Unethical Versus Ethical Leadership

It takes courage to lead an organization with ethics.

For instance, Leaders at AIG argued that they were obligated to pay bonuses to executives even after the company was bailed out by the U.S.  Government.  They stated that they had a contractual obligation to pay these bonuses.  Many people argued that the Leaders at AIG acted unethically when paying those bonuses.  

Others said they were justified in doing so.

In your paper address the following:

• How does a leader find the courage to step through fear and confusion to act ethically despite the risks involved?
• Give an example of a business situation where you observed a leader acting unethically or ethically.
• Knowing what you know now, how would you have counseled the leader?
• Conclude your paper by describing how you will prepare yourself to lead ethically.

The requirements below must be met for your paper to be accepted and graded:

• Write between 750 – 1,250 words (approximately 3 – 5 pages) using Microsoft Word in APA style, see example below.
• Use font size 12 and 1” margins.
• Include cover page and reference page.
• At least 80% of your paper must be original content/writing.
• No more than 20% of your content/information may come from references.
• Use at least three references from outside the course material, one reference must be from EBSCOhost. Text book, lectures, and other materials in the course may be used, but are not counted toward the three reference requirement.
• Cite all reference material (data, dates, graphs, quotes, paraphrased words, values, etc.) in the paper and list on a reference page in APA style.

References must come from sources such as, scholarly journals found in EBSCOhost, CNN, online newspapers such as, The Wall Street Journal, government websites, etc. Sources such as, Wikis, Yahoo Answers, eHow, blogs, etc. are not acceptable for academic writing.