EU Think Tank
  • Home
  • Business
  • Leadership
  • Economics
  • Recruitment
  • Innovation
  • Strategy
  • More
    • Customer Experience
    • Managing People
    • Managing Yourself
    • Communication
    • Marketing
    • Organizational Culture
    • Technology
Featured Posts
    • Marketing
    How Marketing Leaders Are Driving Growth in the New Era of Event Planning – SPONSOR CONTENT FROM CVENT
    • June 30, 2022
    • Managing People
    Developing ESG Strategy Is Hard, But Executing It Is Even Harder – SPONSOR CONTENT FROM DAGGERWING GROUP
    • June 30, 2022
    • Organizational Culture
    Are Your Organization’s DEI Efforts Superficial or Structural?
    • June 29, 2022
    • Strategy
    Does Your Strategy Have a Spine?
    • June 29, 2022
    • Managing People
    Supporting Your Team’s Mental Health After a Violent News Event
    • June 29, 2022
Featured Categories
Business
View Posts
Communication
View Posts
Customer Experience
View Posts
Economics
View Posts
Green
View Posts
Health
View Posts
Hiring and Recruitment
View Posts
Innovation
View Posts
Leadership
View Posts
Managing People
View Posts
Managing Yourself
View Posts
Marketing
View Posts
Middle East
View Posts
News
View Posts
Organizational Culture
View Posts
Russia
View Posts
Saudi Arabia
View Posts
Strategy
View Posts
Technology
View Posts
Ukraine
View Posts
EU Think Tank EU Think Tank
7K
9K
4K
1K
EU Think Tank EU Think Tank
  • Home
  • Business
  • Leadership
  • Economics
  • Recruitment
  • Innovation
  • Strategy
  • More
    • Customer Experience
    • Managing People
    • Managing Yourself
    • Communication
    • Marketing
    • Organizational Culture
    • Technology
  • Leadership

Don’t Try to Be the “Fun Boss” — and Other Lessons in Ethical Leadership

  • December 10, 2021
  • euthinktank
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0

The ethical misconduct of leaders in not a new concern, but it seems to be a more prevalent concern today. So what should today’s leaders do to build trust with their teams and the public? Showing your team that you exercise caution, take calculated risks, and will adhere to organizational principles will go a long way toward gaining their trust. Trying to be liked and known as “the fun boss” can tarnish your reputation in the long run. It’s OK to stay out of the limelight and keep some space between you and your team. It sends signals that you are there for their professional benefit and that they can rely on you when needed. Spending too much time trying to get noticed or having a “win at all costs” mentality to get ahead can put you (and your team) at a higher risk of engaging in unethical behavior. Being a more self-aware leader will help to keep you (and your team) on track.

Just becoming a leader is enough to exacerbate some people’s unethical tendencies. But power does not corrupt everyone. Our research suggests that key personality characteristics predict unethical leadership behavior.

We collected personality data and supervisor ratings of ethical behavior (e.g., integrity, accountability) on 3,500 leaders across 30 organizations we had worked with. The organizations included in our study were largely multinational, represented several industries, and varied in size from medium to large. We combined data across these 30 independent studies to examine the relationship between personality and ethical leadership across a range of different settings and situations. We found that characteristics related to certain traits have stronger relationships with unethical behavior.

You and Your Team Series

Creating an Ethical Workplace

So, what should today’s leaders do to build trust with their teams and the public? Here are a few tips, based on our findings:

