Week 5: Morality and Ethical Leadership

Morality and ethics and leadership. In his book, Leadership by Design, Bogue stated that if administrators are not expected to use judgment or make exceptions then those positions can be replaced by computers. I found myself chuckling at this statement. This is really at the root of what identifies a leader. Badaracco introduced the defining moments of a leader. It made me think about the defining moments in my leadership development. The moments that came to mind were those that involved a wrong decision on my part. Granted, no one died or was injured, but I had a stern discussion with my supervisor at the time. I know that I learned from those moments and will not make those mistakes again, but there will be other mistakes. I cannot shy away from those mistakes. This is one of the characteristics of a leader--the courage to keep moving forward.

The facilitators for the class provided a couple of questions for journaling:

1. Can you think of a situation where an educational leader you know or you yourself had to struggle with an ethical issue? What moral and ethical tensions were involved in making the "right" decision at that point in time? How do you feel about it now? in retrospect, was it the best decision made? If not, how could it be managed better?


2. Badaracco talks about "defining moments" and facing at least two "right" choices. When you face such situations, how do you decide what to do? Who do you talk to? What do you consider?

I remember dealing with a sexual assault which occurred in my building while a hall director. The person who assaulted the student was a "guest" but was not signed in, nor was he stopped by the front desk clerks. Granted, the building was not very secure . . . the main stairwell was easily accessible as well as the side doors (due to propping and residents allowing anyone to come in), but that does not mean that the desk clerks were absolved of not checking IDs of all individuals. My senior RA was responsible for the management of the front desk. We saw the situation from different perspectives. I understood where my senior RA was coming from and why she did not support the decision that needed to made--firing the desk clerks working at that specific time. Was this the best decision? I probably would have made the same decision, but it is difficult to make the decision when my senior RA did not support it. How do you move forward after this type of decision? I probably could have managed it better regarding the conversation with my senior RA and with the desk clerks. I do not remember if I met with the desk clerks or not. I hope I did.

I briefly mentioned Badaracco's defining moments at the beginning of this post. When I think about the times I've been in those situations, I know the decisions were difficult. I can always see the situation from both sides. When faced with these situations, I try to talk with my supervisor and get another perspective. If not my supervisor, then one of my colleagues in a similar position (Assistant Director). I think about the end result and what should come from the situation. In other words, is there an opportunity for an "educational" moment? Can we proceed with the educational aspect or does it need to be more punitive. I also think my gut provides a lot of the guidance.

I am now thinking about how I will handle these "defining moments" as the senior member of the department. I don't know how viable it will be to discuss these moments with my supervisor (i.e. VP of Student Affairs). I envision that I will need to discuss it with my core leadership team and colleagues at the same level.