Ethical Leadership

Ethical Leadership
Introduction
Before getting into the details of what values are required to make a person an ethical leader, let’s first get an understanding of what ethical leadership actually is. Leadership is the power to motivate people by words, actions and deeds using vision, belief and truthfulness. Ethical leadership means “ethically motivating others in ethical directions” consisting of both “procedural” and “substantive” (character-based) aspects (Chumir, 1992). The procedural dimension of ethical leadership includes problem-solving and decision-making techniques within the circle of ethics. For example, ethical leadership demands that the leaders, before putting their decisions into action, inform and discuss them with the parties which are going to be affected by their decisions. This means that the concerned parties are being given due respect and importance. The substantive aspect of ethical leadership includes knowledge, strong standards and courage to follow ethical directions despite strong opposition.
Values that make a Person an Ethical Leader
Dr. Bill Grace (2007), the founder of the Center of Ethical Leadership, has put forth a
“4-V Model of Ethical Leadership” that correlates the substantive (inner values, principles and standards) with the procedural (words, actions and deeds) dimensions of ethical leadership so that effective decision-making can be done.   This model illustrates clearly what virtues are needed to make a person an ethical leader. Let’s describe it in detail.
Substantive Virtues
Values. The values that we inherit or learn later in lives play a very important role in constructing our inner selves and in developing ethics. By understanding and polishing our basic values, we develop a sense of moral obligation of enhancing the betterment of ourselves and of the society. And this is what is chiefly needed to make a person an ethical leader.
Voice. This is another important virtue needed by ethical leadership. This...