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SERVANT LEADERSHIP
Many of the virtues noted above are encapsulated under the concept of servant
leadership.
Robert Greenleaf, an American Telephone & Telegraph executive responsible for
management development, developed the concept of servant leadership based on biblical
ideals and using Jesus as an ethical role model.
Greenleaf referred to servant leadership as achieving organizational results by humbly
caring for and serving the needs of superiors, colleagues, and subordinates.
Theorists and researchers have determined the following five characteristics as
representing those of a servant leader:
1. Altruistic Calling: A servant leader has a deep-rooted desire to make a positive
difference in other people’s lives, putting others interests and needs ahead of their
own.
2. Emotional Healing: A servant leader is a great listener who uses empathy to foster
spiritual recovery from work-related hardships and trauma.
3. Wisdom: A servant leader is aware of one’s surroundings, sensitive to environmental
cues, and anticipates consequences of decisions and actions, thus enabling the
integration of ideals with pragmatism.
4. Persuasive Mapping: A servant leader can map issues within the organizational
context and use sound reasoning to articulate new possibilities and opportunities
aligned with the organization’s vision.
5. Organizational Stewardship: A servant leader links the organization’s activities with
the development of community well-being through programs and outreach, making
the community a better place to live because of the organization’s existence.
From a servant leadership perspective, any occupation, profession, job title, or job task is
a call to serve.
oA servant leader is one who ensures that all employees have the requisite support
systems to perform at their greatest capabilities to meet customer needs.
oRather than expecting employees to serve the needs of the manager, a servant
leader serves the needs of his or her employees in alignment with the
organization’s vision or mission.
Review BEST PRACTICE IN USE about CEO Aaron Feuerstein’s response to a tragic
fire that threatened the jobs of 3,000 employees.
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Have students read the “Best Practice in Use” story about Aaron Feurerstein at Malden Mills and
discuss the following: If you were Feuerstein, would you have: (a) called it quits after the fire
(keep in mind you would be 70 years old), (b) relocated operations overseas where there is
cheaper labor, (c) relocate to a state that did not have unions, or (d) reopen in Lawrence where
the employees are unionized and labor costs are high? Why?
EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK
oBeing ethical, without being perceived by others as ethical, is problematic. The trust and
employee commitment that accompany ethical managers will not be generated if
employees do not perceive that their manager is indeed ethical.
oSometimes the fault lies with managers who may be unaware that some of their
actions are being interpreted as unethical.
oSometimes the fault lies with employees who are uninformed about a manager’s
ethical efforts or remain cynical about managerial intentions.
oCreating employee feedback systems that gather information about ethical perceptions
symbolizes the importance of ethics to the organization and is an essential information
source.
A GREAT PLACE TO WORK
oAn organization composed of ethical leaders and managers would be a great place to
work. The Great Place to Work® Institute has developed a model of best management
practices for creating a work culture that achieves superior performance.
oA great place to work is defined by the Institute as a place where people “trust the people
they work for, have pride in what they do, and enjoy the people they work with.”
oSuch an organization has high levels of credibility, respect, fairness, pride, and
camaraderie, all of which are associated with ethical leadership.
oReview EXHIBIT 9.3 “Great Place to Work® Dimensions,” which summarizes how the
model’s five dimensions are exemplified.
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Have students complete the “Great Place to Work® Dimensions” in Exhibit 9.3 for an employer,
a student organization, the college, or business school. What are the organization’s strengths and
weaknesses? How can the organization transform a weakness into a strength? Discuss the results
in small groups.
CHAPTER QUESTION 4: HOW CAN WORK GOALS AND PERFORMANCE
APPRAISALS INFLUENCE ETHICAL AND UNETHICAL BEHAVIORS?
WORK GOALS
oOrganization and work goals clarify expectations for both managers and employees.
oConscientious employees desire goals that establish clear measurable targets which can
quantify and validate their accomplishments.
oWell-designed goals hold managers, co-workers, and subordinates accountable to each
other.
oIll-conceived goals, on the other hand, can generate unethical behaviors.
oUnreasonable profit expectations, for instance, can lead some managers to falsify
accounting records to increase revenue, approve extremely risky loans they
normally would reject, or deny subordinates earned wages and benefits to meet
labor cost goals.
