I am an ethical leader

Overview and Rationale

Writing a journal provides you with an opportunity to critically assess your leadership capability through introspection and self-analysis it makes you aware of who you are as both an individual and a leader.  This assignment serves as a reflective exercise and a self-assessment to help you learn more about yourself, as an ethical leader. It will also serve as your mid-term project.

Assignment Objectives

Students will be able to connect personal experiences with the information learned to date, citing course readings, lectures, and discussions.
Students will be able to analyze their personal progress as ethical leaders by reflecting on the content and activities learned during the first half of the course.
Students will have an opportunity to recognize obstacles and strengths to their own development as ethical leaders, and to identify solutions or plans on how to overcome those obstacles or develop those strengths.

This assignment focuses on your personal level of ethical leadership. You will work on understanding, analyzing and implementing choices related to ethics-related situations. In doing this, you are expected to demonstrate an understanding of the theoretical foundations of ethical thoughts when you reflect on your personal challenges, apply course frameworks in analyzing your choices and dilemmas, and move to the level of defining a direction for personal growth as an ethical leader.  Using lecture materials, readings, and the various discussions you have had with classmates and the instructor, you will incorporate leadership theories to create an ethical leadership model and definition. 

Essential Components

Using the prompt provided below, provide a clear, concise, and well written journal that will be reflective in nature and effectively showcase your thoughts and perspectives on ethical leadership.  It comes from an article titled, The Ethical Mind: A Conversation with Psychologist Howard Gardner (the article is included in this week’s readings).  Gardner argues that:

A person with an ethical mind asks herself, What kind of a person, worker, and citizen do I want to be? If all workers in my profession adopted the mind-set I have, or if everyone did what I do, what would the world be like? Whistle-blowers display ethical minds. Many people might see a top manager doing something unethical, but they wont do anything about it because they want to keep their jobs, and they feel that they must respect the boss. A whistle-blower steps back from those concerns and considers the nature of work and the community in a larger way. He takes a mental leap past daily doings; his allegiance is to the workplace or the profession. He acts ethically even though it may cost him his respectful relation to his supervisor and, ultimately, his job and relation to his colleagues. He is able to do this because his own momentary well-being is less important than the broader mission he has endorsed.

Consider the following when writing your journal:

Do you have an ethical mind?  If so, explain your thoughts and provide one or more specific examples.  If not, how would you define your ethical thinking?
How have our readings or discussions, during the first half of this course, changed or reinforced the opinions you previously held about yourself as an ethical leader? 
What connections can you make between your ethical thinking and your personal and professional leadership style?
What leadership models do you value and identify with and how do they support an ethical mindset (i.e. transformational, participative, authentic, servant, etc.)?
What strengths do you have that will help facilitate your development as an ethical leader?
How do you model ethical leadership in your personal and professional life?
When:  Midterm

Length: 4 5 pages (double spaced 12 font APA style)

Understand (Rigor): Use of conceptual frameworks for self-awareness and reflection in the area of ethical leadership
Analyze (Depth & critical thinking): Critical evaluation of choices and actions, revealing strengths and weaknesses/areas for development
Implement (Relevance and growth-based):  Focus on personal growth as an ethical leader. Relevance of the action plan/personal polices for strengthening your own ethical leadership capabilities.
Presentation: Clarity of writing. Reliance on NEU rubrics in English writing.