  1. Be humble; not charismatic. It is natural that we are attracted to people whom we perceive to be inspiring, fun, and engaging. It makes sense that you need a little charisma or pizzazz to stand out from others and get noticed. Charisma can also be useful for engaging and inspiring others towards the organizational mission. However, too much of this may be a bad thing in the eyes of your team members. Unchecked charisma will lead to a reputation of self-absorption and self-promotion. When team members get the sense that you are focused on your own concerns and ideas, they feel unsupported. The team may start to worry that you will no longer do what is best for the team or organization, and that you will instead do what is best for your own agenda.
  1. Be steady and dependable; it will get you further. While you may have been noticed and promoted based on your charisma, being reliable, rule-following, and responsible is more important for your team. As a leader, you have a tremendous amount of autonomy and decision-making power. If we are to entrust our leaders with such power, we need to be confident in their ability to remain true to their word and to do what’s right for the organization. Showing your team that you exercise caution, take calculated risks, and will adhere to organizational principles will go a long way toward gaining their trust.
  1. Remember that modesty is the best policy. At times, we may all enjoy working in an environment that is less formal, or working for a boss who knows how to keep things light-hearted. However, there is still a degree of responsibility and professionalism that people come to expect from those in charge. Trying to be liked and known as “the fun boss” can tarnish your reputation in the long run. It’s OK to stay out of the limelight and keep some space between you and your team. It sends signals that you are there for their professional benefit and that they can rely on you when needed.
  1. Balance analysis with action. Although people appreciate a degree of logic and rationality in the decision-making process, be careful to not get so focused on data and analysis that you forget the larger context or the impact of your decisions. Spending too much time analyzing data can hold you back from making important decisions, especially in high-pressure situations that call for quick action. The data may indicate the best course of action for the bottom line, but this may not be the best decision for the broader team or relevant stakeholders. Leadership must be able to make a decision and take corrective action quickly, even if it initially hurts the bottom line.
  1. Be vigilant; vulnerability increases over time. Learning and adjusting to a new role, especially a high-visibility leadership role, can take some time. It’s during the first few months in a new role that we usually spend more time observing what’s going on around us. We also tend to be more mindful of our interactions with others and may spend more time managing the impressions we make on others. Over time, we become more comfortable in our surroundings and we stop paying attention to our reputations. It’s usually after the six-month mark where we see an increased risk of our dark-side tendencies impeding our success or derailing our careers. Keep your guard up, stay vigilant, and continually seek feedback.

The personality characteristics that will get you chosen as a leader are not always the same as the ones that will make you effective in that role. Spending too much time trying to get noticed or having a “win at all costs” mentality to get ahead can put you (and your team) at a higher risk of engaging in unethical behavior. Having awareness of your surroundings and an understanding of the ways you influence your team will help to keep yourself (and your team) on track.

Total
0
Shares
Share 0
Tweet 0
Pin it 0
You May Also Like
Read More
  • Leadership

Small Actions Make Great Leaders

  • euthinktank
  • June 22, 2022
Read More
  • Leadership

Is It Time to Consider Co-CEOs?

  • euthinktank
  • June 22, 2022
Read More
  • Leadership

As the World Shifts, So Should Leaders

  • euthinktank
  • June 14, 2022
Read More
  • Leadership

When Hiring CEOs, Focus on Character

  • euthinktank
  • June 14, 2022
Read More
  • Leadership

The C-Suite Skills That Matter Most

  • euthinktank
  • June 14, 2022
Read More
  • Leadership

When Shifting Strategy, Don’t Lose Sight of Your Long-Term Vision

  • euthinktank
  • June 2, 2022
Read More
  • Leadership

What Leadership Development Should Look Like in the Hybrid Era

  • euthinktank
  • June 1, 2022
Read More
  • Leadership

Staying Positive and On-Track in Uncertain Times

  • euthinktank
  • May 27, 2022

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Featured Posts
  • 1
    How Marketing Leaders Are Driving Growth in the New Era of Event Planning – SPONSOR CONTENT FROM CVENT
    • June 30, 2022
  • 2
    Developing ESG Strategy Is Hard, But Executing It Is Even Harder – SPONSOR CONTENT FROM DAGGERWING GROUP
    • June 30, 2022
  • 3
    Are Your Organization’s DEI Efforts Superficial or Structural?
    • June 29, 2022
  • 4
    Does Your Strategy Have a Spine?
    • June 29, 2022
  • 5
    Supporting Your Team’s Mental Health After a Violent News Event
    • June 29, 2022
Recent Posts
  • Are Former Startup Founders Less Hireable?
    • June 28, 2022
  • Help Your Team (Actually) Work Smarter, Not Harder
    • June 28, 2022
  • Inclusive Workplaces Start with Inclusive Leaders – SPONSOR CONTENT FROM BETTERUP
    • June 28, 2022

Sign Up for Our Newsletters

Subscribe now to our newsletter

EU Think Tank
  • Home
  • Privacy Policy
  • Guest Post
  • Contact

Input your search keywords and press Enter.