Northouse, Introduction to Leadership: Concepts and Practice, 4e
SAGE Publishing, 2018
Discussion Questions
Chapter 12: Addressing Ethics in Leadership
1. Are there times when the ends justify the means? Why or why not?
2. Have you experienced times when a leader’s ethics have been questionable? How did it
make you feel?
3. Have scandals influenced your opinion of leaders at work, in school, in politics or in your
church?
4. How would you address a boss or an employee who was working in an unethical
manner?
5. Have you experienced situations where you have had an ethical conflict with a coworker,
roommate or friend? How did it work out? Explain.
6. Where do personal ethics come from? Are they instilled in childhood? Learned in
8. Have you ever paid a price for taking an ethical stand on an issue?
9. What is our ethical responsibility toward future generations?
10. Should we hold leaders to a higher standard with regard to ethics? Why or why not?
11. Do the ethical responsibilities of public leaders differ from those in the private sector? If
so, why is that? If not, should that be changed?
12. Why do we pay selective attention to unethical behavior of public figures? For example,
13. Has the U.S. culture become desensitized to unethical behavior by leaders?
14. How can a leader’s ethics permeate a group or organization so that their values become
shared by all?
15. How can a person build credibility with co-workers and supervisors?