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Abstract: Most discussions on ethical leadership emphasize the importance of personal integrity, visible role modeling, and actual enforcement of ethical behaviors in the workplace. Nonetheless, organizational leaders and followers alike regularly encounter issues and pressure that require not only ethical leadership but also moral courage. Accordingly, this study used a mixed method to examine typical ethical situations encountered by organizational members in the workplace, the extent to which employees can exercise courage, and the factors that impede their moral actions. The results show that the majority of organizational members are unable to translate their moral beliefs and judgment into real moral action in the workplace. Organizations must, therefore, seek ways and means of creating and supporting moral courage.
Keywords: moral courage, ethical leadership, moral action, ethical principles
Introduction
Africa likely brings to mind mixed thoughts-corruption, ethnic violence, poverty, AIDS, malaria-but at the same time, Africa is the home of quality natural resources. Many have attributed the challenges in Africa to lack of ethical leadership; however, underneath ethical leadership is the moral courage to face those challenges. Most discussions on ethical leadership emphasize the importance of personal integrity, visible role modeling, and actual enforcement of ethical behaviors in the workplace. Nonetheless, organizational leaders and followers alike regularly encounter ethical issues and constant pressure, which require moral courage. Accordingly, having positive attributes means little without moral courage to confront unethical behaviors and questionable practices.
For the ethical leader, courage is essential in fulfilling the moral obligations in daily dealing justly with employees and other stakeholders. Followers, on the other hand, need moral courage to question unethical practices or challenge authority through constructive criticism when the leader/system is in the wrong. Kelly (1992) argues that followers should be independent critical thinkers and actively engaged in their organization. Hence, employees must view their role as active participants in the organization.
Why do some leaders make decisions that take into consideration only their interests, while others continually make decisions based on moral principles? Why would a "good" person remain silent or indifferent about prevailing unethical activities or resist moral action in confronting ethical misconducts? How do we achieve integrity amid strongly competing forces? Various situations at the workplace call for moral courage, but issues of ethics and choice are...