
Each numbered item below talks about things leaders have in common, things they are likely to say or do in pursuit of ethical goals. The task is to scrutinize the statements. Try to figure out the common elements in the syntax of these sentences that describe leader behaviors. Dig deeply to determine which of the lettered statements following each numbered item describe the item correctly.
1.Ethical leaders don’t hesitate to use books and television or movie screens to help them improve their skills, but they probably wouldn’t turn to the radio for help.
a.The first half of the sentence above alludes to visual tools; the second half does not.
b.The first half of that sentence cites double-lettered references; the second half does not.
c.The first half of that sentence has tools written in an alliterative manner; the second half does not.
d.All of the above.
e.None of the above.
2.To improve your persuasion skills as a leader, listen, report, declare, but don’t compromise your values.
a.The first half of the sentence above uses strong verbs; the second half does not.
b.The first half of that sentence is passive; the second half is not.
c.The first half of that sentence contains two-syllabic recommendations; the second half does not.
d.All of the above.
e.None of the above.
3.As a leader, you should commit all your resources, communicate the pros and cons of your proposal, and convince using both anecdotes and statistics, but you shouldn’t deviate too far from your original intention.
a.The first half of the sentence above is parallel; the second half is not.
b.The first half of that sentence has a series of recommendations; the second half does not.
c.The first half of that sentence is alliterative in its recommendation; the second half is not.
d.All of the above.
e.None of the above.
4.As you set the parameters of your leadership project, you need to cite the alignment of resources and goals, the benefits that will accrue, and the constructs within which others will have to operate; but you don’t need to generate or even explore an excessive number of possibilities.
a.The first half of the sentence above is alpha-sequential; the second half is not.
b.The first half of that sentence contains infinitives; the second half does not.
c.The first half of that sentence contains a metaphor; the second half does not.
d.All of the above.
e.None of the above.
5.Among other things, successful leaders know how to wow their followers and to bob with buoyancy when the waves of organizational opposition threaten to overwhelm them, but they don’t know how to abandon their dreams very easily.
a.The first half of the sentence above is longer than the second half.
b.The first half of that sentence contains a metaphor; the second half does not.
c.The first half of that sentence contains palindromic words; the second half does not.
d.The first half of that sentence contains alliteration; the second half does not.
e.None of the above.