Leadership, Ethical Stewardship and Trust

Leadership, Ethical Stewardship and Trust

Introduction

The problem to be investigated in this paper is the correlation of the concepts of leadership, ethical stewardship and trustworthiness within the framework of corporate organizations. The relationship between the three elements may only be understood once organizations and their internal as well as external cultures are examined, with respect to the trends that are constantly emerging and changing in the global market. Leaders around the world face commitment issues regarding their subordinates regardless of the extent of customer as well as job satisfaction for the employees, the number remains consistent. The value of trust and devotion to the job is something vital to the achievement of success of an organization, especially given the extremely competitive and fast paced business front that has taken over the global market itself.

Discussion

In the competitive world of today, understanding the need for a commitment and the ethical duties needed for leadership is essential. It is also vital that leaders try their utmost to shorten the gap between them and their followers, as this is something that has been observed by many organizations in recent years. Organizational goals as well as individual goals must be monitored, documented and updated regularly by the employer as well as their subordinates. According to Burns (1978) ,”leadership is one of the most observed, but the least understood phenomena”. Proper encouragement in terms of competition must be given, and freedom must be given to them to carry out tasks that are essential to climbing the ladder. As Jack Welch from General Electric puts it, “The essence of competitiveness is liberated when we make people believe that what they think and do is important - and then get out of their way while they do it." As the importance of stakeholders is built by employers, their function with respect to the expectation of certain tasks needs to be examined and their reliance and trust earned. Leadership of an organization must always ensure that their organizational culture within the firm is one that makes use of moral stewardship that could potentially lead to a development of trustworthiness built in the stakeholders and their decisions regarding the performance of the organization itself. Sustainability of the organization also depends on how trustworthy the stakeholders hold it to be, and in a highly competitive market, it is this sustainability that must be honed and enhanced to achieve targets.

A number of researches and theorists have proved the theories and concepts mentioned by experiences marketers about trustworthiness within and outside an organization. It is considered absolutely essential that long-term trustworthiness needs to be built in order to enjoy a sustainable and long standing corporation, as suggested by Stephen Covey in his highly acclaimed “7 Habits” book. As is the case with any social contract or relationship, it is essential to the sustainability of the interaction that trust be built on which the relationship can be based on. If one of the parties is deemed unreliable, the stability of ...