HOLISTIC ORGANIZATIONAL GOALS
oTraditionally, managers focus on influencing employees to accomplish the twin goals of
increasing productivity and profitability.
o The Balanced Scorecard is a technique that provides ethical leaders with more holistic
goals and measurements for evaluating organizational performance.
oIn addition to relevant financial performance numbers, the Balanced Scorecard
contains quantifiable non-financial performance measures in terms of the
customer, internal business processes, and employee learning and growth.
oManagers determine five or six meaningful measures from each of these four
Balanced Scoreboard categories.
oCommon indicators include measures for customer satisfaction, product quality,
employee satisfaction, employee training and development.
oAnother popular holistic goal approach available to ethical leaders is the “Triple Bottom
Line.”
oSustainability theorist John Elkington conceived of the triple bottom line in 1994
as a comprehensive measure that takes into account an organization’s ecological
performance, social performance, and financial performance.
oThe Triple Bottom Line approach extends managerial focus from shareholders to
other stakeholders.
oThe United Nations has adopted the Triple Bottom Line as an accounting standard
for communities, where the success of organizations is based on how their
decisions impact “people, planet, and profit.”
STRETCH GOALS
oMany organizations establish “stretch goals” that challenge employees to perform at peak
efficiency and effectiveness.
oA stretch goal, contrasted to an incremental goal, is one that appears to be just a little out
of the employee’s reach, thus the need to stretch to accomplish the goal. Employees are
more likely to accomplish something that seems impossible if a goal is established that
focuses the employee’s attention on the task.
oResearchers report that stretch goals, however, sometimes tempt employees to stretch the
truth and behave unethically if that is the only way they can achieve the goal by the
specified deadline.
oSales performance stretch goals are a particularly troublesome area and they contribute to
salespeople being ranked among the most unethical professions in annual public opinion
polls.
oA similar phenomenon occurred at both Enron and Arthur Andersen.
oWall Street analysts and investors continually expected Enron to increase revenue
by 20 percent annually
oArthur Andersen partners expected field partners to increase client revenue by 20
percent annually.
oThe pressure to accomplish these very difficult goals generated unethical
behaviors that led to the collapse of both companies.
GOAL SETTING
oDepending on the nature of the job task, establish daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly
goals. In addition, establish and review interim goals, and reward employees for
achieving them.
oSMART goals have five attributes. The SMART acronym stands for goals that are:
1. Specific—The outcome is clearly identifiable.
2. Measurable—The outcome can be measured.
3. Aligned—The outcome contributes to organizational strategy.
4. Reachable—The outcome is challenging, but realistically attainable.
5. Time-Bound—The outcome is to be achieved by a specific point in time.
oA clearly defined goal statement that meets the five SMART criteria minimizes ambiguity
about employee performance expectations.
oObtain employee input to ensure that work goals are attainable.
oEmployee participation in the goal-setting process increases their commitment and
accountability to the goal. Establishing feedback sessions to review goal progress also
increases the likelihood of success.
oAlign employee goals with organizational goals.
oManagement-By-Objectives (MBO) is a goal-setting technique in which managers and
their subordinates jointly determine work unit and individual goals in alignment with
organizational goals.
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Have students independently answer the following: Do employees in your organization or
students at school ever engage in unethical behavior in order to achieve a performance goal? If
so, how can the performance goals or monitoring systems be modified to generate more ethical,
or less unethical, behaviors? Share answers in small groups.
STRESS MANAGEMENT
oGoals require deadlines, and deadlines can create stress through psychological and
physical tension.
oHigh levels of stress, inappropriately managed, can lead to health problems, low
productivity, accidents, absenteeism, turnover, and unethical employee behaviors.
o Work goals are just one source of workplace stress. Other causes of stress include
conflicts at work, rapid change, unfavorable working conditions, authoritarian or
incompetent supervisors, and personal problems at home.
oOrganizations can help employees manage stress through:
ohealth-related wellness programs and employee assistance programs (EAPs)
odelegation training that helps employees with unreasonable burdens to assign
tasks to others
oa “quiet time” that eliminates interruptions during a specified time period.
o meditation relaxations
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Lead a short 5 minute meditation in class using the 8 steps that appear in the “Stress
Management” section in the book. Upon completion, ask students if they feel more relaxed.
EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS
oEthical leaders can hold followers accountable through performance appraisals.
oAn employee performance appraisal evaluates factors that are directly or indirectly
related to achieving organizational and employee goals.
oAn appraisal can be conducted solely for the sake of employee development, or linked to
merit raises and used to determine promotions and dismissals.
oGather information about the employee’s strengths and weaknesses relative to key
performance criteria, and then work with the employee to develop new work goals in the
spirit of continuous improvement.
oInclude an ethics component in employee performance appraisals.
oLink employee performance appraisal results to merit raises and promotions to ensure
that employees who behave ethically, and achieve goals in alignment with organizational
objectives, are appropriately rewarded.
oDesign performance appraisals, and gather relevant data, that address four prominent
ethical performance issues:
1. Does the employee behave unethically?
2. Does the employee live up to the code of ethics?
3. Does the employee embody the attitudes and behaviors of an ideal employee?
4. Does the employee achieve and support ethics-based initiatives?
UNETHICAL BEHAVIORS
oThe seven-item survey in EXHIBIT 9.4 “Practicing Unethical Behaviors Survey”
highlights unethical behaviors that might publicly embarrass an employee. Modify the
items to fit the context of the organization or work unit.
oCompleting the survey – honestly and confidentially – reinforces that these unethical
behaviors are wrong and provides the employee with ethical performance goals for the
next performance appraisal period.
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Have students complete the “Practicing Unethical Behaviors Survey” in Exhibit 9.4 as a
self-assessment for a job or as a student (insert “performance” for “job activities,” “students for
“co-worker,” and “school” for “company”). Which of the unethical behaviors do you want to
change? What specifically do you need to do to reduce your unethical behavior score for that
item?
LIVING UP TO THE CODE OF ETHICS PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS
oAnnually appraise how well employees perform according to the organization’s Code of
Ethics.
oReview the survey in EXHIBIT 9.5 “Employee Code of Ethics Performance Appraisal”
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Have students complete the “Employee Code of Ethics Performance Appraisal” in Exhibit 9.5 as
a self-assessment for a work experience, college, school of business, or student organization.
Which of the items should the student improve upon? How can the student sincerely score higher
on that item?
oAppraise employee performance for all ethics-based initiatives. These items can be added
to regular performance appraisals.
oMeasures for ethics-based initiatives may include accomplishing affirmative action hiring
and promotion goals, work unit ethics scores, percentage of employees participating in
ethics and diversity training workshops, theft reductions, and number of employee
grievances.
IDEAL EMPLOYEE ATTITUDES AND BEHAVIORS PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS
oEmployee performance appraisals can be used to benchmark the distance an employee
still needs to travel in the direction of becoming an ideal employee.
oAnnually appraise employee performance based on the qualities of an ideal employee.
oReview EXHIBIT 9.6 “Leadership Skills Performance Appraisal,” which provides a
survey based on a profile for an ideal leader.
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Have students complete the “Leadership Skills Performance Appraisal” in Exhibit 9.6 as a
self-assessment for a work experience, college, school of business, or student organization.
Which of the items should the student improve upon? How can the student sincerely score higher
on that item?
COLLECTION AND EVALUATION ISSUES
oHow employee performance appraisal information is collected and evaluated raises
ethical issues.
oPoorly managed performance appraisals are detrimental to employee development,
morale, and productivity.
oConduct employee performance evaluations in a timely manner, at least once a year.
