A Toxic leadership triangle includes the three aspects of the management which are the leaders who are destructive in their nature, the followers who are vulnerable and the environment which is very much conducive. All these together combine to form the destructive kind of a result. It can, therefore, be said that if the leader practices toxic kind of leadership then their workers tend to become very much unhappy with the organization in which they work this will ultimately lead to the low performance (Mehta and Maheshwari 2014).This will ultimately create a toxic kind of environment where the workers, as well as the leaders, will be toxic and less productive for the organization. Similarly, if a leader who has positivity in his nature will step inside the toxic environment, he or she will turn into a toxic leader in itself. The role of the leader is the most important factor, the leader here is most important for creating a toxic kind of an environment. The creation of a good environment totally depends upon the leader. If the leader has any sort of unethical kind of behavior towards his employees then the employees are also going to present a similar kind of behavior. On the other hand, if the workers see that the leaders are not capable of the work, then they tend to have a certain form of disrespect for the leader. This ultimately leads to the undermining of the leader as well as of the structure of the organization. The toxic leaders are also responsible for the inability of the workers to think critically as well as effectively. The toxic environment which is the second point of the toxic triangle is often the result of the toxic leaders. When toxic attitudes that remained unaddressed creates a toxic kind of an environment.
Consideration and relevance of Kellerman’s approach to defining bad leadership
According to Kellerman, leadership is an art. However, in the present context, only the positive aspects of the leader are being focused on. The negative aspects of the bad leaders are being totally ignored for which the changes are not being modified. Therefore, it is very important to focus on the negative leaders as well as ultimately, in the end, they are the leaders who lead the company and which can bring about both positive and negative effects in the team or the organization (Solas 2016). Another point for which she argues is that possession of certain characteristics makes an individual a bad leader and because of his or her position, he or she is being followed. on the other hand, she continues by saying that the bad leaders are the ones who are very much ineffective in bringing about necessary changes. Apart from this, she also believes that the bad leaders are the ones who are unethical that are they fail to differentiate between the good and the bad (Schyns and Schilling 2013).The leaders who are rigid and fail to make any sort of innovations are considered to be a bad leader by her. The leader who is considered to be liars and cheaters are also considered to be an unethically bad leader. It is under the guidance of such leadership that the organization/company or a team tends to suffer.
The application of Kidder’s four ethical dilemmas
The businessmen belonging to the banking, superannuation and even in the financial service industry often find themselves in the middle of an argument. However, conducting the right decision is always not an easy task for a leader in an organization. Rushworth Kidder who is the founder of the institute of global Ethics identifies four different types of ethical dilemmas which are the short term vs the long term goals, individual vs the community, loyalty vs the truth and lastly the mercy vs the justice (Indradevi 2016). It can be said that the short term, as well as the long term goals, are both beneficial for the organization but changing the short term goal into the long term goal for the enhanced success of the company is very much important. However, there are times where the shorter goals of the company are taken into consideration first because in order to boost the moral support of the organization. The immediate results of the organization can also result in the alterations of the price of the investors towards the company or an organization (Rosenbach 2018). In the workplace, there are people with different cultures and with various differences in the religion as well. In a workplace, there are people belonging to different genders as well. Hence, it is very natural to have different opinions and choices. However, conflicting demands need to be balanced. The employment equality act is meant to create a balance among all the employees (Hadadian and Zarei 2016). There may be a situation where the truth and honesty may be on one hand and loyalty can be on the other hand. In the first phase, it cannot be considered to be an ethical dilemma because honesty is considered by many people as an ethical dilemma. However, it becomes very much difficult when the bond with other people is very much stronger. There may be situations where justice tends to contradict with mercy. In such situations, the labor law acts as a guide to the justice side of the decision. However, the organizations that are related to banking, superannuation and the financial service industry, the leader while making the decisions must not involve the stakeholders as interpreting the situation in a different way can actually take place.
Kidder’s Ethical Checkpoints framework
As per the Kidder’s ethical checkpoint framework, certain steps are to be followed for addressing the ethical dilemmas that are being faced. Firstly, it is very important to understand and even analyze the problem so that the issue can be resolved. In order to analyze the problem, it is very important to uncover the facts and even involve the parties who are being affected. However, it is also very important to identify the diverse perspectives as well as ask the most difficult questions related to the problem concerned in order to analyze the problem, the second step is to examine various ethical standards that are applicable. The examination must be conducted between the right versus right values in order to uncover the values which are being shared. In such a situation it is very important to work on the imaginative as well as on the creative solutions that tend to implement various ethical standards. The third step is to examine the moral motivations concerning potential decisions. In such a situation it is important to identify and even work through the interest which is contradicting. The fourth step is to make and even implement a decision it is very important to inspire the implementation of a decision that tends to have a positive impact on the parties which are affected. The last step that must be followed is that the leader must reflect on the result of the decision. In such a situation, it is very much important to understand the effect that the outcome has on the others. It is also very much important to learn from the mistakes in order to make modifications and gain success in the upcoming future. Kidder’s ethical checkpoint framework must be followed in order to address to the various ethical issues.
Issues of trust in leadership
A leader is the main head of the organization who takes the organization into the path of success or to its destruction. The leader helps the company to achieve the goals of the company in the long run. However, it is very important for the employees in the organization to trust its leaders as well. However, if the leader tends to lack courage and does not stand for what is right then it becomes very much difficult for the employees to have thrust upon him (Ciulla, 2017) The employees tend to think the leaders as deceitful and forged when they are too much involved in the matter of politics (Rosenbach 2018) On the other hand, if the leader is just interested in himself and not in the growth and progress of the others then the employees tend to lack trust upon the others. Additionally, if there are negative rumors about the leader, the employees tend to have less amount of trust in the employees. The lack of trust of the employees on the leader can create a toxic kind of environment and even a low performance from the employees (Mineo 2014). On the other hand, if the employees tend to have trust up in the leader, it will be motivating the employees to the right path of success. Even if the organization is going through some difficulty, the trust of the employees on the leaders will help the employees in the organization or the company to get highly motivated and influenced (Kenney 2017).
References
- Ciulla, J.B., 2017. Trust and the future of leadership. The Blackwell guide to business ethics, pp.334-351.
- Hadadian, Z. and Zarei, J., 2016. Relationship between toxic leadership and job stress of knowledge workers. Studies in Business and Economics, 11(3), pp.84-89.
- Indradevi, R., 2016. Toxic leadership over the years–a review. Purushartha: A Journal of Management Ethics and Spirituality, 9(1).
- Kenney, T.R., 2017. TEACHING ETHICS IN A LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM. ASBBS Proceedings, 24(1), p.362.
- Mehta, S. and Maheshwari, G.C., 2014. Toxic leadership: Tracing the destructive trail. International Journal of Management, 5(10), pp.18-24.
- Mineo, D.L., 2014. The Importance of Trust in Leadership. Research Management Review, 20(1), p.n1.
- Rosenbach, W.E., 2018. Contemporary issues in leadership. Routledge.
- Scheirton, Linda. ‘Leadership and Applied Ethics (ILD 802).’ (2013).
- Schyns, B. and Schilling, J., 2013. How bad are the effects of bad leaders? A meta-analysis of destructive leadership and its outcomes. The Leadership Quarterly, 24(1), pp.138-158.
- Solas, J., 2016. The banality of bad leadership and followership. Society and Business Review.