The Thin Line between Good Business Leadership and Unethical Management * Incedo Group

The Thin Line between Good Business Leadership and Unethical Management

Every manager dreams of having good business leadership skills. However, there are also those who get corrupted by the power they possess, thus they tend to go beyond the boundaries of morality. These leaders often become selfish, not giving employees their fair share, and asking people to do unethical things that are beyond the limits of reason.

How do you recognize unethical leadership when you see one?

What is Unethical Leadership?

We can only define unethical leadership by contrasting it to the ideals of good business leadership. A good business leader devotes time and effort to ensure the success of the business’s venture. He lives by all government rules and regulations and will not resort to illegal means just to gain profit. All his decisions are based on ethical considerations, focusing on the benefits of the customers and employees.

In stark contrast to good business leadership is unethical leadership, which we can define as a particular brand of leadership that promotes illicit, unethical, and even illegal processes in their workforce. An unethical leader engages in immoral behavior, and promotes an atmosphere of fear and loathing in the workplace. For example, an unethical leader might push his or her employees to accomplish impossible tasks, even if it means resorting to illegal activity like copyright infringement or lying.

Unethical leaders tend to be selfish and look at all business transactions as a means for them to forward their personal interests. However, we must also point out that not all unethical decisions are intentional, some are made unintentionally. But from such unintentional decision springs other unethical decisions with greater dangers.

Types of Unethical Leaders

There are many types of unethical leaders, and managers need to know each type for them to know how to avoid turning into such:

1. The greedy bosses – There are unethical leaders who are motivated by greed for more profit. These are the types, who would tell their employees to do anything to increase sales, even if it involves inflicting harm on other people. On the outside, they seem to be practicing good business leadership, offering the highest salaries and giving big bonuses, but once you really get to know such leaders, you will soon learn their dirty little trade secrets.

2. The unintentional bad leader – In the attempt to practice good business leadership, some managers make bad decisions that eventually result to unethical or immoral circumstances. These leaders usually lack foresight and are detached from the plight of their employees. As such, they cannot readily consider the impact of the bad decisions that they make.

Of the two types of unethical leaders, the second type is the easiest to sway back to the good side. To make that shift from being unethical towards practicing good business leadership, all you have to do is improve your decision-making skills, and always keep yourself grounded and sensitive to your employees’ needs.