More frequent appraisals minimize damages because managers become aware of
problems needing correction soon after they happen.
oFairness dictates that employees receive evaluation scores that are related to their actual
job performance.
oSome managers give poor performers average ratings to avoid difficult
discussions and conflict, and give excellent performers average ratings out of fear
that excellent employees will be recruited by other managers looking for star
performers.
oCollect performance information from a wide range of people who interact with the
employee being evaluated.
o An authentic and holistic picture of an employee’s performance can be determined based
on 360-degree performance evaluations.
oThe phrase “360 degrees” refers to a circle with the person being evaluated in the
nucleus position.
oCollecting information from multiple perspectives provides a more
comprehensive understanding of employee performance.
oEmployees can be rated in comparison to an absolute standard of performance or ranked
in comparison to each other.
oA rating system is more ethical than a ranking system in that an employee earns a
rating based on his or her job task efforts and accomplishments, whereas a
ranking system may not adequately describe an employee’s value to the work
unit.
oSome executives (Jack Welch when CEO of General Electric) prefer a ranking
system because it forces managers to determine which employees are the top
performers and worst performers relative to other employees.
star performers were well rewarded through recognition and high bonuses
middle performers received extensive feedback and provided opportunities
to further enhance their skills through additional training
low performers were either dismissed or provided a second chance to
improve performance within agreed upon timelines.
oRanking people can create unhealthy competition among employees.
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Have students discuss/debate the following: If you were a professor, would you evaluate students
in class using a rating system (student grades are based only on points earned) or ranking system
(student grades are based on points earned using a forced-curve distribution – only 10% can earn
an “A”, 50% a “B”, 30% a “C” and 10% lower than a “C”)? Why?
PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL FEEDBACK
oThe purpose of a performance appraisal feedback session is to praise an employee’s good
behaviors and accomplishments and develop strategies for improving weaknesses.
oCarefully manage the feedback session because employees may feel anxious about giving
or receiving critical information.
oOn a regular basis, provide positive feedback immediately after a praiseworthy
behavior and constructive feedback immediately after a blameworthy behavior.
oDemonstrate respect for employees by meeting personally with each direct report
to discuss the performance appraisal results.
oHold performance appraisal feedback sessions in a neutral setting, such as a
conference room.
oPrior to the meeting, compare the employee’s self-assessment with the 360-degree
performance appraisal results.
First, begin the meeting by discussing areas that both the employee and
the raters highlighted as strengths. Praise these behaviors and
accomplishments.
Second, discuss any areas raters highlighted as strengths but the employee
did not.
Third, discuss any areas the employee highlighted as strengths but the
raters did not.
Fourth, discuss those areas that both the employee and raters highlighted
as weaknesses.
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Have students list the behaviors of an ideal student in terms of class participation. Use this list
for the following activity.
Put students in pairs and have them assess their own class participation and that of their partner
using the list generated in class. Have one of the paired student role play the boss, and the other
paired student is the person being evaluated. Then have the boss conduct a performance appraisal
feedback session using the advice in the “Performance Appraisal Feedback” section. Then switch
roles. Next, have students evaluate each other in terms of how well each member of the pair
conducted the performance appraisal feedback session. What was difficult to do? What would the
students do differently the next time they gave or received performance feedback?
ADDITIONAL QUESTION 1: WHAT ARE BEST PRACTICES FOR DISCIPLINING
WORK RULE VIOLATIONS?
BACKGROUND
oEthical leadership does not mean never disciplining or firing anyone. Poor performers
who fail to improve need to be dismissed for the benefit of the work unit and
organization, and sometimes downsizing is unavoidable.
MAJOR INFRACTIONS
Employees define major and minor ethical infractions based on the type of punishment
determined by managers.
Any behavior punished harshly is typically considered a major infraction and gets the
attention of employees. Employee theft and drug and alcohol violations are usually
treated as major ethical infractions.
Polygraphs can be used on employees who are reasonably suspected of
involvement in a specific workplace incident resulting in economic loss to the
employer
Violations of drug and alcohol rules are also major ethical infractions.
oRandomly test employees whose activities continually put public safety at risk
due to their drug use or alcohol abuse.
MINOR INFRACTIONS
Many workplace violations are relatively minor, such as being late for work or playing
The following is a continuum of potential punishments, beginning with the most lenient
and ending with the harshest, for managing workplace violations.
The severity of the violation dictates where on the continuum to begin.
The goal of discipline is to rehabilitate employees who violate work rules, not to fire
them.
DISCUSSION ACTIVITY
Have students think of a time when they were punished by a boss, teacher, parent, or some other
authority person. What was the situation? Was the punishment appropriate? Why? If the student
was the person in authority, how would he or she have managed the situation?
