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  • Essay / Shadows of the Leader: Casting Light Instead of Shadows

    “Leadership” for most people has a positive meaning, but there are also negative aspects of leaders. Recognizing the reality of bad and destructive leadership is essential to promoting good and ethical leadership. Metaphorically, leaders are separated into “light” and “shadow.” “There is a dramatic difference between the light and shadows of leadership. When leaders cast “light,” they master the ethical challenges of leadership. However, when they cast “shadows,” they abuse their power, accumulate privilege, mishandle information, act inconsistently, misplace or betray loyalty, and fail to take responsibility. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay There are many forms of bad leadership. Johnson (2018) cites Harvard professor Barbara Kellerman to identify seven types of bad leaders. First, there are incompetent leaders who lack emotional or academic intelligence, are distracted and careless, and cannot function under stress. Second, there are rigid leaders, who may be competent but unable to accept new ideas and adapt to changing conditions. Third, there are intemperate leaders who “lack self-control and are enabled by followers who are unwilling or unable to intervene.” “Fourth, there are callous leaders who are uncaring, unkind, ignoring or minimizing the needs, wants and wishes of their followers. Fifth, there are corrupt leaders who lie, cheat and steal out of personal interest and do not act in the public interest. Sixth, some island leaders draw clear boundaries between the well-being of their immediate organization and the interests of outsiders. And finally, there are evil leaders who use their influence to inflict physical and psychological harm on people. All of these types of leaders can cause harm beyond the lives of their followers. Johnson (2018) identifies six “shadows” of leaders, including power, privilege, poor information management, inconsistency, misplaced and broken loyalty, and irresponsibility. The shadows of the leader are explained as follows: The shadow of power: The greater the power of the leader, the greater the potential for abuse of that power. Understanding the power behind leadership is important to understanding how power can be used to cast light or shadows. One typology divides power into two categories: hard and soft. Hard power uses incentives, such as bonuses and raises, as well as threats, such as arrests and firings, to get people to join. Soft power involves attracting others rather than forcing them to conform and is typically used by those without formal authority. Effective leaders combine hard and soft power into smart power to achieve their goals. Abuse of power can take the form of the following behaviors: deception, coercion, coercion, selfishness, inequity, cruelty, contempt and deification. The Shadow of Privilege: Privilege is an ethical burden of leadership. Leaders generally have more privileges than their followers in terms of salary, influence, status, or rewards. Johnson (2018) states that “leaders must give questions of privilege the same careful attention as they do questions of power. “The shadows caused by the abuse of privilegecan be just as dark as those projected by the abuse of power. The Shadow of Mismanaged Information: Leaders are more likely to have access to information than their followers for a variety of reasons. Leaders throw shade when they lie about information they have, "hide the truth, fail to disclose conflicts of interest, withhold information their followers need, use information only for personal benefit , violate the rights of subscribers, disclose information to the wrong people and make information available to people. followers in ethical frenzies by preventing them from disclosing information that others have a legitimate right to know.” How leaders manage the information they have can make the difference between casting light and shadow. The shadow of inconsistency: Problems of inconsistency can arise with those outside the leader's immediate group or organization, alongside the experience of those within the immediate group. Indeed, a leader develops closer relationships with those who are part of his or her in-group, other than with those who are outside the group. The relationship could define whether a shadow light is cast in this regard. The shadow of misplaced and broken loyalties: Leaders consider loyalties and obligations when making choices by considering a wide range of loyalties and obligations, from shareholders and employees to society and the 'environment. . It would cast shadows when a leader makes choices that benefit their personal interests rather than those to whom they should be loyal. Followers might consider this a betrayal worthy of condemnation. The shadow of irresponsibility: Unlike followers, leaders are held responsible for the performance of groups of people. “Leaders act irresponsibly when they fail to make reasonable efforts to prevent the misdeeds of their followers, ignore or deny ethical issues, fail to take responsibility for the consequences of their directives, or deny their duties to their followers ". the weaknesses of human beings. Human factors that can affect ethical behavior include things such as insecurity and fear. Internal enemies or “monsters” can affect ethical leadership. These include insecurity, battlefield mentality, functional atheism, fear, denial of death, and evil. Self-centeredness/narcissism can also lead to destructive leadership. Personality disorders such as narcissism can have positive or negative consequences for leaders depending on the levels of this trait. Moderate narcissism can be beneficial in the short term. However, extreme narcissistic leaders can put others at risk when their goals are unrealistic and cannot be implemented. Faulty decision-making can be caused by well-intentioned leaders who made poor choices that were not based on greed or insensitivity, but on widespread weaknesses in the way people make decisions and in the way they think the world works, with respect to others and with respect to themselves. Johnson (2018) states that “the failure of moral imagination consists of three related elements: sensitivity to the ethical dimensions of the situation; perspective taking (taking into account the point of view of others); the creation of new solutions; evil but engage in immoral activities. This can be justified by leaders through moral justification, euphemism, shifting responsibility,.