Ethical Stewardship

Ethical Stewardship

A successful leader commands the respect of his follower . Caldwell et al (2008 ) are of the view leadership rises to the level of ethical stewardship when leaders earn the trust and followership of those whom they serve ' This development of trust is a complex process and requires that leader or the steward instill a sense of self-worth among his followers . An ethical steward 's job is not limited to leading but the leader must also try to discover and highlight the true nature of each individual . Thus by investing in the

development of each individual , the leader is able to build an environment of trust and rise to the level of ethical steward

Trust is strange phenomenon and requires us to surrender control in the hope that the person whom we trust shall uphold and honor the duties we believe he owes . For a leader to earn this kind of trust from his followers , he must be an upright person or in other words an ethical steward

According to Caldwell et all , our ability to trust others depends on six key beliefs , viz . belief about self , belief about others , belief about the nature of God , belief about the past , belief about the current reality and belief about future . These beliefs are unique for every person and shape how they view the world , their relationships and personal biases . In a corporate environment , we across people with different beliefs and backgrounds . Hence , their ability to trust also varies significantly from person to person . It is these beliefs which allow each individual to assess for himself or herself the degree to which leaders behave as ethical stewards

Based on this , Caldwell et al propose that when leaders adopt the ethical stewardship model of governance , it results in employees who have higher trust level in their leaders and hence greater personal commitment . Also , trustworthy leaders are perceived as having a higher emotional commitment towards the organization . Employers who are committed to employee welfare have employees who perceive their leaders as trustworthy and when employers subscribe to the principle of ethical stewardship , employers show greater commitment to the organization

Thus we see that for a better managed organization it is prudent for employers to adopt the ethical stewardship model of governance . This finding is further corroborated by White Lean (2008 , who have found the in a team environment , successful leaders are those who ethical Ethical leaders are defined as those who are perceived by followers as displaying a level of integrity consistent with followers expectations ' Team leaders are highly influential in determining the organizational environment through their management technique and leadership abilities ' The White and Lean study is not confined to the CEOs or top management of the organization but to any team which is headed by a team leader . Their study found that as the perceived integrity of the team leader increases , the chances of the subordinates to engage in unethical behavior decreases

From the above mentioned studies , we see that organizational...