what should be taught in a leadership and ethics course

by Laurine White 5 min read

In Leadership and Ethics, you will learn that being a moral leader is not about always knowing what is right or how to solve problems. Instead, moral leaders acquire the skills to mobilize people and engage with those problems to find solutions. This course is part of the Public Leadership Credential from Harvard Kennedy School.

Full Answer

What is an Ethical Leadership Course?

These courses are designed for learners who want to acquire the tools to more effectively mobilize people and organizations to action. Learners gain skills to work across differences and practice ethical leadership to help organizations and individuals face adaptive challenges and make positive change at every level.

Do we need an ethics course?

Former Professor Cal Boardman, who was the Bill Daniels Chair of Ethics, saw the need for an ethics course emerge about 25 years ago. He worked with management department to create an elective course, Foundation of Business Thought, which would address the growing interest.

What do you learn in business ethics?

In the Business Ethics course, students are given real-world examples of issues they discuss in class to determine where it stands on the ethics scale. Bakhsheshy says students take a critical dive into, “the consequences of the issue; who will benefit, who will be harmed, whose rights are exercised and whose rights are denied.”

What are the basics of leadership training?

The basics to leadership training are about establishing what your purpose is as a leader and the mindset you need to be cultivating in yourself and your team. These core leadership practices include:

What should be taught in a leadership class?

Examples of leadership training topicsConflict resolution. ... Dealing with change. ... Problem-solving. ... Leading innovation. ... Virtual leadership. ... Project planning and delegating. ... Building trust and respect. ... Coaching to improve employee performance.More items...•

What do you hope to learn from a leadership course?

Those who pursue a leadership degree program learn to manage innovation, change, and talent development. This kind of program also helps boost interpersonal skills. And we all know that effective communication is key to the success of any professional relationship.

What are the 4 main ethical principles in leadership?

Ethical leadership demonstrates a high regard for values. The principles of ethical leadership include honesty, justice, respect, community and integrity.

What does ethical leadership include?

Ethical leadership means that individuals behave according to a set of principles and values that are recognized by the majority as a sound basis for the common good. These include integrity, respect, trust, fairness, transparency, and honesty.

What do you expect out of leadership training?

"What can we expect from a leadership course?"Personal effectiveness.Performance and personal development.Interpersonal relationships.Exploring ways we can manage our personality, behaviour and preferences.

What benefits do you expect to achieve from your study of leadership?

Here we explore six of the big benefits that leadership training can offer your organization.Increase productivity. ... Retain your people. ... Nurture future leaders. ... Increase employee engagement. ... Implement an effective leadership style. ... Make better decisions.

What are 7 principles of ethics?

This approach – focusing on the application of seven mid-level principles to cases (non-maleficence, beneficence, health maximisation, efficiency, respect for autonomy, justice, proportionality) – is presented in this paper.

What are the 7 principles of leadership?

Seven leadership principles to followBelief in the purpose.Taking full responsibility.The ability to move on and forgive.Humility.Optimistic and realistic.Value others' opinions, confidence in your own.Self-acceptance.

What are the 5 principles of ethical leadership?

According to scholars and practitioners, ethical leaders have five principles: respect, service, honesty, justice and community. Let's have a look at these in more detail. Ethical leaders really listen to their colleagues. They will be empathetic and tolerant of others opinions even if their views do not align.

What is the 3 major elements of ethical leadership?

Ethical leaders can help establish a positive environment with productive relationships over three levels: the individual, the team and the overall organization. Nurturing the relationships at each of these levels can lead to positive outcomes and benefits for ethical leaders.

What are 3 characteristics of ethical behavior?

Ethical behavior includes honesty, fairness, integrity and understanding.

What is ethical leadership and why is it important in education?

Ethical leadership in education is driven by a respect for values and an unfaltering belief in the dignity and rights of others. Ethical leaders build school cultures governed by fair, clearly articulated expectations, rather than cultures driven by personalities or politics.

What is the basic leadership training?

The basics to leadership training are about establishing what your purpose is as a leader and the mindset you need to be cultivating in yourself and your team. These core leadership practices include: Being a role model. Making an impact. Focusing on following a vision. Encouraging collaboration. Being positive.

Why is leadership training important?

Leadership training is crucial for any management role. Whether you have a large team or just got your first hire, leadership training can help you be the best possible leader. A strong foundation of leadership training will help you effectively direct your team towards success. This is a key part of reaching your goals.

What are the different types of leadership styles?

There are three basic leadership styles. Autocratic leaders are clear in their expectations, tell employees exactly how they want a job done, and make decisions on their own. Delegative leaders are the opposite and instead of micromanaging they allow the group to make their own decisions.

Why is it important to know your leadership style?

Knowing your leadership style is important when you are managing people and projects to give you a better understanding of your own strengths and weaknesses, and learning how to use your leadership style to your advantage. You might also check out our 14 most important management skills:

What is participatory leadership?

Participative leaders are a mix of the other two styles and provide direction while also taking feedback from their team. Most people want to be a good manager, but all three leadership styles have advantages and disadvantages.

What is the trick to managing conflict?

Managing conflict might be one of the tougher leadership training topics – the trick is to keep calm and communicate. But it’s one of those skills that are usually easier in theory than they are in practise. The type of techniques you will learn on a good management training course will include: And the worst one….

Why is motivating a team important?

Studies suggest that positively motivating a team is a great way to improve an employees effectiveness and efficiency. Which is hardly surprising. You want your team to face the day feeling confident they will be recognised for their hard work, and supported with their ambitions.

