Introduction
Humans frequently encounter circumstances that cause us to doubt our morals and place us in situations that go against our values but benefit us (Schwartz, 2017).
The Difficulty of Hiding One's Identity
Such circumstances put us in a difficult position and call for critical thought to arrive at the best decision. The discussion of ethical leadership gives us the knowledge necessary to know how to act in these circumstances. In this article, I'll talk about the difficulty of hiding one's identity to obtain the necessary information after gaining permission from the boss to do so. The reason I choose this fix is because this happens to a lot of people, whether at work or at school when one does not get the information that he/she is looking for, and the only way to find out is if one lies and pretends to be someone else or in a different position that he/she currently is.
Bill's Response
My response to this dilemma is similar to Bill’s response. In this fix, Bill is the subject and is forced to make a decision. He chooses to defy his manager’s orders of disguising himself to obtain the information he needs. Instead, he discusses the matter with the senior executive officials of the company. I would have done the same because thanks to the information I learned on ethical leadership, I can think critically about the situation and make the correct judgment. Through ethical leadership, I have learned the art of trust which is an important value of ethics needed within the workplace. The fact that I would not feel comfortable if the truth is revealed after lying supports my response as it is part of a public test which is an aspect of ethical leadership (Schwartz, 2017).
Classification of the Dilemma
The given dilemma is classified as one of the ethical situations known as ‘stand up for ethics.’ It is because Bill is forced to decide between standing by what he believes is right and is expected within the company, and what his manager urges him to do. The dilemma can also be a subject of the legal frame. It is because Bill could be involved in legal battles due to disguising himself to obtain information which he was probably not allowed to have. In this dilemma, several aspects of ethical leadership are discussed, and they include Kantianism, impediments, trustworthiness, and public tests. Kantianism is the ideology that Kant would have when dealing with such a situation. It has been discussed that Kant would never have agreed to do as the manager had suggested and would have the same response as Bill since he does not believe in disrespecting anyone even if they are his competitors. Impediments are hindrances that could be present and could prevent Bill from making the right judgment. One of the hindrances is the thinking that Bill could have thought that he was following orders from and hence act at the interest of the company. Another hindrance is the thinking that he would have appealed to his seniors if he had obtained the information and the act would have been in Bill’s self-interest. However, Bill overcame these obstacles and practiced what he felt was right (Price, 2017). Through ethical leadership, we learn that Bill did what was right and we should do the same, having learned what is expected of us in various situations.
References
Schwartz, M. S. (2017). Business ethics; an ethical decision-making approach. Retrieved from http://ebookcentral.proquest.com
Price, T. (2017). A “critical leadership ethics” approach to the Ethical Leadership construct. Leadership, 174271501771064. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1742715017710646
