ORGL 610: Communication and Leadership Ethics
Professor: Dr. Kristine Hoover
Taken: Fall 2022
Description: Ethics engages our values, principles and purpose. Through ethics, we explore who we are and nurture our abilities to stay true to ourselves in times of adversity, challenge, and uncertainty. With intentionality and practice, we can prepare and practice making decisions we can stand by and a future we want to be a part of. Throughout this course, we will be invited to apply ethical decision-making tools and principles to leadership and communication issues, in personal and organizational contexts. The first half of the course examines personal ethical development and decision-making focusing on the personal character of the leader and their ability to make decisions and take actions that can be considered to be good and right. The second half of the course centers on a variety of moral dilemmas that exist in organizations and societies. We will engage with the complexity of such moral dilemmas and how they might be addressed through critical analysis and application of ethical principles.
Reflection: The course on leadership ethics came at a pivotal time in my professional journey. I was being challenged by a previous leadership team to do questionable things, not illegal but things that didn’t align to my values. This course required me to review and reiterate my core values, both personally and professionally. It is vital for a leader to be clear on their values. Aligning expectations to values can aid in driving alignment within an organization. One learning I have taken away from my recent experiences is that one must first learn the existing culture before attempting to influence change. The history I was unaware of had shaped the culture of the company. I wanted to start a cultural shift with a new team, new mission, and new vision. I drove accountability across my sub-organization as the wider organizational culture was too much to undertake. I found, especially as a compliance team, we needed to lead by example.