The Roots of Ethics

Ethics has both religious and secular roots. Religious ethics is based on a theistic understanding of the world. What is real, true, and good is defined by God. Secular ethics is based on a scientific understanding of the world. Reality, truth, and goodness do not depend on the existence of a god.

Ethics, Humankind, and Other Animals

Whether based on religious belief or secular thought, ethics is a concern unique to humankind. People are the only creatures that combine emotion (feelings) with knowledge (information) and through abstract reasoning (thought) produce a moral conscience or a sense of what should be. Some ideas about right and wrong are of pre-human origin.

Moral Development

How is morality developed? The English philosopher John Locke, one of the most important philosophers of modern times, viewed the newborn child as a "tabula rasa," or blank tablet, on which a life script would be written. He believed that experience and learning would shape the content, structure, and direction of each person's life.

Ethics and the Legal Department

The philosopher Lou Marinoff gives practical advice about leadership and moral dilemmas: "Everyone's ethical warning lights go off at different times. Although working will always involve compromises, it is important to know when an action may take you over a line you do not want to cross.

Liberal Arts Ethics Courses

AFAM / HIST / PLSC 431 Black Liberation and American Foreign Policy (3) This course examines efforts by African Americans to carve out a space with regards to international affairs from the Second World War to the present building on efforts by this non-state actor from slavery, colonial and Empire-building stages of the development of the world system..

A Sampling of Offerings in Other Colleges

This list is not all-inclusive, so if you have questions about a particular non-Liberal Arts course, please write to the Director, Cathy Wanner, cew10@psu.edu.

What are the principles of ethical leadership?

George Marshall’s Eight Principles of Ethical Leadership offer a strong scaffold for administrators who seek guidance on how to implement ethical practices in their schools. These principles add to the significant conversation about ethical leadership happening within the educational community, and in fact across the public domain.

What are the three traits of a school leader?

Their opinions and needs should always precede the self interests of the school leader. Self Control, Self Discipline and Integrity – All types of leadership essentially include these three traits in order to be considered ethical .

What is the challenge of leadership?

Leadership for the 21st century is grounded in moral and ethical virtues, but the challenge is to define what exactly moral and ethical virtues are and how they should be measured and implemented.

Why is ethics important in public administration?

Ethics are a key domain in of public administration, in particular the school setting thanks to the vast number of schools in the United States, their community integration and their importance for society a whole.

What should be the relationship between leaders and followers?

Relationships between leaders and followers should not rely too heavily on trust, but rather should be built on mutual respect and ethical actions. Task and Employee Centeredness – School leaders must create a foundation of success that draws from the strengths of the teachers and staff who interact with students.

Why is ethics important in a classroom?

An ethics course can also give students a chance to enunciate their own values in a constructive way. A student who finds herself repeatedly speaking, from the heart, in a safe classroom setting, about the importance of treating people fairly may come to realize that that’s an important part of who she is.

Should business schools pay more attention to ethics?

The only thing nearly as common as the view that business schools should pay greater attention to ethics are heartfelt expressions of the view that doing so is in fact useless. Typically, skepticism about ethics education is rooted in a mistaken view of what the goals of such education are. If you think that giving students a course in ethics is ...

Can ethics professors turn bad people into good ones?

An ethics professor can’t turn bad people into good ones, any more than she can turn water into wine. Luckily, that’s really not what’s needed, and so doing so it’s not the aim of any sane ethics course. The most recent volley in this ongoing debate is a short blog entry on Forbes, written by MBA student Lachlan Magee.

Who agrees that ethics are inside a person before they ever walk into a college classroom?

Both Boardman and Bakhsheshy agree the basic principles of ethics are inside a person far before they ever walk into a college classroom. That being said, you can teach, through case studies, how to practice and look at ethical behavior.

What was once taught that a businessperson's only responsibility was to make money?

It was once taught that a businessperson’s only responsibility was to make money. Bakhsheshy adds, “There was no accountability. Businesses were immune because no one was being held accountable.”. Now it’s essential to show students the rewards of doing business ethically while still achieving financial reward.

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The Roots of Ethics

  • Ethics has both religious and secular roots. Religious ethics is based on a theistic understanding of the world. What is real, true, and good is defined by God. Secular ethics is based on a scientific understanding of the world. Reality, truth, and goodness do not depend on the existence of a god. Both religious and secular ethics may endorse many common values, such as the preservation o…
See more on mheducation.com

Ethics, Humankind, and Other Animals

  • Whether based on religious belief or secular thought, ethics is a concern unique to humankind. People are the only creatures that combine emotion (feelings) with knowledge (information) and through abstract reasoning (thought) produce a moral conscience or a sense of what should be. Some ideas about right and wrong are of pre-human origin. Indeed, such social virtues as sel…
See more on mheducation.com

Moral Development

  • How is morality developed? The English philosopher John Locke, one of the most important philosophers of modern times, viewed the newborn child as a "tabula rasa," or blank tablet, on which a life script would be written. He believed that experience and learning would shape the content, structure, and direction of each person's life. In this sense, the ethics of the infant are a…
See more on mheducation.com

Ethics and The Legal Department

  • The philosopher Lou Marinoff gives practical advice about leadership and moral dilemmas: "Everyone's ethical warning lights go off at different times. Although working will always involve compromises, it is important to know when an action may take you over a line you do not want to cross. In these situations, your conscience should guide you21." I...
See more on mheducation.com