Shaping Tomorrow's Ethical Leaders
Faculty Advisor Name
Dr. Tabitha Coates
Department
Department of Learning, Technology and Leadership Education
Description
This phenomenological qualitative research study sought to explore the essences of ethical leadership and the self-efficacy of emerging leaders in leadership development. The researcher became curious about this topic when a question was proposed during the Adult Education and Human Resource Development (AHRD) graduate course, Foundations of AHRD, on whether leaders are born, or made. After a class discussion ensued on the key aspects of leadership development, a genuine interest in the research of ethical leadership was established.
The purpose for this research study was twofold: First, there was a need to comprehend the essences of ethical leadership. Discovering the essence simply refers to the sense or logic of a particular human experience and how it essentially presents itself in a phenomenological study (Dukes, 1984). This understanding occurred through a comprehensive literature review and by conducting transcendental phenomenological interviews of four self-identified, ethical leaders across industries: A global non-profit organization, an agricultural manufacturing facility, a public school system, and a financial service company. The second purpose of this study was to use the findings from the literature review and phenomenological interviews to make recommendations on the development of a survey as a measurement tool to assess key factors of ethical leader behavior and the self-efficacy of emerging leaders when faced with challenging decisions. To further expand the research on the essences of ethical leadership, three research questions were developed:
1) Based on the review of the literature, what are the core essences of ethical leadership?
2) How do leaders across industries define and describe the core essences of ethical leadership?
3) How do the findings from this study inform recommendations for the development of an instrument measuring ethical leadership and the self-efficacy of emerging leaders in leadership development?
To answer the first question, a thorough literature review was completed to gain a better understanding of how researchers have defined ethical leadership over the last couple of decades, leadership styles that best represent ethical behaviors, the essences of ethical leadership in characteristics and behaviors, the motivations of ethical leaders, and the self-efficacy of emerging leaders to make ethical decisions when faced with challenging workplace situations.
The second question was answered through transcendental phenomenological interviews that were conducted with four self-identified ethical leaders across the industries of agricultural manufacturing, a global non-profit organization, a public school system, and a financial servicing company. The participants were leaders in the roles of executive director, HR coordinator, operations manager, and accountant/team manager. Through the interview data collection of participant transcripts, the researcher was able to create themes and subthemes that represented the most important behaviors and characteristics of ethical leaders.
Findings from the literature review and participant interviews were used to inform research question three, and the researcher was able to recommend the development of a survey measurement tool for the purpose of assessing the self-efficacy of emerging leaders in leadership development when faced with challenging ethical decisions in the workplace.
Shaping Tomorrow's Ethical Leaders
This phenomenological qualitative research study sought to explore the essences of ethical leadership and the self-efficacy of emerging leaders in leadership development. The researcher became curious about this topic when a question was proposed during the Adult Education and Human Resource Development (AHRD) graduate course, Foundations of AHRD, on whether leaders are born, or made. After a class discussion ensued on the key aspects of leadership development, a genuine interest in the research of ethical leadership was established.
The purpose for this research study was twofold: First, there was a need to comprehend the essences of ethical leadership. Discovering the essence simply refers to the sense or logic of a particular human experience and how it essentially presents itself in a phenomenological study (Dukes, 1984). This understanding occurred through a comprehensive literature review and by conducting transcendental phenomenological interviews of four self-identified, ethical leaders across industries: A global non-profit organization, an agricultural manufacturing facility, a public school system, and a financial service company. The second purpose of this study was to use the findings from the literature review and phenomenological interviews to make recommendations on the development of a survey as a measurement tool to assess key factors of ethical leader behavior and the self-efficacy of emerging leaders when faced with challenging decisions. To further expand the research on the essences of ethical leadership, three research questions were developed:
1) Based on the review of the literature, what are the core essences of ethical leadership?
2) How do leaders across industries define and describe the core essences of ethical leadership?
3) How do the findings from this study inform recommendations for the development of an instrument measuring ethical leadership and the self-efficacy of emerging leaders in leadership development?
To answer the first question, a thorough literature review was completed to gain a better understanding of how researchers have defined ethical leadership over the last couple of decades, leadership styles that best represent ethical behaviors, the essences of ethical leadership in characteristics and behaviors, the motivations of ethical leaders, and the self-efficacy of emerging leaders to make ethical decisions when faced with challenging workplace situations.
The second question was answered through transcendental phenomenological interviews that were conducted with four self-identified ethical leaders across the industries of agricultural manufacturing, a global non-profit organization, a public school system, and a financial servicing company. The participants were leaders in the roles of executive director, HR coordinator, operations manager, and accountant/team manager. Through the interview data collection of participant transcripts, the researcher was able to create themes and subthemes that represented the most important behaviors and characteristics of ethical leaders.
Findings from the literature review and participant interviews were used to inform research question three, and the researcher was able to recommend the development of a survey measurement tool for the purpose of assessing the self-efficacy of emerging leaders in leadership development when faced with challenging ethical decisions in the workplace.