I do not believe that unethical behavior can unknowingly occur if a leader has proper values and intentions. A leader who is ethically based will not knowingly break laws, deny rights, endanger lives or deceive or exploit employees, customers, stake holders or society.
However, I do believe that an ethically based leader may find him or herself in situations where they have discovered that they have acted inappropriately due to others in power who have deceived others in order to take advantage of the situation. For example, if a leader discovers funds have been misused, or expenses exaggerated, or discrimination or other unethical behavior has occurred in a department or company, this becomes the moment of truth for any ethical leader. At that moment, an ethically based leader will make a decision to fight to correct the problem within the company, notify authorities or leave the company. This may seem simplistic, but I believe that if more leaders stood up against unethical behavior, there would be less of it.
In my opinion, the problem of corporate scandals relates to a general decline of ethical standards within society as a whole. An employee who cheats on an expense account, or takes supplies from the supply room, is as guilty of stealing as the corporate executive who cheats employees, customers or stockholders. While, one may be more costly, and has greater negative impact than the other, they are both ethically incorrect. For this reason, more time and energy needs to be spent teaching general ethics to employees and executives. With communication and training, it is clear to all involved what is ethical, and how to address problems when they are discovered.
I believe that a true leader must not only drive results for a company, but must also realize their social contract they have with employees, customers, the community, etc... When profits, career advancement, and greed are not balanced with a social conscious, then grey areas between right and wrong become more difficult to distinguish. When misuse of funds, or misappropriate use of employees, discrimination, etc., occur all of us have a choice. We can ignore it, and become accomplices to the problem. We can fight to improve the situation in order to be leaders in improving the situation. Or, if we cannot improve the situation internally, we can leave to find a better ethical match somewhere else.
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